^^qq? 1 ^] Bent, Summer Birds of Southwestern Saskatchewan. 429 



69. Buteo borealis. Red-tailed Hawk. — None of our party saw any 

 Red-tailed Hawk of any form, either season, except a mounted specimen 

 which Dr. Bishop saw in a local taxidermist's shop. It was shot somewhere 

 in the vicinity of Maple Creek. He did not examine it closely but thinks 

 it was nearer calurus than krideri. It was an immature bird. He and 

 Dr. Dwight returned later to buy it, but it had been claimed by the party 

 for whom it was mounted. 



Prof. Macoun recorded the eastern form as breeding at Indian Head, so 

 I have listed tins bird as borealis, pending further knowledge on the sub- 

 ject. 



70. Buteo swainsoni. Swainson's Hawk. — The commonest hawk, 

 breeding abundantly in all available timber, in isolated trees and even in 

 bushes. One nest was found on a shelf on the face of a high sandbank. 

 Thirteen nests were found in 1905 and 7 or 8 nests in 1906. Nests with eggs 

 were found on the following dates: May 30, June 3, 5, 9 and 14, 1905, and 

 June 11, 16, 18, 23 and 25, 1906. Nests with young were found on June 25 

 and 30, 1906. 



It will thus be seen that these hawks are very late breeders; very few 

 of their eggs were laid before June first. 



The abundance of gophers in this region, provides a bountiful food supply 

 for tliis and the following species, sufficient to support them in large num- 

 bers. Fortunalely the ranchmen appreciate the value of these hawks in 

 this respect and seldom disturb them, consequently they are very tame. 



71. Archibuteo ferrugineus. Ferruginous Rough-leg. — Common. 

 Breeding in large trees in the timber, in isolated trees along the creeks, 

 and occasionally on the ground on buttes or rocky hillsides. The nests 

 are very large structures, much resembling those of the Osprey. We found 

 7 nests in 1905 and only 3 in 1906, on the following dates: May 30, and 

 June 4, 6, and 9, 1905, and June 27 and 28, 1906. All of these nests con- 

 tained young, except one which was deserted and held broken eggs. Most 

 of the young were hatched before the last week in May, and probably most 

 of the eggs were laid before May first. Nearly half of the birds seen were 

 in the melanistic phase and in two cases we found a light bird mated with 

 a dark one. Two young were taken from a nest alive and reared in cap- 

 tivity, one of which developed into a melanistic bird and one into the light 

 phase of plumage. (See Auk, XXIV, April, 1907, p. 213.) 



72. Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle. — The only one seen flew 

 almost within gunshot of us at Crane Lake on June 26, 1906. We could 

 plainly see the golden hackles on its neck glistening in the sunlight, but 

 did not succeed in shooting it. 



73. Haliaeetus leucocephalus alascanus. Northern Bald Eagle. — 

 Doubtful. "Up Maple Creek on July 5 we saw a large gray eagle, that 

 we were all confident was a young H. I. alascanus. It was seated on the 

 top of a high cut-bank about 300 yards away. We saw it quite plainly 

 as it flew and it seemed much too light to be the Golden." (Bishop.) 



74. Falco mexicanus. Prairie Falcon. — We saw several large fal- 



