Vol 'm9 XYI ] Munro, Birds of the Okanagan Valley. 69 



on set wings, with a loud tearing noise; when close over my head, he would 

 stop short, and then mount straight into the air, head first, in a " climbing " 

 position. After rising in this fashion for twenty or thirty feet, he would 

 assume a normal position and mount in a succession of spirals. The 

 female appeared with a large snake twisting in her claws and flew straight 

 to the nest, not having seen me. After a few minutes spent in the nest, 

 she joined the male and they both flew into one of the firs on the top of the 

 canyon. It was impossible to see what disposition she made of the snake. 



Shortly after this, one of the young raised itself above the rim of the 

 nest and after flapping its naked wings several times, raised itself over the 

 nest rim and ejected a stream of excreta down the face of the cliff. 



No refuse, which would have told of their food habits, was found below 

 the nest, but it is probable that Pikas formed a large portion of their diet. 



July 31, 1916. The two young were seen, soaring over the canyon. 



Buteo swainsoni. Swainson's Hawk. — Regular summer resident, 

 arriving about the middle of April and leaving in August; the latest record 

 is September 6, I have no winter records. 



During the summers of 1913, 1914 and 1915, there was a serious local 

 irruption of large crickets and grasshoppers. These were found in countless 

 hordes on the open range, overlooking the city of Vernon, and ate every 

 green thing on the hills. In the summer of 1915, I noticed that they were 

 attacked by a reddish colored parasite that clustered on the head and 

 thorax. This must have killed great numbers, as they were not so plentiful 

 the following two years. During July and August when grasshoppers were 

 most abundant, the Swainson's Buzzards gathered in unusual numbers, 

 for this country, and fed exclusively on these insects. Juveniles were in 

 the majority but there was a sprinkling of adults, some of them in the dark 

 phase. 



Three juveniles collected on July 15, 1915, were in the spotted plumage 

 and were moulting the secondary feathers on the wings. Adults collected 

 were in various stages of moult. Their stomachs were distended with 

 crickets and grasshoppers. These insects, when they are available, seem 

 to be preferred to any other food. Their abundance and the ease with 

 which they are captured, is suitable to the rather sluggish temperament of 

 this Buteo. They occasionally take birds, as Major Allan Brooks found 

 seven downy Ruffed Grouse in the crop of a breeding female; but I think 

 they catch fewer small mammals than does the Red-tail. 



On July 16, 1914, I saw a flock of forty in all plumages, on the open 

 range. Some were wheeling and circling close to the ground, others were 

 standing, gorged, on fence posts, in the grass, and on the face of a small 

 butte. 



While hunting, they are often persecuted by Kingbirds, both Tyrannus 

 tyrannus and veriicalis. In trying to escape from their tormentors, they 

 sometimes turn completely over, sideways, in a " loop the loop " move- 

 ment. I once saw two Swainson's Buzzards fly towards each other, fasten 

 their claws together and drop several yards, rolling over and over. 



