288 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 
Four; one taken at Ottawa, Ont.,and presented to our museum 
by Mr. S. Lett ; another procured at Fort Churchill, Hudson Bay 
by Dr.R. Bell; one at Jasper House, Rocky Mountains, June 14th, 
1898, by W. Spreadborough; and one taken by the writer at Lag- 
gan, Rocky Mountains, July 20th, 1885. 
CXL. SPEOTYTO Giocer. 1842. 
378. Burrowing Owl. 
Speotyto cunicularia hypog@a (BoNnaP.) Cours. 1872. 
A specimen of this bird was caught by Mr. D. Breakey, Wolfe 
Island, in the fall of 1894, and kept by him alive fora short time, 
then preserved by Mr. W. Stratford of Kingston. His attention 
was drawn to its presence by the noise some crows were making 
in the bush, and on proceeding to thespot, he had no difficulty 
in capturing the owl. This is probably the first record of this 
bird’s appearance in eastern Ontario. (Rev. C.J. Young.) First 
observed at a point on the International Boundary Line, a little 
east of Frenchman’s River, not far from the mouth of Milk River, 
where a few individuals inhabited a small settlement of prairie 
dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). This seems to be about the northern 
limit of the species, and it is nowhere so abundant in this region 
as in many places further south. It was met with a second time 
a little west of Frenchman’s River, and for the third time, in 
somewhat greater numbers, on a piece of prairie near Sweetgrass 
Hills. There were no prairie dogs here or at the locality last 
mentioned, so far as I know, but the ground was riddled with the 
burrows of the tawny marmot (Spervmophilus richardsont), which 
seemed to suit the owls just as well. (Coues.) I found this bird 
breeding in Assiniboia at Rush Lake, June 12th, 1891. I have 
only once taken the trouble to dig down to its eggs. It took 
two of us nearly an hour to get at the nest, which consisted of 
a hollow lined with cow dung and contained 7 eggs. The burrow 
went down three feet and then ran along another four feet to 
the nest. (W. Raine.) 
On June 23rd, 1896, three pairs were found occupying holes on 
the prairie a little north of Moose Jaw, Assa. The nests were not 
dug out, but the birds were nesting ; in June, 1895, along French- 
man’s River, Assa., this species was occasionally seen. In May, 
