from the Alix and Buffalo Lake Districts. 071 



tlicir beaks to lightly touch their shoulders for a second's 

 duration. A few more pairs arrived by the 24th, and yet 

 more towards the end of the month, when they then began 

 to buihl their nests. 



On June 1, 1 went for ten days to Buffalo Lake, and 

 counted six pairs ; but towards the end of my visit, from 

 one spot I observed thirty-two pairs and there must have 

 been manv more in other parts of this huge expanse of water. 

 I preserved a dead specimen presented me by a farmer, and 

 found its gizzard full of the bird's own feathers and water- 

 weeds. Nesting had just begun when I arrived at the lake, 

 and I found many nests, the majority containing from one 

 to three eggs. These were usually concealed under the 

 rotting vegetation used in the construction of their nests, 

 and were placed amongst the reeds bordering the edge of the 

 lake. Close to this colony we found numerous nests of the 

 Pied-billed Grebes, but no full clutches were seen — the Crows 

 probably accounting for many a despoiled nest. 



On November 19 I received a fine male Western Grebe 

 from a friend in Alix which, for the time of year, surprised 

 me, although 1 have heard reports about these birds being 

 frozen into the ice, so late have they delayed migration. 



Colynihus holboelli. Holboell's Grebe. 



The loud queerysome wail of this species during the mating 

 season seems to be uttered at all times of the day and night. 

 On a small lake opposite our house, in which we dwelt for 

 our first three months in Alix, a pair appeared on May 7, 

 and I observed them closely during this period. As soon as 

 the hen bird began to sit (about May 25) they were fairly 

 quiet and became so tame that I could approach close to the 

 nest, but the moment I was discovered, the female would 

 at once start to rapidly and thoroughly cover her eggs. 

 Although I found a number of nests of this bird in the 

 neighbourhood of our village, I never observed more than 

 five eggs in a clutch. jNIr. F. INI. Chapman states the clutcli 

 to consist of from three to eight eggs. 



HolboelTs Grebe seemed to be rare on Buffalo Lake. 



