dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca (David Graham) (09/12/90)
In article <35591@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>, dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) writes: > In article <1191@cluster.cs.su.oz.au> andrewt@cluster.cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) writes: >> >>The Heath Hen was a subspecies. Was the Carolina Parakeet a US endemic? > > I am almost certain that it was. There are no Canadian records. True, but the following (from W. Earl Godfrey, _The Birds of Canada, Revised Edition_, National Museum of Natural Sciences, 1986) is worth quoting: "Hypothetical. Three small bones (premaxilla, proximal half of the left carpometacarpus, and pygostyle) of the extinct Carolina Parakeet were recently discovered by archaeologists on the Calvert site (a Glen Meyer Indian site dating to about 1100 A.D.) near London, Ontario [...]. The species is known to have ranged northward as far as central New York and might have occasionally straggled into southern Canada. There is the possibility, however, that this individual was transported by man to southern Ontario to serve some ceremonial function." (p. 303) In other news, Bruce MacTavish and Ken Knowles spent September 1 tramping through the barrens south of St. John's on the 3rd annual Eskimo Curlew Big Day recently. No Eskimo Curlews were seen (for the 3rd year running) and number of Whimbrels and plovers were lower than usual, no doubt due to the small crowberry crop this year. > David Mark > dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu *************************************************************************** David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca ***************************************************************************