250 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
at Chilliwack. I have no record from Vancouver Island. (Fannin.) 
Only noticed west of the Coast range; rare. (Brooks.) Hawks, 
presumably of this species, were thrice seen in the British Columbia 
interior. (Rhoads.) 
342, Swainson Hawk. 
Buteo swainsont. BONAP. 1838. 
One specimen collected at Moose Factory in 1881, by W. Haydon 
is in the U.S. National Museum collection. (Preble.) Accidental 
visitant; rare. A few examples of this large hawk have been shot at 
Montreal, Que. I saw a fine dark specimen which was shot early in 
the spring of 1894 near the city, and was stuffed by Mr. Bailly, 
taxidermist. (Wvntle.) Rare around Toronto, Ont. I have two 
specimens taken at Toronto, Ont., both in the dark plumage, and 
I have seen two more local specimens. (/. H. Fleming.) This 
species arrives on the southern prairie in March, and soon becomes 
abundant. It is the characteristic hawk of the prairie, and is found 
in every part of that extensive region and is of great service in re- 
stricting the multiplication of gophers and other rodents. Although 
a prairie bird it ranges in the valley of the Mackenzie beyond the 
Arctic circle, and has been taken at Nulato on the Yukon. It is very 
rare in the Rocky mountains; only one pair was seen in four months 
residence of Mr. Spreadborough, at Banff, in 1891, and only one, a 
female, was seen and killed at Revelstoke by him in 1890. 
On British Columbia mainland and Vancouver island. Nowhere 
common. (fannin.) I once observed a flock of some hundreds, 
all of the dark phase, at Chilliwack, B.C., and have seen young 
birds in the autumn; this dark form is a common breeder on all the 
mountains, at high elevations, being only found in open or park- 
like country. The only pair of white-breasted birds I ever saw in 
British Columbia was breeding on a low mountain at Vernon, 
(Brooks.) Saw'three at Penticton, B.C., in 1903. (Spreadborough.) 
BREEDING NOTES.—Seton in ‘‘Birds of Manitoba,” on page 532, 
says: ‘‘The nest of this bird is not peculiar. I have examined 
about fifty altogether, and have hitherto failed to find one that 
answers the published descriptions, which credit the bird with using 
a lining of hair and other fine material. All the nests examined 
