189U. J PKOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. Gil 



(Oine), Oak Point, 1884 : Arrived May 3, 1885 ; first seeu, one, on April 

 28; next seeu on May G; is common and breeds here (Small). Portage 

 la Prairie: Common summer resident in 1884; first seen April 27; 

 arrives about April 20; departs early in August (Xasb). Common 

 along rivers in the Nortb west, nesting in old hollow trees at Grand 

 Valley (Macouu). Carberry : Common summer resident; breeding 

 (Thompson). Qu' Appelle : Summer resident; breeds; arrives about 

 May 10 (Guernsey). 



On July 17, went to the White Horse Ilill. Found a large colony of 

 White-breasted Swallows nesting in the old Woodpeckers' holes, with 

 which the timber is riddled, on the margin of the lake that lies north 

 and east of the hill. This is the largest colony I have seen. It num- 

 bers, perhaps, twenty pairs. Nearly all of these settlements that I 

 have noted have been close to a sheet of water. However, they are 

 usually to be found wherever the timber is large enough to be hollow, 

 and scarce enough to cast no gloom about the chosen district. 



214. Clivicola riparia. Bunk Swallow. Saud Martin. 



Somewhat common summer resident; local in distribution. Pem- 

 bina: Breeding in colonies, and along the line to the Kockies (Cones). 

 Winnipeg: Summer resident; abundant (Hine). Portage la Prairie: 

 Tolerably common; summer resident; arrive about May 22; depart 

 about August 23 (Nash). Very abundant-in the Northwest (Macoun). 

 Portage la Prairie; Assinniboine, near Souris' Mouth; Yellowquills' 

 Ferry (Thompson). Shell Kiver, 1885: First seen, seventeen, on Ai)ril 

 30; afterwards seen every day; is common all summer, and breeds 

 here (Calcutt). Qu'Ai)pelle: Summer resident; breeds; arrives about 

 ]May 10 (Guernsey). 



Shash y win e peshou (Martin). It resorts hither in tho beginning of June; har- 

 liors about the steep banks of rivers, where it breeds in holes, making a slight uest 

 of straw and feathers, and lays live white eggs. It is the latest breeder of tho Hud- 

 son's Bay feathered tribes. I have repeatedly found new-laid eggs in the latter end 

 of July, and by the middle of August not one of the Swallow species is to be seen. A 

 few days before their disappearance they collect in numbers to particular ponds nigh 

 Severn Settlement, and tly about along the surface of the water. 



I have interrogated the natives who reside here, also those inland, concerning the 

 Swallow being found torpid under water, but to no purpo.se; indeed, they laugh at 

 my question. I agree with the learned Dr. Forster that Swallows may be under water 

 unknown to the natives, as they don't examine under the ice in the winter; they, for 

 the most part, angle for fish. (Hutchin's MSS., Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1782.) 



These birds do not breed in colonies here, but excavate their holes in the bank of 

 the Assiniboine River, singly, and some distance apart. They are late in nesting. 

 On the 2Lst of July I took out a uest. It was quite new, but contained no eggs. I 

 saw the old birds going in and out of the hole the day before, and just previous to 

 my examining it. (Nash, iu MSS.) 



215. Ampelis garrulus. Bohemian AVax-wing. 



Winnipeg : Winter visitant; tolerably common (Hine). I have seen 

 these birds in this country in the mouth of April only (Hunter). Port- 



