286 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



of the Similkameen. {Fannin.) Scarce at Chilliwack ; probably 

 breeds in the mountains of British Columbia ; rare in the winter 

 at Lake Okanagan, B.C. {Brooks.) Collected on Vancouver Island 

 by W. F. Findlay and at Vernon, B-C* by W. C. Pound. {Rhoads.) 

 I first met with the hawk owl near the head of Hunt Rive!- in the 

 foothills of the Jade Mountains, about 20 miles north of our 

 winter camp on the Kowak, Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. They arrived 

 about April loth, 1899^ and left the preceding year on September 

 2 1 St. {GtinTiell.) 



Breeding Notes. — In the spring of 1899 their arrival was noted 

 on April loth in the Yukon district of Alaska. At this date they 

 were already paired, and a female secured contained large ova. 

 On April 26th I located a pair of hawk owls which by their rest- 

 lessness indicated a nesting site near by. The nest was finally 

 found, but there were as yet no eggs. It was in the hollow end of 

 a leaning dead Spruce stub about 10 feet above the ground. The 

 dry rotten chips in the bottom were modelled into a neatly 

 founded depression. The male bird was quite noisy often repeating 

 a far-reaching rolling trill. Both birds frequently uttered a low 

 ^hitoe, alternately answering one another. On May 8th, while snow- 

 shoeing across the country toward the base of the Jade Moun- 

 tains, my attention was attracted by the distant trill of a hawk 

 owl. After a half hour's search through a heavy stretch of 

 timber, I located the bird perched at the top of a tall live spruce, 

 partly hidden by the foliage. Then I began an inspection of all 

 dead stubs and trees in the vicinity. I had given up hope of 

 finding a nest and had started on, when, by mere chance, I hap- 

 pened to catch sight of a hole in a dead spruce fully 200yards away. 

 A close approach showed a sitting bird which afterwards proved to 

 be the male. Its tail was protruding at least two inches from the 

 hole, while the bird's head was turned so that it was facing out 

 over its back. When I tapped on the tree the bird left the nest, ' 

 flew off about thirty yards, turned and made for my head like a 

 shot. It planted itself with its full weight on to my skull, draw- 

 ■ ing blood from three claw-marks in my scalp. My hat was torn off 

 and thrown twelve feet. All this the owl did with scarcely a stop 

 in its headlong swoop. When as far on the other side the cour- 

 ageous bird made another dash, and then another, before I had 

 collected enough wits to get in a shot. The female which was 

 evidently the bird I had first discovered on look-out duty then 

 made her appearance, but was less vociferous. The nest con- 



