CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 23 1 



frew it breeds. {Rev. C.J. Young.) The red-tail breeds in scat- 

 tered pairs about one to four of the red-shouldered. It nests a 

 little earlier and lays two to three eggs. {W. E. Saunders) This 

 bird, breeds in Welland Co. and throughout southern Ontario. 

 {W. Raine.) On May 31st, 1891, I took a nest of this near Indian 

 Head, Assa. The nest contained three eggs and was built of 

 sticks in a dead poplar {Populus tremuloides) about 30 feet from the 

 ground. This species feeds chiefly on gophers and mice. At 

 Edmonton, on the North .Saskatchewan, in 1897, I observed a 

 a number of nests mostly along the river and small streams. 

 These were nearly always in cottonwood trees {Populus balsami- 

 fera) but I think it is on account of these trees having large 

 bran'ches near the top that they seem to prefer them than from 

 any other cause, as I also observed a few in poplar trees (Populus 

 tremuloides') where the branches were suitable for them to build 

 upon. The nests were scarcely ever less than thirty feet from 

 the ground. In the summer of 1891 it was common at Banff and 

 hence breeds there. {Spreadborough.) 



MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 



Four ; one purchased with the Holman collection ; another 

 taken near Toronto, Ont., by S. Herring ; one taken in poplar 

 woods near Fort Pelly, Man., September 3rd, 1881, by the writer, 

 and one at Hyde Park, Ont., by W. E. Saunders. 



A nest taken near Edmonton, Alta., by W. Spreadborough, 

 May 17th, 1897, contained two eggs. The nest was in a poplar 

 tree, built of sticks and lined with bark and twigs. Another set 

 taken at Chatham, Ont., on April 30th, 1888, contains two eggs. 



■^znh. Western Red-tailed Hawk. 



Buteo borealis calurus (Cass.) Ridgw. 1873. 



I have obtained from Mr. M. J. Dodds, St. Thomas, Ont., a fine 

 adult of the Western Red-tail, which was killed near there in the 

 fall of 1885, t>y ^''^r. John Oxford. . This appears to be the first 

 recorded occurrence of this species in Ontario. (W. E.Saunders 

 in The Auk., Vol. V., 203.) Mr. J. Hughes-Samuel took a specimen 

 of this form at Toronto on November 4, 1895. (/■ ^- Fleming) 



The only known instance of the occurrence of this bird in 

 Alaska is recorded by Dr. Bean, who secured a young bird near 

 Sitka, June 5, 1880. {Nelson.) Rare ; a few seen at Kamloops 



