CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 
73 
Ww 
1898, by Mr. Taverner; I believe it will be found distributed over 
both Muskoka and Parry Sound districts in summer. (j. H. 
Fleming.) A common summer resident at London and in Bruce 
co., Ont. (W. E. Saunders.) 
A very rare summer resident of thick woods in Manitoba and 
northwest to Lake Winnipegosis, where Macoun shot it in 1881; 
there are also three specimens in the museum at Winnipeg, taken 
by Hine. (£. T. Seton.) A fairly abundant breeding species 
along the thickly wooded banks of the Assiniboine river, Man.; 
observed as far north in this province as Fort Ellice, not seen west 
of Fort Ellice. (Atkinson.) Rare at Aweme, Man.; nests in holes, 
usually the deserted nest of a flicker. (Criddle.) 
BREEDING NotTes.—One of those birds that within the last fifteen 
years are certainly becoming commoner in Ontario. They are 
numerous in the vicinity of Kingston and on Wolfe island. A curi- 
ous breeding habit is the use of snake skins in the nest, which is 
always placed in the hole of a tree. I never saw a nest without 
pieces of snake skin. They commence to lay about the 1st of June, 
and are by no means rare now, 1901. (Rev. C. J. Young.) This 
large flycatcher has the peculiar habit of placing around the edge 
of its nest the cast-off skin of a snake, which is probably done to 
protect its nest from squirrels taking possession of the hollow wherein 
the nest is built, as, no doubt, the sight of a snake’s skin coiled up 
would scare that little animal away. I have shot specimens of this 
species in the months of May and August, and noticed the plumage 
very fine in the latter month. Observed from May 8th to August 
28th. (Wuntle.) Found this species nesting at Rice lake, Ont., 
June 16th, 1902. (W. Raine.) Nests quite frequently at Ottawa, 
Ont. Nest is generally built in a hole in a free about ten feet or more 
from the ground, where a large branch has been blown off. The 
nest is composed of straw, leaves, rootlets and vegetable matter, 
lined with feathers and pieces of snake skin. Eggs, four to five, 
light buffy brown, streaked lengthwise by lines and markings of 
purplish and dark brown. A nest found on May 2nd had the young 
half-grown. (G. R. White.) A nest with four eggs was taken near 
Toronto, Ont., by Mr. W. Raine, May 25th, 1895. It was in a hole 
in a poplar, fifteen feet from the ground. 
