CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. g! 
observed a few on James Bay and in the interior of Labrador in 
1896. Quitelcommon in Quebec, and abundant in southwestern 
Ontario during the spring and fall migrations. A few are said by 
Saunders to breed on the St. Clair Flats; not rare in the St. Law- 
rence valley in the spring and autumn. 
A few breed at Lake Winnipeg (Gunn), and the writer found 
them breeding on Lake Winnipegoosis, but evidently the greater 
number go north, and doubtless breed around the large lakes 
north of Lake Winnipeg. It is a common duck in Alaska and 
along the whole Aleutian chain, and, according to Turner, remains 
the entire year. 
An abundant resident in British Columbia; breeds chiefly east 
of the Coast Range; winters on the coast. (Hannin.) Tolerably 
common in the Lower Fraser valley, and wintering on Lake 
Okanagan, B.C. (4rooks.) Breeding in small lakes between 
Edmonton and Lake Ste. Anne, June, 1898. (Spreadborough. ) 
BREEDING Notes.—Eggs taken at Buffalo Lake, Alberta, June 
14th, 1896. Seems to breed in most localities. (Dzppie.) Nest 
always near water ; it is a shallow hole in the ground, lined with 
grass and down. (Sfreadborougn.) 
Breeds throughout northwestern Canada, but is rarer than most 
other ducks ; breeding more commonly further north. On June 
1oth, 1891, at Rush Lake, Assiniboia, I found a nest containing 
nine eggs, built on the ground amongst grass, near water. The 
eggs are distinguished by their large size and drab tint. (Aazne.) 
At St. Michael and the Yukon Delta this species arrives about 
the 8th or loth May. The nesting sites chosen are such as the 
Pintail and most other ducks choose—a dry, grassy tussock or 
knoll close to some pond; the only difference being that 
this species appears to desire a position nearer to the water, 
and the nest is frequently at the point of some small jutting cape, 
and so near the water that the parent can swim to and from the 
mest. The eggs are large for the size of the bird, and rarely 
exceed eight in number. The nest is composed of dry grass- 
stems, gathered close at hand, and a large fluffy bed of down 
plucked from the parent’s breast. The first week in June is the 
time usually chosen for depositing the first eggs, but some are 
not laid until nearly a month later. (Ve/son.) 
