1924] Swarth: Birds and Mammals of the Skeena Biver Region 349 



Euphagus carolinus (Miiller). Rusty Blackbird 



Fairly common in the lowlands about Hazelton and in Kispiox 

 Valley, but so quiet and secretive during the nesting season as easily 

 to be overlooked. A female shot June 4 had laid part of its set. On 

 July 5 a flock of old and young together first appeared. An adult 

 female shot August 20 had nearly finished the annual molt; an 

 immature male taken. September 9 had finished the post-juvenal molt. 

 The species was present in abundance at the end of my stay, Septem- 

 ber 26. By the middle of September the birds had gathered into 

 flocks of from twenty to fifty individuals. Thirteen specimens col- 

 lected (nos. 42234-422461. 



Hesperiphona vespertina brooksi Grinnell. 

 British Columbia Evening G-rosbeak 

 Small flocks seen near Hazelton during the last week in May and 

 the first week in June. No evidence of breeding was found. Three 

 specimens collected, two adult males and one adult female (nos. 

 42247-42249). This, I believe, is the northernmost record for the 

 species in British Columbia. (For characterization of the subspecies 

 H. V. brooksi, see Grinnell, 1917, p. 20.) 



Carpodacus purpureas purpureas (Gmelin). Eastern Purple Finch 



Not found above the floor of the valley. Single birds and small 

 flocks seen about Hazelton the latter part of May and in June ; a 

 female shot June 4 was incubating eggs. In Kispiox Valley, the latter 

 part of August, pVirple finches were seen occasionally, the last on 

 August 29. Seven specimens collected, four red males, one male in 

 the streaked plumage, and two females. These are all typically of the 

 subspecies purpureiis. 



Loxia leucoptera Gmelin. White-winged Crossbill 



Small flocks (eight to twelve birds each) seen at Hazelton, June 14, 

 in Kispiox Valley, July 8, and again near Hazelton the latter part of 

 September. On Nine-mile Mountain (July 21 to August 14) , white- 

 winged crossbills were present in small numbers in the hemlock forest 

 immediately below timber line, that is, four or five individuals might 

 be seen during a forenoon. This was evidently the nesting ground, 

 as single males were spaced at intervals through the woods, and were 

 in full song. Four specimens collected, three adult females and one 

 adult male (nos. 4225(7-42260). 



