CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 3I5 



It is rather closely limited to the region of spruce and pine forests of 

 the interior, and occurs along the open coasts of the Arctic and 

 Bering sea merely as a straggler, and is unknown from the various 

 islands of Bering sea. (Nelson.) This species is a very common 

 resident in the Yukon district. Along the coast it is quite abundant. 

 (Turner.) 



Breeding Notes. — In the spring of 1899 their arrival was noted 

 on April loth in the Yukon district of Alaska. At this date they 

 were already paired, and a female secured contained large ova. 

 On April 26th I located a pair of hawk owls which by their rest- 

 lessness indicated a nesting site near by. The nest was finally 

 found, but there were as yet no eggs. It was in the hollow end of 

 a leaning dead spruce stub about 10 feet above the ground. The 

 dry rotten chips in the bottom were modelled into a neatly rounded 

 depression. The male bird was quite noisy often repeating a far- 

 reaching rolling trill. Both birds frequently uttered a low whine, 

 alternately answering one another. On May 8th, while snow- 

 shoeing across the country toward the base of the Jade mountains, 

 my attention was attracted by the distant trill of a hawk owl. 

 After a half hour's search through a heavy stretch of timber, I 

 located the bird perched at the top of a tall live spruce, partly hid- 

 den by the fohage. Then I began an inspection of all dead stubs 

 and trees in the vicinity. I had given up hope of finding a nest 

 and had started on, when, by mere chance, I happened to catch 

 sight of a hole in a dead spruce fully 200 yards away. A close 

 approach showed a sitting bird which afterwards proved to be the 

 male. Its tail was protruding at least two inches from the hole, 

 while the bird's head was turned so that it was facing out over its 

 back. When I tapped on the tree the bird left the nest, flew off 

 about thirty yards, turned and made for my head like a shot. It 

 planted itself with its full weight on to my skull, drawing blood 

 from three claw-marks in my scalp. My hat was torn off and thrown 

 twelve feet. All this the owl did with scarcely a stop in its head- 

 long swoop. When as far on the other side the courageous bird 

 made another dash and then another, before I had collected enough 

 wits to get in a shot. The female which was evidently the bird I 

 had first discovered on look-out duty then made her appearance, 

 but was less vociferous. The nest contained three newly hatched 

 young and six eggs in various advanced stages of incubation. The 



