Interior of British North Amer-ica. 81 



for Grackles. Mr. Ross mentions the Cow-bird as very rare on 

 the Mackenzie. 



75. Agel^us phceniceus. 



The Swamp Blackbird (' Ibis/ vol. iv, p. 7) arrived in the 

 neighbourhood of Fort Carlton on the 4th of May, 1858 ; or, at 

 least, I did not observe it before that, notwithstanding that I was 

 out every day at that season with my gun. I fancy, however, that 

 it is an early spring bird ; for I saw it at Red River Settlement 

 the following spring (which was a very late one) on the 26th of 

 April. No doubt, had there been a garden or other cultivated 

 land about the fort, I should have found it earlier on the Sas- 

 katchawan ; but husbandry is almost entirely neglected in the 

 territories of the Hudson^s Bay Company, where vegetable diet, 

 excepting wild berries, is despised by the carnivorous fur-traders 

 and voyageurs. I found this bird as far west as the Rocky 

 Mountains. Mr. Murray records a specimen from Hudson's Bay, 

 and Mr. Ross on the Mackenzie. 



AoELiEUS GUBERNATOR. 



Common on the Mackenzie (Bernard Ross). 



Agel^us tricolor. 

 Rare on the Mackenzie (Bernard Ross). 

 These are two more instances of the Pacific-coast birds fre- 

 quenting the Mackenzie River district. 



76. Xanthocephalus icterocephalus. 



I saw this bird at Red River Settlement on the 29th of April. 

 Two, shot at Fort Carlton in May ('Ibis,^ vol. iv. p. 7), had the 

 remains of insects and Snow-berries {Symphoricarpus racemosus) 

 in their stomachs. Mr. Murray also notices it from Hudson's 

 Bay ; but whether this means the shores of that bay, or from some 

 part of the H. B. Company's territories, I cannot tell. Sir John 

 Richardson did not observe it eastward of Lake Winipeg, while 

 its eastern limit in the United States is Dlinois. However, it 

 has been found in Greenland, and may range to the eastward in 

 the north. 



77. Sturnella magna. 



My specimen {' Ibis,' vol. iv. p. 7), having been compared with 

 specimens of both /S. magna and S. neglecta given me by Professor 



VOL. V. G 



