236 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



last of all cut banks Where they often make a bulky nest. In the 

 summer .of siSg$ mests were (taken in bosc •elder {l^egunde aceroides) 

 onOld Wives''Creek. These were 'lined with the outer bark of 

 dead trees of 'this species. Eadh nest contained only two eggs, 

 both ifresh, May 27th and June i-st. A -nest was taken at tihe 

 ■forks of the creek on June and. This was under a'Cutibank about 

 six feet below the summit. This nest was lined with green poplar 

 ;twig6 having young leaves. Later, nests 'were taken at Wood 

 Mountain, Assa., in willow clumps and under banks, and 

 towards ;llhe last of the month on the Cypress Hills iti .choke- 

 cherry ibushes. In the Milk River country the nests were chiefly 

 under 'banks. ^{Mizcoun.) 



In July, 1 861, we discovered a nes't of this species which was 

 built on a spruce tree along Onion River, the principal tributary 

 of the 'Lockhart. It contained two -welllTgrown birds. IBoth 

 parents were about and made a great ado in endeavouring to pro- 

 tect their off spring. The ma:le was shot. In June, 1^65, another 

 nest was found on the top crotch of a ta;ll pine in a ravine some 

 20 miles southeast of Fort Anderson, Lat. 68° 30'. In composi^ 

 tion it was similar to the nest of an ArchibMeo. The female was 

 shot as 'she 'left the nest, which contained but one egg in a well 

 developed stage. The male was not seen. '{Macfarkme.) 



This bird breeds 'Commonly throughout Manitoba, Assiniboia 

 and Albefta, seldom halving eggs before the third week in May 

 and is, therefore, a late breeder. Between June 5th and 13th, 

 1901, il examined close upon thirty nests in northern Assiniboia. 

 All these nests just contained three -eggs each,no more or no 'less, 

 showing that three eggs is the number laid. Incubation was 

 advanced at this time but I did not find a single nest containing 

 young. Some of tfhe nests were built in 'fire-killed willows and so 

 low that I could reach *he eggs from the ground. Afow nests 

 were in poplars and built 'from 'lo feet to ao'feet from the. ground. 

 I never found two pa%s of birds occupying the same bluff, and the 

 nests are usually a 'quarter of a mile from each ofh^r. This hawk 

 has a 'habit of lining its nest with green poplar leaves and the eggs 

 look very pretty lying on the green leaves. It is a most useful 

 bird to the farmer, devouring an immense quantity of gophers 

 and mice. {W.'Raim.) 



MUSEUM SPECIMENS. , 



Five ; one taken in the Moose Mountains, Assa., June, 1880, by 

 the writer. Four others taken at Indian Head-, Assa., one in 



