THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



67 



BIRD 



NEST AND EGGS OF THE PINTAIL. 



NESTING IN NORTHWEST 

 CANADA. 



BY WALTER RAINE. 



Since I returned home from my last 

 season's collecting trip in Assiniboia and 

 the Rocky Mountains, I have had numer- 

 ous inquiries from those ornithologists who 

 were interested in my book, "Bird Nesting 

 in Northwest Canada," as to whether I 

 intended publishing another account of my 

 last trip. I therefore take this opportunity 

 of informing my numerous ornithological 

 friends that it is my intention to spend the 

 next two or three summers in the great 

 Nor 'west and Rocky Mountains of Alberta, 

 and also the Saskatchewan region, and after 

 this experience, together with the assist- 

 ance of several resident collectors, I hope to 

 gather sufficient material to be in a position 

 to publish a work on the nidification of the 

 birds which inhabit that great and vast 

 country lying between the Red River of the 

 North and the Pacific Ocean. 



Last season I anticipated discovering 

 nests and eggs of the While-tailed Ptarmi- 

 gan, Solitary Sandpiper, Richardson's Mer- 

 lin, Evening Grosbeak, Harris' Sparrow 



and other rare species about whose nesting 

 habits little is yet known. I am satisfied 

 all these rare birds breed in the territory 

 explored, and in some instances the birds 

 were either obtained or seen, and although 

 we did not fall in with their nests last sum- 

 mer, another season may bring better suc- 

 cess, as I know of some of their breeding 

 haunts. 



However, we were fortunate in discover- 

 ing nests and eggs of several rare birds, 

 such as Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, 

 lycconte 's Sparrow , Baird 's Sparrow , White- 

 crowned Sparrow, Townsend's Solitaire, 

 Bohemian Waxwing, Orange - crowned 

 Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Myrtle War- 

 bler, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Whooping 

 Crane and others. The record of Nelson's 

 Sharp-tailed Sparrow is of special interest, 

 as its nest and eggs have not been described 

 previously, and I also believe we are the 

 first to obtain authentic nests and eggs of 

 Leconte's Sparrow. 



Of the Duck family we came across the 

 nests of over a dozen species, the rarest 

 being the White-winged Scoter and Amer- 

 ican Golden-eye. These two species usu- 

 ally retire much further north to breed, 



