Vol. XX 

 1903 



J Brooks, Bird!: of the Cariboo District, B. C. 28'? 



77. Pocecetes gramineus. Vesper Sparrow. — The Vesper Spar- 

 rows of Cariboo seem closer to the typical species than to either of the 

 subspecies affinis or conjfn is. They were common at 158-Mile House, and 

 were also breeding at timber line near Barkerville. 



78. Ammodramus sandwichensis.? — The Savanna Sparrows of 

 Cariboo belong to the large, small-billed race, found throughout the 

 interior of British Columbia, and are quite distinct from the small gray 

 form breeding in the Lower Fraser Valley and generally identified as 

 alaudiniis. I suspect the former is closer to alauditius and that the latter 

 is an undescrib'ed subspecies. 



79. Spizella monticola ochracea. Western Tree Sp.\rrow. — Breed- 

 ing near Baikerville. 



80. Spizella breweri. Brewer's Sparrow. — Two males taken at 

 158-Mile House, 3d July, 1901. 



81. Melospiza lincolni striata. Forbush's Sparrow. — Tolerably 

 common breeder; one set of five eggs taken at 158-Mile House, 5th June. 



82. Ampelis garrulus. Bohemian Waxwing. — Breeding from 158- 

 Mile House northward. I arrived at Quesnelle too late for eggs, but 

 kept a sharp lookout for Waxwings the following spring at 158-Mile 

 House. I first noticed them there on nth June, svhen I came across a 

 small flock and shot one which proved on dissection to be a female about 

 to lay. On returning to the same spot I fovmd the Waxwings, consisting 

 of a colony of five pairs of birds, still there, and soon discovered a nest in 

 a Murray pine, near the end of a limb and about twenty-five feet up, this 

 then ( i2th June) contained two eggs. On the 15th I took this set, which 

 then consisted of four eggs. The nest was loose and bulky, composed of 

 Usnea moss, dry grass and weed stems, and lined with fine material, with 

 a few green aspen leaves in the lining, no doubt to render the eggs less 

 conspicuous. On the 26th June I carefully looked over all the trees in 

 the neighborhood with my binocular, and found three more nests, all in 

 tall Douglas fir trees ; two of these I was able to climb to ; each contained 

 four eggs within a few days of hatching. The nests were similar to the 

 first but without the green aspen leaves, probably due to the fact that the 

 nests were better concealed from above. I was unable to reach the fourth 

 nest, nor could I find that of the remaining pair of birds. 



S3. Ampelis cedrorum. Cedar Waxwing. — Not observed at 158- 

 Mile House, but found breeding at Quesnelle, where it evidently laid its 

 eggs later than the larger species. 



84. Helminthophila celata. Orange-crowned Warbler. — A scarce 

 summer resident; specimens of old and young birds showed this to be 

 the typical celata and not lufescetis. 



85. Helminthophila peregrina. Tennessee Warbler. — This was a 

 common breeder at i5S-Mile House, where its sharp insistent song was to 

 be heard from every copse in the partially wooded district. An account 

 of its nesting has already been given in ' The Auk ' for January, 1902 (Vol. 

 XIX, pp. 88, 89). 



