^°1890.'"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 523' 



farther uorth these birds are too few iu numLer to furnisli a material of diet. (Rich- 

 ardsou, 1827.) 



Garden Island, Lake of the Woods. Large flock of Passenger Pigeons (Columba 

 migratoria) flew backwards and forwards over the island, occasionally alighting in 

 dense masses in the small groves. (Hind, August 24, 1857.) 



In a wheat field opposite St. James Church (2 miles west of Fort Garry) were 

 several pigeon traps, constructed of nets 20 feet long by 15 broad, stretched upon a 

 frame. One side was propped up by a pole 8 feet long, so that when the birds passed 

 under the net, to pick up the grain strewed beneath, a man or a boy, concealed by a 

 fence or bush, withdrew the prop by means of a string attached to it, and sometimes 

 succeeded iu entrapping a score or more of pigeons at one fall. Near the net some 

 dead trees are placed for the pigeons to perch on, and sometimes stuffed birds are 

 used as decoys to attract passing flocks. (Hind, 1858.) 



On Waterhen River, June 23, 1881, I found a few wild pigeons breeding. There 

 was under a score of nests and they were variously placed, some of them but 10 feet 

 from the ground and not in large trees. They were such flimsy structures that the 

 eggs were clearly seen through the interstices from below, and one old bird was shot 

 as she s;it. 



In the latter part of August and the early part of September I saw great flocks on 

 the Upper Assiniboine, and on Swan River above Livingston. They were feeding on 

 the berrits of Cornus stolonifera. In all my travels in the northwest I have never since 

 foiiud them breeding. (Prof. John Macouu in MSS.) 



I think, too, we have far less birds than formerly, especially wild fowls and pigeons. 

 I remember when I used to see flocks of pigeons following the course of the Red River 

 which Mere so large that the front of each flock was out of sight in the north whilst 

 the tail was out of sight in the south, but they never come now.. (Donald Murray's- 

 statement in 1887 to Miller Christy, referring to the early days of the colony.) 



They breed early, as I shot a female on May 31, 1884, containing an egg properly 

 shelled and jnst ready for extrusion. 



They do not in this locality build in colonies, but place their nests singly, usually 

 in small oaks, the males at the time the females are incubating keeping iu small flocks. 



On the 27th of June, 1885, I shot fourteen of these birds, all males, each one of them 

 having its crop crammed full of green caterpillars, mostly of one species of geometra. 



Early in July the young appear with the old ones of both sexes. (Nash, in MSS.) 



102. Zenaidura macroura. Mourning Dove. 



Kare suniDier resideut of the southern part of the first prairie steppe ; 

 common at Pembina in June (Coues). Winnipeg: Rather rare (Hine). 

 Portage la Prairie : Tolerably common summer resident near here, breed- 

 ing in small wild plum trees; arrives in Maj^; nest found containing 

 two eggs, on which bird was sitting June 7, 1885; not observed by 

 me near AVinnipeg (Nash). Never seen at Carberry; once noted at 

 Turtle Mountain, May, 1882 (Thompson). Qu'Appelle: Common sum- 

 mer resident; breeds; arrives May 12 (Guernsey). 



103. Cathartes aura. Turkey Vulture. 



Tolerably common iu summer and jirobably breeding; frequently 

 seen in the lied River region at the boundary (Coues). Winnipeg: One 

 or two observed (Hine). Red River Settlement: On the 27th of April, 

 1859, the winter snow was coveri-ug the ground to the depth of a foot, 

 while the rivers were still bound ; the only part of the interior of 



