CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 315 
{t is rather closely limited to the region of spruce and pine forests of 
the interior, and occurs along the open coasts of the Arctic and 
Bering sea merely as a straggler, and is unknown from the various 
islands of Bering sea. (Nelson.) This species is a very common 
resident in the Yukon district. Along the coast it is quite abundant. 
(Turner.) 
BREEDING Notes.—In the spring of 1899 their arrival was noted 
on April roth in the Yukon district of Alaska. At this date they 
were already paired, and a female secured contained large ova. 
On April 26th I located a pair of hawk owls which by their rest- 
lessness indicated a nesting site near by. The nest was finally 
found, but there were as yet no eggs. It was in the hollow end of 
a leaning dead spruce stub about 10 feet above the ground. The 
dry rotten chips in the bottom were modelled into a neatly rounded 
depression. The male bird was quite noisy often repeating a far- 
reaching rolling trill. Both birds frequently uttered a low whine, 
alternately answering one another. On May 8th, while snow- 
shoeing across the country toward the base of the Jade mountains, 
my attention was attracted by the distant trill of a hawk owl. 
After a half hour’s search through a heavy stretch of timber, I 
located the bird perched at the top of a tall live spruce, partly hid- 
den by the foliage. Then I began an inspection of all dead stubs 
and trees in the vicinity. I had given up hope of finding a nest 
and had started on, when, by mere chance, I happened to catch 
sight of a hole in a dead spruce fully 200 yards away. A close 
approach showed a sitting bird which afterwards proved to be the 
male. Its tail was protruding at least two inches from the hole, 
while the bird’s head was turned so that it was facing out over its 
back. When I tapped on the tree the bird left the nest, flew off 
about thirty yards, turned and made for my head like a shot. It 
planted itself with its full weight on to my skull, drawing blood 
from three claw-marks in my scalp. My hat was torn off and thrown 
twelve feet. All this the owl did with scarcely a stop in its head- 
long swoop. When as far on the other side the courageous bird 
imade another dash and then another, before I had collected enough 
wits to get in a shot. The female which was evidently the bird I 
had first discovered on look-out duty then made her appearance, 
but was less vociferous. The nest contained three newly hatched 
young and six eggs in various advanced stages of incubation. The 
