1908.] BIRDS. 483 



Dumetella carolinensis (Linn.). Catbird. 



The catbird has not been found north of the Saskatchewan Valley; 

 Macoun, on the authority of Spreadborough, says : 



First seen at Edmonton, Alta., May 25, 1807, heard a number of them singing 

 next day, they soon became common and began to breed; common from Edmon- 

 ton north [should be west] to the McLeod River in June, 1898. 



He also records a specimen taken at Edmonton, May 25, 1897." 



Salpinctes obsoletus (Say). Rock Wren. 



In the early autumn of 1895, J. Alden Loring observed a rock wren 

 at Jasper House, Alberta. Macoun, on the authority of Spread- 

 borough, records one seen at Prairie Creek [near Jasper House], June 

 29, 1898. 6 



Troglodytes aedon parkmani Aud. Western House Wren. 



The house wren is apparently a regular breeder on the Athabaska 

 and lower Peace, and has been detected once on the upper Mackenzie. 



Noted but once in 1901, a single individual being seen in a thicket 

 near Athabaska Landing, August 30. The deserted nest of one was 

 seen in a shed at Edmonton. 



Merritt Cary took a male at Fort McMurray, August 10, 1903, in 

 the dense undergrowth near some abandoned cabins. He was in- 

 formed by Bishop Young that a pair nested in one of the outbuild- 

 ings at Fort Vermilion, Peace River, some years ago. 



On the morning of May 20, 1901, while collecting at Fort Simpson, 

 1 saw a house wren in a brushy tract near the post clearing, but failed 

 to secure it. This is the only instance known of its occurrence at this 

 place. During my return trip, I saw two about a deserted cabin in 

 the deep woods at Fort McMurray on August 12. 



Under the name Troglodyte* aedon, Richardson described a male 

 taken '"near the sources of the Elk River" | Athabaska], by Mr. 

 Drummond." Eggs taken at Lesser Slave Lake in 18G8 by Strachan 

 Jones were received by the Smithsonian Institution. Macoun, on the 

 authority of Spreadborough, states that the species was first seen at 

 Edmonton, Alberta, May 6, 1897; nests with eggs were found, June 

 8 and 11 ; observed from Edmonton to Athabaska Pass in June, 1898 ; 

 common from the mouth of Lesser Slave River to Peace River Land- 

 ing in June. 1903; nesting in holes in trees and in the sandstone 

 cliffs and cut banks of Peace River; specimens of the birds and eggs 

 are recorded from Edmonton. Alberta.'' 



J. Alden Loring took a specimen at Edmonton. September 11. L894. 



"Cni. Canadian Birds, Part III. p. 662, 1904. 



h Ibid., p. 665, 1904. 



c Fauna Boreali-Amerieana, EI, p. .'MT. 1831. 



<*Cat. Canadian Birds, Part III, pp. G(J!>. 670, 1904. 



