126 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Jan. 



NEW OR RARE BIRD RECORDS FROM MANITOBA, 



1912 . 



By Norman Criddle. 



The following notes refer chiefly to birds that have not 

 hitherto, so far as I am aware, been recorded from the Province 

 of Manitoba, and all are new to the fauna of Aweme. 



Say's Phoebe, Sayomis saya (Bonap.) Baird. 



An example of this bird was secured by my brother Stuart, 

 on April 23rd, close to some deserted farm buildings, and another 

 one observed three days later. A bird almost surely of the same 

 species was heard uttering loud cries in an old barn the previous 

 year, but made its escape before it could be observed closely. 

 "Others have also been seen from time to time in past years, 

 but the above constitutes the first authentic record east of 

 Saskatchewan. 



It has, however, been found breeding in North Dakota as 

 well as from Saskatchewan westward to the coast, so there is 

 good reason for expecting that it will eventually be found nest- 

 ing in Manitoba also. 



Oberholser's Horned Lark. 



This bird, known scientifically as Otocoris alpestris euihymia, 

 was found breeding in company with a colony of Chestnut- 

 colored Longspurs ; a specimen was also collected by my brother, 

 Stuart, on a ploughed field in April. He submitted two to Mr. 

 Oberholser, w T ho determined them as above. 



This race, to judge from the latest Check List, has not yet 

 been recognized as valid by the A. O. U., so may very possibly 

 intergrade with other forms found further west. In Manitoba 

 its nearest ally seems to be praticola, from which it is very 

 difficult to separate during the migratory seasons. When 

 breeding, however, it selects the open prairies, while the Prairie 

 Horned Lark confines itself more to the broken wood-lands, 

 where there are small plains or bare hills surrounded inter- 

 mittently with trees, though it seldom, if ever, seeks shelter 

 in or among the trees. When better known, cnthymia will pro- 

 bably be found to be quite a common breeding bird in the 

 province. 



Another horned lark, the Pallid, has also been identified 

 from Aweme by Mr. Oberholser, which adds yet another to the 

 local list, though previously collected and recorded for Manitoba. 

 Thus to date we have records of four races, praticola, arcticola, 

 enthymia and hoyti, while Mr. Seton enrolls a fifth, alpestris. 

 Probably at least one other, leucolrema, occurs here also. 



