CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 495 
Hat, Sask., April 30th, 1894, two individuals, both males; next 
day five were seen and by May 4th they were common and the 
same at Crane lake on the 7th; common on the east end of the 
Cypress hills in the latter end of June; in 1891 it was found to be 
common and breeding around Banff, Rocky mountains, in the direc- 
tion of Devil lake; at Edmonton, Alta., after May ist, 1897, they 
very soon became common and began to pair; they were common 
in the foothills from Calgary to Crow Nest pass; common on all 
the small prairies throughout the Peace river country between lat. 
55°-57°; common along the trail on all the dry grass land from 
Edmonton to Jasper House in 1898; this species was common at 
Kamloops, Spence Bridge, Enderby and inthe Nicola valley, B.C., in 
June, 1889, and on the plateau between the North Thompson and 
Bonaparte rivers; a few observed at Chilliwack, B.C., in the spring, 
and one at the mouth of Tami Hy creek, September 8th, rg01; in 
April and May, 1903, they were quite common at Penticton in 
southern British Columbia; first seen at Fernie, B.C., April 29th, 
Common by May 4th, found a nest half built in a clump of grass on 
May 2oth; first seen at Midway, B.C. April 16th, 1905, common by 
May ist. (Spreadborough.) Very common in the interior; breeds. 
(Streator.) An abundant summer resident east of Coast range, also 
on Vancouver island. (Fannin.) Migrant; not common at Chilli- 
wack. Specimens are very pale and may belong to ajffinis. (Brooks.) 
BREEDING NOTES.—Several nests were found at Pembina, con- 
taining eggs, about the middle of June. One of them also held two 
Molothrus eggs. The nests were built in open ground, quite deeply 
sunken so as to be flush with the surface, and more substantial than 
those of many ground-builders, the walls being an inch or more 
thick at the brim. The cavity is small and deep in comparison with 
the whole nest. The usual materials are-grasses and weed-stalks, 
the coarser material outside, the finer fibres within and at the 
bottom. The eggs, of which I have not found more than four, 
measure about 0.80 by 0.55; they are grayish-white, heavily marked 
all over with spots, dashes and blotches of reddish-brown, and a 
sprinkling of fine dots of the same or darker brown. The female is 
a close sitter, not leaving the nest until nearly trodden upon, and 
then fluttering off as if crippled, to distract attention from the nest 
to herself. (Cowes.) This is a very common prairie species, breed- 
ing in all parts of southern Saskatchewan and Alberta. A nest 
