CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 159 
30th there were thousands at Deep lake, yet on June 3rd they were 
all gone. On June 3rd, 1895, specimens were shot by the writer at 
Thirty-mile spring, and on June 6th others at Twelve-mile lake, 
near Wood mountain, Sask. They seemed to be breeding. Bishop 
and Bent saw several migrating flocks near Hay lake, Sask., May 
29th, 1905, in company with sanderlings. Two males taken at 
Big Stick lake by Bishop, June 14th, 1906, were in breeding condition. 
A flock seen by Bishop, July 13th, was the beginning of the fall 
migration. In August, 1906, Atkinson noted this bird in ‘‘countless 
thousands’’ between Saskatoon, Sask. and Edmonton, Alta. Rich- 
ardson, Ross and Macfarlane agree in saying that this species occurs 
in immense numbers in the breeding season both in the wooded 
country and Barren Grounds and extends right up to the Arctic 
coast. Nelson and Turner both say that this is a very common 
species in Alaska, breeding throughout most of the country, but 
especially along the marshy northern coast. In British Columbia 
it is a common migrant, and Mr. Fannin has taken it in July on 
Burrard inlet, so it is probable that a few pairs breed there. Brooks 
says that it may breed in northern Chilcotin, B.C. 
BREEDING NoTEes.—This species arrives at St. Michael, Alaska, 
about May 25th. Its food consists entirely of aquatic worms, 
slugs, larve and flies. It breeds in June. The nest is placed 
among the grasses and consists of a lot of grass blades arranged 
with little care. Four or five eggs, of greenish ground, thickly 
blotched with dark, are laid. The young are able to fly by the first 
of August. (Turner.) The usual number of eggs is four, which 
vary considerably in exact colouration. The ground-colour in the 
very large series before me, obtained in the vicinity of St. Michael, 
shades by every degree from the greenish clay colour to warm, buffy 
olive-brown. The spots and markings are very irregular in size 
and shape, but are usually larger about the large end of the egg. 
(Nelson.) The nest, like that of the red phalarope, is a slight de- 
pression in the ground, lined with a few dry leaves and grasses, and 
is almost invariably situated on the margin of small pools or sheets 
of water. Upwards of seventy nests were secured, the number of 
eggs being always four. (Macjarlane.) 
Principally migratory, but a few breed on the Pribilof islands. 
Elliot collected young on St. George island in 1873, and I obtained 
two, just from the egg, on St. Paul island, July 2nd, 1890. These 
