CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. QI 



observed a few on James Bay and in the interior of Labrador in 

 1896. Quitencommon in Quebec, and abundant in southwestern 

 Ontario during the spring and fall migrations. A few are said by 

 Saunders to breed on the St. Clair Flats ; not rare in the St. Law- 

 rence valley in the spring and autumn. 



A few breed at Lake Winnipeg {Gunii)^ and the writer found 

 them breeding on Lake Winnipegoosis, but evidently the greater 

 number go north, and doubtless breed around the large lakes 

 north of Lake Winnipeg. It is a common duck in Alaska and 

 along the whole Aleutian chain, and, according to Turner, remains 

 the entire year. 



An abundant resident in British Columbia ; breeds chiefly east 

 of the Coast Range ; winters on the coast. {Fanning Tolerably 

 common in the Lower Fraser valley, and wintering on Lake 

 Okanagan, B.C. {Brooks^ Breeding in small lakes between 

 Edmonton and Lake Ste. Anne, June, 1898. {Spreadborough.) 



Breeding Notes. — Eggs taken at Buffalo Lake, Alberta, June 

 14th, 1896. Seems to breed in most localities. {Dippie.) Nest 

 always near water ; it is a shallow hole in the ground, lined with 

 grass and down. {Spreadborough.) 



Breeds throughout northwestern Canada, but is rarer than most 

 other ducks ; breeding more commonly further north. On June 

 lOth, 1891, at Rush Lake, Assiniboia, I found a nest containing 

 nine eggs, built on the ground amongst grass, near water. The 

 eggs are distinguished by their large size and drab tint. {Raine.) 



At St. Michael and the Yukon Delta this species arrives about 

 the 8th or lOth May. The nesting sites chosen are such as the 

 Pintail and most other ducks choose — a dry, grassy tussock or 

 knoll close to some pond ; the only difference being that 

 this species appears to desire a position nearer to the water, 

 and the nest is frequently at the point of some small jutting cape, 

 and so near the water that the parent can swim to and from the 

 nest. The eggs are large for the size of the bird, and rarely 

 exceed eight in number. The nest is composed of dry grass- 

 stems, gathered close at hand, and a large fluffy bed of down 

 plucked from the parent's breast. The first week in June is the 

 time usually chosen for depositing the first eggs, but some are 

 not laid until nearly a month later. (Nelson.) 



