VOL 



;9^u!"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. ()03 



ub.seiice of the black fibrous roots so commonly used as liaiiig. The eg'gs 

 are amon^j the most beautiful of auy produced by the si)arrows. When 

 first the discoverer draws aside the brush aud exposes the uest with its 

 complement his feelings are as of finding an exquisite casket of jewels. 

 Although this is oueof the most common of our sparrows, and although 

 on the scrubby plain between the Duck Mountaiu and the Assiniboine 

 in early June, I could have found as many as four or five nests in an 

 hour's walk, the treasure-trove feeling in connection with the eggs 

 continues in full force. 



I infer from the above and other observations that the Shattuck 

 Bunting breeds twice, if not three times, each season with us. It leaves 

 the " Big Plain " about the end of September. 



198. Spizella pusilla. Field Sparrow. 



Very rare summer resident. Red River Settlement: Breeding (D. 

 Gunn). Winnipeg: Summer resident; tolerably common (Hine). 

 Have seen it west of Winnipeg (R. II. Hunter). Qu'Appelle : Com- 

 mon summer resident; breeds; arrives April 15 (Guernsey). 



199. Juiico hyemalis. Slate-coloved Junco. 



Abundant migrant frequenting thickets and hillsides. Probably 

 breeding in the Winnepegosis region, as it breeds in Minnesota (Trippe). 

 Mouse River : At boundary in September ; abundant (Cones). Duflferin : 

 Arrived before Ai)ril 15 (Dawson). Winnipeg: Transient visitor; 

 abundant (Hine). Ossowa: Common migrant; 1885, first seen, two, 

 April 7; next seen, April 1(!; became common April 20; went north about 

 end of May (Wagner). Oak Point: 1885, first seen, Aprils; next seen, 

 April 4. when it became common; is common and breeds here (Small). 

 Portage la Prairie : Abundant s])ring and autumn visitor ; arrives about 

 the first week in April, reapi)ears early in September, and remains until 

 November; the last straggler I saw was on the 5th of that month ; il 

 is somewhat strange that I could never find any of these birds breeding 

 here, as 1 have several times found their nests in the province of Ontario 

 (Nash). Red Deer River aiul Assiniboine River, July, 1881 ; probably 

 breeding (Macoun). Carberry : Very abundant migrant in spring and 

 fall ; never seen in summer ; Rat Portage, abundant in October (Thomp- 

 son). Two Rivers: 1884, April; 1885, first seen, three, on Ajiril 6; 

 next seen, April 17; migrant (Criddle). Shell River: 1885, first seen, 

 one, male, on April 3; next seen, thirteen, on April 15; becamecommon 

 on April 24; male and female in flock; a transient visitant, passing 

 north and not breeding or remaining any time (Calcutt.) 



Towards the end of Ai)ril they became very abundant; about that 

 time, in 1884, there was some severe weather, with a fresh fall of snow, 

 and the Juncos disappeared ; but May-day proved a beautiful morning, 

 and every copse and log-pile st>emed alive with them and their com- 

 rades, the Tree Sparrows, which appeared to come from their various 



