THE NIDIOIvOGIST. 



131 



C. p. R. R, HOTEL, BAUFF. 



At the foot of Tunnel Mountain Ifnoticed 

 several Robins, a bird I never saw in 

 Assiniboia. I presume this is the western 

 variety found here. Rocky Mountain Blue- 

 birds are very common at Bauff ; also Belted 

 Kingfishers and Water Ouzels. 



In the evening 1 put on my rubber boots 

 and explored the swampy, wooded banks 

 of the Bow River. Here I came across the 

 nest of Cassin's Purple Finch, containing 

 two eggs and a young bird just hatched. 

 The nest was built in a bush, four feet from 

 the ground, and composed of grass and 

 roots. I could have easily shot the female 

 if I had not left my gun at the hotel, so I 

 took the two eggs and left the young bird, 

 and went for my gun, but on my return I 

 found the young bird had gone, and the 

 parent birds were nowhere to be seen. The 

 eggs were far advanced in incubation, and 

 though I have the broken shells before me, 

 I cannot give their measurments. The 

 eggs are greenish-blue, spotted and streaked 

 at the largest end with dark purple brown 

 and lilac. The eggs are about the size of 

 those of the Cedar Bird, and much resemble 



eggs of the Clay-coloured Sparrow in colour 

 and markings. 



On reaching the hotel, I found my col- 

 lector waiting for me. He had shot a fine 

 Osprey, and I spent most of the following 

 morning skinning it. Two or three pairs 

 of Ospreys have nests in the cliff at the 

 back of Tunnel Mountain, and I often saw 

 the birds flying to their nests with a fish in 

 their talons. 



June 9 we found a nest and four eggs 

 of Townsend's Solitaire. We succeeded in 

 catching the bird on the nest as she sat 

 there motionless. The nest was built in a 

 bank side, up one of the mountain paths, 

 and was composed of roots, grass and pine 

 needles. The eggs are pale greenish-grey, 

 spotted with pale reddish-brown, size .95X 

 .65. This bird is common at Bauff, but the 

 eggs are rare in collections. 



We found several nfests and eggs of the 

 Western Chipping Sparrow, built in small 

 fir trees, usually within a few feet of the 

 ground. This is the commonest of the 

 small birds found in this region. 



Mv collector had skins of Bohemian Wax- 



