296 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
districts lying between Lake Superior and lat. 67° or 68°, and between 
Hudson bay and the Pacific. It is common on the borders of Great 
Bear lake; and there and in the higher parallels of latitude must 
pursue its prey during the summer months by daylight. It keeps 
however, within the woods and does not frequent the barren grounds 
like the snowy owl. (zchardson.) A rare species; shot at Sumas 
only. (Lord.) A rare species; I have one specimen, taken at 
Chilliwack, B.C., in November, 1887; and another that was taken 
at Stewart lake, B.C., lat. 54°, 1891. (Fannin.) Rare at Chilli- 
wack; most probably breeds; rare in winter at Lake Okanagan, 
B.C. (Brooks.) One shot at Vernon, B.C., was mounted by Mr. 
Pound last year, 1891. (Khoads.) This fine owl is a common 
and well known resident throughout all the wooded parts of Alaska 
from Sitka north to the northern tree limit, and from the vicinity 
of Bering strait throughout the territory. (Nelson.) This species 
is a resident of the Yukon valley and was obtained on the coast at 
Uphim slough, the northern part of the Yukon delta. (Turner.) 
Reported by Bishop from two or three places in the interior of 
Alaska. 
BREEDING NoTeEs.—I should not say that this owl was in “great 
abundance” in the Anderson region, as inadvertently stated on 
page 33, Vol. III. of the Land Birds. We certainly observed very 
few specimens, and we found but one nest, that referred to in the 
same paragraph, on the 19th July, 1862, near Lockhart river, on 
the route to Fort Good Hope. It was built on a spruce tree at a 
height of about twenty feet, and was composed of twigs and mosses 
thinly lined with feathers and down. It contained two eggs and 
two young, both of which had lately died. The female left the nest 
at our approach and flew to another tree at some distance, where 
she was shot. (Macfarlane.) 
During the winter of 1895-96 Mr. Dippie and myself received 
over a dozen of these birds in the flesh that were shot in Alberta. 
We also received about 50 American hawk owls in the flesh that 
same winter. Settlers informed me that the whole of Alberta 
swarmed with owls and they remained until April when all migrated 
north except one pair of great gray owls which remained and nested 
in the Red Deer River district, and Mr. Dippie secured the eggs along 
with the parent which is probably the only record of this bird ever 
nesting as far south, as its summer home is along Great Bear lake 
