surprised to discover that I had col- 

 lected a fine male black-throated bunt- 

 ing-. Needless to state I took con- 

 siderable pains to preserve the speci- 

 men, and it is yet in my collection. I 

 examined the locality very carefully 

 but failed to find trace of any other 

 specimens and concluded that this in- 

 dividual had very heedlessly wander- 

 ed in company with kindred migrating 

 species far beyond «is own northern 

 range, which is quoted as being oc- 

 casionally as far north as southern 

 Minnesota. I have watched carefully 

 and constantly and made general en- 

 quiries but have been unable to re- 

 cord another specimen since that date. 

 Their range extends over the width of 

 the Mississippi valley line of migra- 

 tion as far south as Texas and should 

 future conditions prove favorable we 

 would welcome him as one of our re- 

 gular summer residents. 



CHELIDON ERYGTHROGASTER. 

 Barn Swallow. 



When I first began to study Mani- 

 toba bird-life I noted the absence 

 of the well known barn swallow of 

 the east from among tha immense 

 numbers of swallows found in the 

 country, and for some years I did 

 not see or hear a specimen, nor did 

 I learn of any collections elsewhere 

 in Manitoba. My first collection was 

 made on the Portage slough on Aug. 

 S, 1901, of a fine male bird from a large 

 flock of swallows careering about the 

 slough, and I was much struck with 

 the strangeness of the sight of a 

 solitary barn swallow among so many 

 of his related species. A few days 

 subsequently I collected a second bird 

 which was in very poor condition and 

 rioted one or two others during the 

 migration. In the spring of 1902 a 

 pair of birds reached Portage and took 

 up their quarters under a small bridge 

 over a slough some nine miles north 

 of town and reared their brood, and 

 last season (1903), I noted quite a 

 large flock of the birds evidently sev- 

 eral pairs breeding about the same 

 locality under the bridge and inside 

 one of the neighboring barns in the 

 customary locality against a rafter. I 

 was much pleased to note this wonder- 

 ful increase in their numbers and have 

 every hopes that with conditions fav- 

 orable in the increasing settlement 

 and building the birds will continue 

 to increase and within a few seasons 

 add one more species to the list of 

 common birds in Manitoba. The long 

 forked tail is always an identifying 

 character while to learn the note once 

 is to remember it forever, as distinct 

 from every other swallow. A sharp 

 metallic k-ching, k-ching. 



SIALIA ARCTICA. 



Mountain Bluebird. 



On October 10, 1S9S, I received a 

 fine male Mountain Bluebird from Mr. 

 E. H. Patterson, of Brandon, Man., to 

 be mounted. Knowing the species to 

 be new to the Manitoba list I at once 

 wrote Mr. Patterson asking particu- 

 lars of its capture and was subse- 

 quently informed that it had been col- 

 lected about two miles west of that 

 city on Oct. 8, and was in company 

 with another specimen of the same 

 species. Whether this pair had been 

 breeding in the vicinity or not I could 

 not discover, but it is possible that in- 

 stead of taking their courses south 

 along the Rocky mountain migration 

 route they had followed the Canadian 

 transcontinental route to the eastwa rd 

 and this specimen at all events like 

 the wise emigrant to Manitoba decided 

 that attractions were sufficiently 

 strong to induce it to remain. The 

 range of this species is the mountain- 

 ous region of the western States and 

 Canada but as this and its kindred 

 species our bluebird evince like sev- 

 eral other species of birds a liking for 

 a line of telegraph posts in travelling, 

 it is quite possible that this pair have 

 begun their winter migration along 

 the line of Canadian Pacific railway 

 telegraph posts and continued east- 

 ward until the cold weather overtook 

 them, and the cold lead collected this 

 specimen in Manitoba. I have heard 

 of no further records of the species 

 within our boundaries. This species 

 differs from our common bluebird 

 in having the entire plumage a rich 

 blue, while the common form has the 

 reddish brown breast. 



SOME ALBINISTIC PLUMAGES. 



Among rare records of a district 

 there can fairly be included records 

 of albinistic or partial albinistic 

 plumages, i.e., those plumages which 

 are the result of the absence of the 

 color pigment in the epidermis or 

 outer skin producing a creamy white 

 or piebald plumage. These plumages 

 are not always permanent, but are 

 liable to revert to the normal color 

 after the first moult or change of hair 

 The color phase is regular throughout 

 the entire sphere of natural life. It 

 must not be understood that alban- 

 ictic plumages include such as tthe 

 weasel or ptarmigan or rabbit in 

 winter color, as these aire normal 

 color changes for protection. The 

 principal record I have of pure albinos 

 is a specimen of the rusty granckle 

 taken at Dauphin on Sept. 20, 1898. 

 A creamy plumage of a duck which 

 I take to be the ruddy duck, which 



