THH NIDIOI.OGIST. 



wing, Audubon's Warbler, Pine Grosbeak 

 and American Crossbill. He assured me all 

 these species breed about Banff, and later 

 in the day we heard several northern Wax- 

 wings chattering in the woods. He told 

 me he bad several times seen nests and 

 eggs of the Waxwing while fishing in the 

 mountain streams late in the summer, so I 

 offered him a dollar each for the eggs, and 

 on the 30th July, he took a nest and four 

 eggs partly incubated. He broke two of 

 the eggs in blowing them, but I have the 

 other two eggs before me and they are 

 probably the only eggs of this species that 

 have been taken so far south as Banff. The 

 Northern Waxwing has been found breed- 

 ing in the Yukon and Anderson River 

 regions, and ten years ago a nest was found 

 in Labrador, this being the last record of 

 the eggs of this species being taken on this 

 continent. Most of the eggs of this ])ird in 

 American collections were collected for me 

 in Lapland, and during the past five years I 

 have received about twenty clutches, viz: 

 10 sets of 4 eggs, 4. sets of 5, and 7 sets of 

 3, so it appears that four eggs is the usual 

 number laid by this bird. 



The nest found at Banff was built 20 feet 

 up in a small spruce tree and composed of 

 twigs, roots, grass and fir needles. The 

 eggs are like tho.se of the Cedar Bird in 

 colour and markings, but are as large as 

 eggs of the Redwinged Blackbird. 



Prof, McCown informs me that he has 

 seen Northern Wax wings during summer, 

 a few miles east of Banff, so it would ap- 

 pear as if this species breeds regularly in 

 limited numbers in this region. 



A few days ago, my Banff collector sent 

 me a pair of Waxwings in the flesh, which 

 he shot out of a small flock on April 9. 

 These were probably migrants on their 

 way to the far north, the true home of this 

 bird. 



During the afternoon we found .several 

 nests of different species of birds ready to 

 eceive the eggs, but as it appeared to be 

 too early for eggs, I proceeded westward to 



Vancouver, intending to stay a few days at 

 Bauffon my return journey. 



Leaving Banff, we have to travel 560 

 miles before \'ancouver is reached, passing 

 through some of the grandest scenery in the 

 world. At Stephen is the station at the 

 summit of the Rockies. From here the 

 railwa}' decends rapidly into Kickinghor.se 

 pass. The scenery here is sublime and 

 almost terrible. The line clings to the 

 mountain side at the left, and the valley on 

 the right rapidly decends, until the river is 

 seen as a gleaming thread a thou.sand feet 

 below. Looking to the north, one of the 

 grandest mountain valleys in the world 

 stretches away to the north with great, 

 white glacier-bound peaks on either side. 

 Soon the slope of Mount Stephen is reached 

 and on its shoulder is seen a shining green 

 glacier, 800 feet in thickness, which is 

 slowly pressing forward over a vertical cliff 

 of great bight. 



Beyond Field we pass through the Otter- 

 tail Mountains and afterwards the Beave-^ 

 Fort Mountains. Soon we enter the Kick 

 ing Horse Canyon, and the mountain side."- 

 become vertical, rising up thousands of feet 

 and within a stone's throw from wall to 

 w^all. Down this vast chasm go the rail- 

 way and the river together, the former 

 crossing from side to side to ledges cut out 

 of the solid rock, and twisting and turning 

 in every direction, and every minute or two 

 plunging through tunnels cut through the 

 projecting angles of rock which seem to 

 close the way. With the towering cliffs 

 almost shutting out the sutilight, and the 

 roar of the river and the train, increa.sed a 

 hundred fold by the echoing walls, the 

 passage of this terrible gorge will never be 

 forgotten. 



Beyond Golden we came upon the beau- 

 tiful mountains "The Selkirks," rising 

 from their forest-clad ba.ses and lifting their 

 ice-covered heads far into the sky. We can 

 plainly see the wide paths down the moun- 

 tain sides made by the avalanches. 



At Glacier House the great Glacier of tjie 

 Selkirks comes into view, and Lu Donald, 



