502 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



breeds near water, generally in old grass in a marsh or by a pool. 

 Nest composed altogether of dried grass with a lining of finer grass 

 and a little horse or other hair. (Macoun.) 



542. Labrador Savanna Sparrow. 



Passerculus sandwichensis labradoricus R. H. Howe, Jr., 1901. 



Fairly common at Port Man vers, lat. 57° northeastern Labrador, 

 during the last half of August and the first week of September, 1900. 

 (Witmer Stone.) Probably not separable from the Savanna sparrow. 



CCXXII. CENTRONYX Baird. 1858. 

 545. Baird Sparrow. 



Centronyx hairdii (Aud.) Baird. 1874. 



It is difficult to understand how this bird eluded observation 

 for thirty years from the time of its original discovery by Audu- 

 bon on the upper Missouri nearly to the present day. I did not 

 meet with the species along the Red river itself, but found it as 

 soon as I passed from the Pembina mountains to the boundless 

 prairies beyond. In some particular spots it outnumbered all the 

 other birds together, and on an average through the country from 

 the Pembina mountain to the Mouse (Souris) river it was one of the 

 trio of commonest birds. The skylarks and chestnut-collared long- 

 spur being the other two. {Coues.) An abundant summer resident 

 throughout the Assiniboine valley, wherever there are alkaline flats. 

 In many parts of the prairies west of Birtle there are low flat alkaline 

 stretches sparsely covered with long, wiry grass. Wherever the 

 land is of this character the Baird bunting is sure to be a prominent 

 if not a prevailing species. {E. T. Seton.) One specimen secured 

 the first time we went collecting at Grand rapids of the Saskatchewan ; 

 shot on a high grassy plain between the fort and the lake. {Nutting.) 

 Not observed in many numbers in the vicinity of Portage la Prairie, 

 Man., but was more numerous in grass marshes in 1906 west to 

 Edmonton, Alta. {A tkinson.) Uncommon in parts of Saskatchewan 

 visited by us but quite a number of pairs were located in grassy 

 hollows in the prairies. {A. C. Bent.) Common in proper localities 

 as far west as Calgary, Alta. {W. E. Saunders.) 



