VOL. 



j"''J PliOCEEDlNGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSKLM. G09 



were seen enteriug in by lioles that kad evidently been made by tlie 

 Golden- winged Woodpecker. 



Since 1886 common in Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg during their breeding sea- 

 son. The first I ever saw iu the Province arrived at Portage la Prairie May 23rd, 

 1884. There were two, a male and female. These birds bred, and after bringing 

 their young out of the nest remained until August 23, v^'hen they disappeared. On 

 the 13th of May, 1885, several pairs arrived and bred, departing as soon as the young 

 could lly. Since that they have increased greatly. (Nash iu MSS). 



211. Petrochelidon lunifrons. Cliff Swallow, House Swallow, Eave Swal 



ow. 



Very abnndant summer resident. Nesting about buildings; most 

 abundant of the family, breeding at Pembina, and along the line west- 

 ward to the Kockies (Coues). Winnii)eg : Sujnmer resident ; abundant 

 (Hine). "House Swallow" Ossowa (Wagner). Oak Point, 1884: 

 Arrived May 22 (Small). Portage la Prairie: Common summer resi- 

 dent; arrive about May 16; depart nsually the first week in August; 

 in 1884, first seen May 17, (Nash). Portage la Prairie: Common 

 along the river banks nesting iu great numbers iu Little Souris and 

 Qu' Appelle Rivers (Hine, 1858). All along rivers in the Northwest 

 (Macoun). Carberry : Rare. Brandon : Abundant. Shoal Lake, west: 

 Very common. FortEllice: Abundant. Assissipi: Very abundant; 

 breeding (Tliompson). Shell River, 1885 : First seen, eighteen on May 

 23 ; afterwards seen ever3^ day ; is common all summer and breeds 

 hero under eaves (Calcutt). Qu' Appelle: Summer resident, breeds; 

 arrives about May 10 (Guernsey). 



On May 25, 1882, at Brandon, under an 80-foot barn eave tbat faced 

 the south, and stood by the river, I counted fifty-four nests of the Cliff 

 Swallow and the remains or foundations of many more; many were 

 bunched together in tiers, two or more deep. 



On July 4, at Fort Ellice, on the Hudson's Bay Company's buildings 

 along the river, are large numbers of Cliff Swallows' nests. All the 

 higher buildings the Sheltered River Valley have numbers of them 

 under the eaves, but none of the buildings on the hills, or at the ele- 

 vated fort, are ornamented. 



On June 4, 1884, near Shoal Lake, west, saw above thirty Cliff Swal- 

 lows' nests under the eaves of a house that stood near a small lake. 

 The birds had evidently been in possession of their nests for some time, 

 as they were thoroughly repaired, but very few had begun to lay, 



June G. Assessipi : Although the carpenters have scarcely finished 

 the new mill, and hotel, over three hundred pairs of Clift" Swallows have 

 begun to build under the eaves. The noise of such an extensive colony 

 is discernible at a great distance, and is not altogether considered pleas- 

 ant by the townspeople. The remarkably favorable circumstances that 

 have called this colony so soon into existence are high walls in a shel- 

 tered hollow, with a sunny exposure and proximity to a sheet of water. 



Mr. George A. Blake, of Edmonton, has sent me a photograph, token 

 in Fort Saskatchewan, which shows about five hundred CI i ft' Swallows' 

 Proc. N. M. 90 39 



