234 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
at Chilliwack. I have no record from Vancouver Island. (Fannin.) 
Only noticed west of the Coast Range ; rare. (Svooks.) Hawks, 
presumably of this species, were thrice seen in the British Columbia 
interior. (Ahoads.) 
342. Swainson’s Buzzard. 
Buteo swainsont. BONAP. 1838. 
Accidental visitant ; rare. A few examples of this large hawk 
have been shot at Montreal, Que. I saw a fine dark specimen 
which was shot early in the spring of 1894 near the city, and was 
stuffed by Mr. Bailly, taxidermist. (Wntle.) Rare around 
Toronto, Ont. I have two specimens taken at Toronto, Ont., 
both in the dark plumage. (/. H. Fleming.) This species arrives 
on tle southern prairie in March, and soon becomes abundant. 
It is the characteristic hawk of the prairie, and is found in every 
part of that extensive region. Although a prairie bird it ranges 
in the valley of the Mackenzie beyond the Arctic Circle, and has 
been taken at Nulato on the Yukon. Itis very rare in the Rocky 
Mountains ; only one pair was seen in four months residence of 
Mr. Spreadborough, at Banff, in 1891, and only one, a female, 
was seen and killed at Revelstoke by him in 18go. 
On British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island. Nowhere 
common. (fannin.) I once observed a flock of some hundreds, 
all of the dark phase, at Chilliwack, B.C., and have seen young 
birds in the autumn ; this dark form is a common breeder on all 
the mountains, at high elevations, being only found in open or 
park-like country. The only pair of white-breasted birds I ever 
saw in British Columbia was breeding on a low mountain at 
Vernon. (Svooks.) 
BREEDING Notes.—Thompson-Seton in “ Birds of Manitoba,” 
on page 532, says: “The nest of this bird is not peculiar. I have 
examined about fifty altogether, and have hitherto failed to find 
one that answers the published descriptions, which credit the bird 
with using a lining of hair and other fine material. All the nests 
examined early in the season were merely masses of sticks and 
twigs, with a slight hollow to contain the eggs, and had no special 
lining. But nests examined after the growth of leaves—usually 
about the end of May—were more or less lined with twigs plucked 
with green leaves on them, and these when slightly wilted readily 
flatten down and form a wind-proof screen. 
