I30 



THK NIDIOLOGIST. 



Bird-nestinj!: in North=west Canada. 



BV WALTER KAINE. 



[Continue<i,] 



JUNE 7 I arrived at Calgary, 260 miles 

 west of Crane Lake, and spent the day 

 along the banks of the Bow River and 

 collected clutches of Spotted Sandpiper 

 and other common birds, Calgary is the 

 most important town between Brandon and 

 Vancouver. It is charmingly situated on 

 a hill-girt plateau, overlooked by the white 

 peaks of the Rockies. It is the center of 

 the trade of the great ranching country and 

 the chief source of supply for the mining 

 districts in the mountains beyond. We are 

 now in the country of the once dreaded 

 Blackfeet, the most handsome and warlike 

 of all the Indian tribes, but now peacefully 

 settled in a reservation on the banks of the 

 Bow River. At all hours of the day Indians 

 in light-costumed garments may be seen 

 riding their ponies through the streets of 

 Calgary. 



The following morning I again proceeded 

 westward to Banff. Leaving Calgary, the 

 railway follows up the valley of the Bow, 

 and we are soon running up the river ter- 

 races and through the grassy foothills, on 

 which innumerable honses, cattle and sheep 

 are feeding. On reaching Morley, we sud- 

 denly come upon the Rockies, grand and 

 stern, and close at hand. For more than 

 .six hundred miles they will be constantly 

 with us. The mountains stretch before us, 

 a long line of snowy peaks, seemingly an 

 impenetrable barrier, their bases deeply 

 tinted in purple and their sides flecked with 

 white and gold. Ju.st beyond Kananaskis 

 Station, the railway runs betw^een two al- 

 most vertical walls of dizzy hight ; this is 

 the gap by which the Rocky Mountains are 

 entered. 



At Canmore an observation car is at- 

 tached to the train, allowing an unbroken 

 view of the magnificent mountain .scenery. 

 Eighteen miles from the gap we enter the 

 National Park at Banff, noted for its hot 

 springs. The park is 26 miles long and 10 



miles wide, embracing several noble moun- 

 tains. No part of the Rockies exhibits a 

 greater variety of sublime and ])leasing 

 scenery, and nowhere are good points of 

 view and features of special interest so ac- 

 cessible, since many good roads and bridle 

 paths have been made. 



There are several hotels at Banff, rates 

 from $1 upwards, so I put up at one beau- 

 tifully situated above the banks of the Bow 

 River. A steel bridge crosses the river and 

 a carriage road leads to the large '.lew hotel 

 built by the Railway Company near the 

 fine falls in the Bow, and looking down the 

 valley of the rapid Spay River. 



This hotel, which has every modern con- 

 venience and luxury, including baths sup- 

 plied from the hot sulphur springs, is kept 

 open during the entire year. Banff offers 

 unrivalled charms to the sportsman, natur- 

 alist, angler, artist or photographer. Trout 

 of extraordinary size occur in Devil's Head 

 Lake and deep trolling for these affords fine 

 sport. It's a common sight to see Rainbow 

 Trout from 10 pounds to 15 pounds weight 

 lying perfectly still at the bottom of the 

 transparent water of the lake. Big-horned 

 sheep and goats are common on the neigh- 

 boring heights, and a huge bear was shot 

 near Banff a few days previous to my visit, 

 and I saw the two cubs alive in a dog ken- 

 nel in the village. 



After dinner I ascended Tunnel Moun- 

 tain and had a splendid view of the sur- 

 rounding mountain peaks. Cascade Moun- 

 tain looms up north of Banff 9,875 feet. 



The sharp cone of Peechee, eastward, 

 exceeds 10,000 feet, while at the foot of 

 Squaw Mountain lie the Vermillion Lakes, 

 offering a summer home for two or three 

 varieties of Ducks. 



On Tunnel Mountain my Banff collector 

 secured for me a set of four eggs of the rare 

 Pink-sided Junco on June 25tli, 1893. The 

 nest was built in the grass, amongst loose 

 stones, composed of dry grass lined with 

 horse hair. The eggs are grayish-white, 

 freckled and spotted with rusty brown and 

 grey, averaging .75x50. 



