160 Bird-Nesting 



banks of the Ottawa river, and are plentiful about Quebec, 

 Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine. The nest 

 is made on the ground under the low, horizontal branches of 

 fir trees, often in swampy situations. It consists of a hollow 

 in the ground, lined with leaves and grass, and the number of 

 eggs varies from nine to fifteen. A set of ten eggs before me 

 are very handsome, they are rich cream, thickly spotted with 

 reddish-brown, and measure 1.70x1.20. They were taken near 

 Quebec, June 5th, 1890. 



The American hawk owl occasionally breeds about Oak 

 Lake. A clutch of four eggs in the collection of Charles E. 

 Doe, of Providence, was taken here June 2nd, 1891. The nest 

 was made of sticks and leaves, in a scrub oak, 20 feet from the 

 ground. I have two sets of eggs before me that were collected 

 in Manitoba, as well as several skins of the birds. A clutch of 

 four eggs was taken April 20th, 1890, at Lake Frances, in 

 Manitoba. The nest was built near the top of a fir tree, and 

 was composed of sticks and leaves, and lined with feathers and 

 grass. Another clutch of five eggs was taken at Minnedosa, 

 at the foot of the Riding Mountains, May 15th, 1891. The 

 eggs are the same size and similar to those of the short-eared 

 owl, and can be distinguished from those of the long-eared owl 

 by their smaller size : they average 1.55x1.23. This bird be- 

 comes more numerous towards the north of Lake Winnipeg, 

 and on the north Saskatchewan, and west of Hudson Bay, 

 throughout the fir countries. It is common around Great 

 Slave Lake, and Mr. MacFarlane found a number in the 

 Anderson River region, nesting in the top branches of pine 

 trees. This species is said to breed in northern Maine, and 

 probably does so in New Brunswick and Quebec, and in the 

 vast unexplored territory lying between Lake Superior and 

 Hudson Bay. Mr. W. H. Dall found a nest centaining six eggs 

 on the Yukon, Alaska, April 5th. The eggs were laid in a 

 hollow in the top of an old birch stump, fifteen feet from the 

 ground. The eggs found in a nest vary from four to seven. 

 This species has been obtained in Great Britain. 



The European hawk owl is included among North American 

 birds, on account of having been obtained at St. Michael's, in 



