522 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



the small lakes and low grounds. It is quite common. (Turner.) 

 One specimen taken at Homer, Kenai peninsula, Alaska, September 

 Sth, iQOi, by Figgins. {Chapman.) 



Breeding Notes. — In the Kowak delta on the 14th and 15th 

 of June I took a set of five and one of six slightly incubated eggs, 

 respectively. The two nests were similarly placed in the tops of 

 clumps of grass at the edge of a marsh about six inches above the 

 water. The nest proper consisted of closely-matted broad dry grass 

 blades and stems, while the lining was entirely of white ptarmigan 

 feathers, though not one shows above the rim. The deeply cup- 

 shaped cavity is thus pure white, though when the bird was sitting 

 she entirely concealed it. The internal diameter of the nest is 2 .00, 

 depth, 1 . 90 ; external diameter, 4 . 80, depth, 2 . 60. The ground 

 colour of the egg is very pale blue. The set of six is quite uni- 

 formly and thickly spotted with Uver-brown and vinaceous tints. 

 One egg of the set of five is hke them, but the others are wreathed 

 at the large ends with confluent markings of the same colours, while 

 the rest of the surface is very finely dotted and blurred with a pale 

 brown tint; so as to nearly obscure the ground colour. The eleven 

 eggs average .74X .57. {Joseph Grinnell.) I have several sets of 

 eggs from the Mackenzie delta; a nest and five eggs were found by 

 Rev. C E. Whittaker on June i8th, 1900 at Peel river ; another 

 nest with five eggs was found at the foothills of the Black moun- 

 tains by Mr. Stringer on June 13th, 1899; another clutch of four 

 eggs was found, west .side of Mackenzie delta, by Mr. Stringer on 

 June Sth, 1899; the nests are made of dried grass warmly hned with 

 feathers and were built on mossy knolls on the ground. (W. Raine.) 



560. Chipping Sparrow. 



Spizella socialis (WihS.) BoNAp. 1838. 



A common summer migrant in Newfoundland. {Reeks.) Com- 

 mon summer resident in Nova Scotia. {Downs; Tufts.) Common 

 at Sydney, Cape Breton island. (C. R. Harte.) Common at Bad- 

 deck and Margaree, Cape Breton island, N.S., July, 1898; quite 

 common at Brackley point, Prince Edward island, June, 1888. 

 {Macoun.) Not a common species and only occasionally observed 

 on Prince Edward island. {Dwight.) A common summer resident 

 in New Brunswick. {Chamberlain.) Common summer resident 



