674 Mr. C. B. Horsbrugb : Ornithological Notes 



Avork towing a ])unt against the stream of a narrow canal, 

 which was one of tlie exits for the overflow of water, for 

 about two miles. During our progress we flushed several 

 Spotted Sandpipers and a Short-eared Owl from the banks. 

 We also discovered a Scaup's nest at the bottom of the bank, 

 containing ten eggs, which were almost a-wash, the nest being 

 hardly worthy of the name. Entering the lake we soon found 

 quantities of Gulls' nests and young in downy plumage 

 everywhere. Their nests somewhat resemble Coots', being 

 fairly bulky affairs made entirely of dead reeds. We found 

 them in colonies amidst the reedy patches, and the majority 

 of the nests contained two eggs, all of Avhich seemed on the 

 point of hatching out. We computed the number of Gulls 

 in this spot to approach four thousand. Their noisy clamour 

 could be heard for a considerable distance. A fair-sized 

 colony of Pied-billed Grebes also nest amongst the reeds, and 

 altliough numerous nests were found none contained more 

 than three eggs. A nest of the Canvas-backed Duck w^ith 

 six eggs of the Common Pochard was found completely 

 submerged, doubtless on account of the heavy rains during 

 the early part of the month. We noticed one Common 

 Tern and only a few pairs of ducks (sp. ?). Dr. Henry 

 George of Red Deer took two eggs of the Sand-hill Crane 

 on this lake in 1895, but I believe these birds have long 

 since ceased to nest hereabouts.'^ 



My wife and I managed to rear a young Franklin's Gull 

 to maturity, feeding it at first on hard-boiled eggs and bread, 

 and at the present time of writing we hear it is doing well 

 in the Zoological Gardens at A^ancouver, B.C. The bulk of 

 the Gulls appear to migrate south about the beginning 

 of August, but a few were observed at Alix on September 1 7, 

 and a little later at Buffalo Lake. 



Lams argentatus, Herring-Gull, 



This seems to be a rare bird and, I am informed, used to 

 nest on the islands in Buffalo Lake. I only observed a 

 pair there on June 2 and another on the 7th. 



