In North- West Canada. 115 



up. and the tree was easy to climb, so I was soon looking over 

 the brim of the nest, where I beheld two young hawks, 

 probably a couple of weeks old. I was disappointed to find 

 ^ioung birds instead of eggs, and so descended the tree. My 

 companion tried to obtain one of the old birds, which were 

 flying around in circles, high in the air, above our heads, but 

 they kept out of range. 



This large and handsome hawk is not a rare bird in west- 

 ern Manitoba and Assiniboia. I saw them on several occasions 

 flying round in circles over the bluff's, or over some wooded 

 valley. They can be easily recognized by the whiteness of the 

 under parts and their large size. They usually nest in trees, 

 and the nests are made of sticks, leaves, grass and pieces of 

 turf, and sometimes buffalo bones. The eggs are two or three, 

 and sometimes as many as four are laid. A set of these eggs 

 in my collection were collected north of Regina, May 15th, 

 1890. The eggs are whitish, blotched and spotted with dif- 

 ferent shades of brown and lavender grey; they measure 

 2.54x1.95, 2.50x1.97 and 2.48x2.00 respectively. Another set 

 of two eggs in my collection, which were collected near Qu'- 

 Appelle, Assiniboia, May 24th, 1890, are buffy white, heavily 

 splashed with sienna brown and purplish drab shell markings. 

 On one of the eggs the heavy markings and blotches are at 

 the smallest end. These eggs measure 2.49x1.95 and 2.35x1.97. 

 The eggs of this species can easily be distinguished from those 

 of the Swainson's hawk by their larger size. The ferrugin- 

 ous buzzard, though a large and powerful bird, seldom attacks 

 animals larger than a gopher, and their food consists of mice, 

 small reptiles, birds, frogs, etc. Along the banks below the 

 buzzard's nest, wild roses and honeysuckles were in full bloom, 

 sending forth a delicious perfume, and there is also a bush 

 that grows four or live feet high, its name is unknown to me, 

 but it also has a beautiful perfume. We sat down amid these 

 pleasant surroundings, watching the buzzards flying round in 

 circles high in the air. The Silver Creek, winding its way for 

 miles to the south, was dotted here and there with wild ducks, 

 some of them surrounded by their young broods. Several 



