CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 733 



everywhere in the mountains around the Athabaska pass, 1898; 

 quite common at Revelstoke, B.C., from the i6th to the 20th April, 

 1890; they sat around on stumps and caught flies or flew down at 

 anything they might see; in June they were seen at Deer Paric 

 Arrow lake, at an elevation of 2,000 feet, and doubtless breeding- 

 observed on nearly all the mountains on the International Boundary 

 in British Columbia; only seen in the Okanagan valley, B.C., in the 

 early part of April, 1903; all disappeared about the 15th ; heard 

 singing everywhere in the woods at Elko, B.C., from the snow to 

 the level of the railway. May, 1904; common at Midway on the flat 

 in early spring and, later on the hills, in 1905 ; saw several in the same 

 year at Whipsaw creek, June 22nd, and between the Skagit river 

 and Chilliwack lake; saw one on the beach at Douglas, B.C., April, 

 17th, 1906; one seen on Deer ridge, south slope of Mount Cheam, 

 B.C., August loth, 1901 ; two seen near the summit of Mount 

 Benson, Nanaimo, Vancouver island, July loth, 1893, the birds had 

 a nest in the side of the bank close to the rocky summit. {Spread- 

 borough.) 



Very rare, only shot once in the Columbia valley. {Lord.) A 

 rare bird though I have taken it both east and west of the Coast 

 range, and have taken it at Ladners, in the lower Fraser valley, in 

 January. {Fannin.) Rare migrant in the valley at Chilliwack; 

 breeds on the mountain tops; tolerably common in winter at Lake 

 Okanagan, B.C. ; sings throughout the winter; feeds on fruit during 

 the cold weather. {Brooks.) I secured an individual on Vancouver 

 island in May. They were met with at high altitudes both east and 

 west of the Coast range, Selkirk and Rockies, as far north as the 

 52nd parallel, increasing in abundance eastwardly. {Rhoads.) On 

 the heights above Bennett I took an adult male, June 17th; on the 

 hot noon of June 26th, while seated on the summit of a hill some 

 1,500 feet above Cariboo Crossing, I heard the most beautiful bird- 

 song that has ever delighted my ears. It seemed to combine the 

 strength of the robin, the joyousness and soaring quality of the 

 bobolink, and the sweetness and purity of the wood thrush. Start- 

 ing low and apparently far away, it gained in intensity and volume 

 until it filled the air, and I looked for the singer just above my head. 

 I finally traced the song to a Townsend solitaire that was seated on 

 a dead tree about 150 yards away, pouring forth this volume of 

 melody without leaving its perch. The singer came close enough 

 later to make its identification certain. 



