l68 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



whole Atlantic coast, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec and 

 Ontario along the rivers and lakes. It is also a common migrant 

 in Manitoba. It was found there as late as June I2th, 1881, on 

 the shore of Lake Manitoba by the writer, and in the autumn as 

 early as the beginning of August hy-Nashfide Seton-Thompson. 

 It doubtless breeds on Lake Manitoba or Lake Winnipegoosis in 

 small numbers. It has seldom been noticed by us further west 

 than Indian Head, Assa., and it was rare here in the spring of 

 1892, and at Thirty-mile Spring, near Wood Mountain, Assa., June 

 3rd, 1895. ' 



It occurs all around Hudson Bay and along the Arctic coast, 

 being recorded by Ross, Richardson and Macfarlane. Neither 

 Nelson, Murdoch nor Turner found it in Alaska, but Dall says it 

 is very common at Nulato, and on the Yukon to the sea. Speci- 

 mens have, however, been taken at Sitka, in Alaska, and it has 

 been taken at Port Simpson, British Columbia. Brooks says it is 

 rare in the lower valley of the Fraser. 



Breeding Notes. — This bird breeds on the coast of Hudson 

 Bay as low as the 55th parallel. Mr. Hutchins informs us that 

 it makes its nest in the marshes rudely of grass, and lays four 

 dusky-colored eggs spotted with black, incubation commencing 

 in the middle of June. It feeds on marine insects. {Richardson^ 

 On June 29th, I863, we discovered a nest of this species (the only 

 one at the time known to naturalists) on the Barren Grounds, 

 about ten miles west of Franklin Bay. The nest was composed 

 of withered hay and leaves placed in a small depression in the 

 ground. It contained four eggs which were quite fresh. {Mac- 

 farlane^ Parry found them breeding on the North Georgian 

 Islands, and they undoubtedly breed along the barren Arctic 

 coast east of Point Barrow. {Nelson.) Mr. W. Spreadborough 

 observed a pair on a small island in James Bay on the i6th of 

 June, 1896, which were doubtless breeding. As the mouth of the 

 Severn River, where Hutchins found it breeding, is 500 miles to 

 the north-west, this bird probably breeds on the west and south 

 shores of Hudson Bay and on some of the large interior lakes. 



MUSEUM specimens. 



Four specimens ; one taken in Toronto by Mr. S. Herring, two 

 at Indian Head, Assa., in May, 1892, and the fourth at Thirty-mile 

 Spring, near Wood Mountain, June 3rd, 1895, by Mr. W. Spread- 

 borough. 



