1908.] BIRDS. 451 



Progne subis (Linn.). Purple Martin. 



The only reliable record of this species in any part of the Macken- 

 zie region which I find is that of Macoun, who says, on the authority 

 of Spreadborough : 



Observed two at the crossing of the McLeod River, [west] of Edmonton, 

 Juno 1!>, 1898. * * * Observed several in the dead woods north <>t' Peace 

 River, near White Mud River, lat. 56° 20' in June. 1903.° 



Richardson's record of its occurrence at Great Bear Lake is proba- 

 bly an error. & 



Petrochelidon lunifrons (Say). Cliff Swallow. 



This sociable species is a common summer resident throughout the 

 region north nearly to the Arctic coast, nesting on the faces of cliffs 

 and clay banks, and beneath the eaves of the buildings of the trading 

 posts. 



In the spring of L901 we first noted the cliff swallow at Fort 

 Chipewyan, where a number were seen on May 31. We next ob- 

 served it on June 11, 10 miles below Peace River, where a large col- 

 ony was nesting on the left bank of the river. During the first 100 

 miles of our journey along Slave River, below Fort Smith, we fre- 

 quently observed the species, June 29 to July 1, and collected a speci- 

 men on the latter date. The nests were often built on the face of a 

 clay bank amid the nesting holes of a colony of bank swallows, and 

 the two species seemed to be on the best of terms. When Ave ascended 

 the Athabaska in August, deserted nests were frequently seen, but 

 with the exception of a pair which were still lingering about a nest- 

 ing site near Pelican Rapid on August k 24, we observed none of the 

 birds. 



In the spring of 1903 cliff swallows were first observed 30 miles 

 below Fort McMurray on the morning of May •_!!>. when a few were 

 seen. A number were noted at Smith Landing, June 12, and at Fort 

 Smith, June 14, and they were common along Slave River between 

 there and Limestone Point. June 15 to 17. The species was observed 

 at Fort Providence by my brother and Cary, .July 2 to S, where sev- 

 eral pairs had nests on one of the post buildings: and it was noted 

 also between there and Fort Simpson, July 9, and at the latter place, 

 July 10. On their return trip it was observed ;it Fort Simpson. July 

 24, and at Fort McMurray. August 12. During my trip northward 



a Cat. Canadian Birds, Tart III. p. 538, 1904. 



6 " It makes its lirsl appearance nil Greal Bear Lake on the 17th of .May. al 

 which time the snow still partially covers the ground, and the rivers and lakes 

 are East bound in ice." (Fauna Boreali-Americana, II. p. .'!•'!."">. 1831.) Twenty 

 years later he speaks of it thus: " I Mi the Winipeg it [the hank swallow] was 

 accompanied by the purple swift {Progne purpurea), whose northern limit we 

 did not ascertain." (Arctic Searching Expedition, 1, p. 229, 1851.) 



