256 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



at Cbilliwack. I have no record from Vancouver Island. (Fannin.) 

 Only noticed west of the Coast range ; rare. (Brooks.) Hawks, 

 presumably of this species, were thrice seen in the British Columbia 

 interior. (Rhoads.) 



342. Swainson Hawk. 



Buteo swainsoni. Bonap. 1838. 



One specimen collected at Moose Factory in 1881, by W. Haydon 

 is in the U.S. National Museum collection. (Preble.) Accidental 

 visitant ; rare. A few examples of this large hawk have been shot at 

 Montreal, Que. I saw a fine dark specimen which was shot early in 

 the spring of 1894 near the city, and was stuffed by Mr. Bailly, 

 taxidermist. (Wintle.) Rare around Toronto, Ont. I have two 

 specimens taken at Toronto, Ont., both in the dark plumage, and 

 I have seen two more local specimens. (/. H. Fleming.) This 

 species arrives on the southern prairie in March, and soon becomes 

 abundant. It is the characteristic hawk of the prairie, and is found 

 in every part of that extensive regfion and is of great service in re- 

 stricting the multiplication of gophers and other rodents. Although 

 a prairie bird it ranges in the valley of the Mackenzie beyond the 

 Arctic circle, and has been taken at Nulato on the Yukon. It is very 

 rare in the Rocky mountains ; only one pair was seen in four months 

 residence of Mr. Spreadborough, at Banff, in 1891, and only one, a 

 female, was seen and killed at Revelstoke by him in 1890. 



On British Columbia mainland and Vancouver island. Nowhere 

 common. (Fannin.) I once observed a flock of some hundreds, 

 all of the dark phase, at Chilliwack, B.C., and have seen young 

 birds in the autumn ; this dark form is a common breeder on all the 

 mountains, at high elevations, being only found in open or park- 

 like country. The only pair of white-breasted birds I ever saw in 

 British Columbia was breeding on a low mountain at Vernon. 

 (Brooks.) Saw three at Penticton, B.C., in 1903. (Spreadborough.) 



Breeding Notes. — Seton in "Birds of Manitoba," on page 532, 

 says: "The nest of this bird is not peculiar. I have examined 

 about fifty altogether, and have hitherto failed to find one that 

 answers the published descriptions, which credit the bird with using 

 a lining of hair and other fine material. All the nests examined 



