CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 75 



describes the finding of 30 nests of this bird on Gun island, Lake 

 Winnipegosis. All the nests that could be reached were built far 

 back at the end of dark passages under boulders on the highest 

 part of the island, some nests being from four to six feet back 

 from the entrance. 



130. Red-breasted Merganser. 



Merganser serrator (Linn.) Schaff. 1789. 



This species breeds in Greenland and across the whole of the 

 wooded region from Newfoundland and Labrador to the Aleutian 

 islands. It does not breed in the prairie region, but prefers the 

 clear lakes and streams of the north. Not very common in British 

 Columbia, but breeds in suitable places; breeding at Deer park 

 and Pass creek, Columbia river, B.C., June, 1890. {Macotm) A 

 number killed for food at our camp on the Barren Grounds, 50 

 miles south of Cape Eskimo. {Preble) Winters on Okanagan 

 lake, B.C. {Brooks) 



Breeding Notes. — Nests on rivers and lakes. Breeding at 

 Buffalo lake. Alberta, also at Lake Manitoba. 1896. {Dippie.) 

 Breeds at Shoal lake and Lake Manitoba, {Raine.) On an island 

 in the Yukon delta Dall found six nests of this bird. They were 

 all carefully concealed under dead leaves, and were generally 

 sheltered by a log of driftwood, in a small hollow, lined with down 

 from the parent's breast. They contained from six to ten rich 

 cream-coloured eggs. 



On the Alaskan coast they breed everywhere in suitable places 

 from Sitka north to Icy cape, and perhaps to Point Barrow. The 

 first eggs are laid early in June, and the site for the nest, on the 

 marshes, is ordinarily the same as that chosen by other species of 

 ducks with the usual foresight as to concealment and proximity 

 to a pond. {Nelso/i) 



This species used to breed frequently among the Thousand 

 islands. River St Lawrence. Only a few pairs now remain to do 

 so, the majority going east and north. In June, 1893, I saw a 

 flock of upwards of twenty about fourteen miles above Brock- 

 ville ; of course, all adults. In the following year, in the last week 

 in June, I saw a flock of about the same number at the "The 

 Ducks." Lake Ontario. 1 have met with the nest twice at the 



