^°189o!"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 627 



248. Galeoscoptes carolinensis. Catbird. 



Abundant summer resident of low thickets. Common in Eed River 

 region and westward along the boundary to Turtle Mountains ; breed- 

 ing (Coues). Winnipeg : Summer resident ; abundant (Hiue). North 

 to Lake Winnipeg (Ridgway). Ossowo : Common; breeding; 1885, 

 first seen, one, on May 26 ; next seen, May 27 (Wagner). Oak Point: 

 1884, arrived April 30 (?) ; 1885, first seen, one, on May 14 ; next seen, 

 one, on 15th ; is common and breeds here (Small). Portage la Prairie : 

 Common; summer resident ; arrives about May 22; departs about Sep- 

 tember 15 (Nash). Carberry : Abundant; summer resident; breeding; 

 all thickets from Carberry to Birtle and north to Dark Mountain abun- 

 dant ; breeding; Long River (Thompson). Two Rivers: 1885, first 

 seen, one, on May 25 ; next seen, one, on May 26 ; fairly common 

 (Criddle). Common throughout the wooded country in the Northwest 

 (Macoun). Shell River: 1885, first seen, one, male, on May 18; next 

 seen, four, on May 24 ; is common all summer and breeds here (Cal- 

 cutt). Qu'Appelle : Common summer resident ; breeds ; arrives about 

 May 15 (Guernsey). 



On June 22, 1882, I took the four eggs from the catbird nest found 

 June 18 ; one measured H ^J if and is of a deep blue-green ; the 

 others are similar. The nest was made entirely of sticks and black 

 fibrous roots, and was placed in the densest part of a willow thicket, 

 thus giving us a pair of sooty birds building in a gloomy thicket a 

 black nest to contain the brightest blue-green eggs that ever were 

 laid! 



The month of June, 1884, was spent in traveling with my brother, 

 "per cart," in the country between Carberry and Cote's Reserve, near 

 Fort Pelly. Throughout the whole of this region the catbird is an 

 abundant species, and I had ample opportunities for studying the song 

 of this bird, for it seemed at much pains to render itself the most con- 

 spicuous of the feathered population, while at the same time it strove 

 with equal diligence to remain unseen. Each night we slept in some 

 thicket of willows, and each morning we were awakened by an inces- 

 sant scolding from a vituperative catbird, who continued to skulk 

 about and mew and squeal, until at length the evident miscarriage of 

 his purpose to remain unseen warned him that his wisest course en- 

 tailed a speedy departure. 



249. Harporhynchus rufus. Brown Thrasher, or Thrush. 



Common summer resident of dry, partly open country. Pembina: 

 Nesting (Coues). Winnipeg: Summer resident; tolerably common 

 (Hine). On the flank of the Big Ridge, the Cinnamon Thrush {Tnrdus 

 rufus) was noticed (Hine). Lake Winnipeg (Ridgway). Red River 

 Valley: Summer resident; tolerably common (Hunter). Oak Point: 

 1884 ; arrived May 21 (Small). Tolerably common summer resident 



