288 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 



Four ; one taken at Ottawa, Ont., and presented to our museum 

 by Mr. S. Lett ; another procured at Fort Churchill, Hudson Bay 

 by Dr.R. Bell; one at Jasper House, Rocky Mountains, June 14th, 

 1898, by W. Spreadborpugh; and one taken by the writer at Lag- 

 gan, Rocky Mountains, July 20th, 1885. 



CXL. SPEOTYTO Gloger. 1842. 

 378. Burrowing Owl. 



Speotyto cunicularia hypogma (Bonap.) Coues. 1872. 



A specimen of this bird was caught by Mr. D. Breakey, Wolfe 

 Island, in the fall of 1894, and kept by him alive for a short time, 

 then preserved by Mr. W. Stratford of Kingston. His attention 

 was drawn to its presence by the noise some crows were making 

 in the bush, and on proceeding to the spot, he had no difficulty 

 in capturing the owl. This is probably the first record of this 

 bird's appearance in eastern Ontario. (^Rev. C.J. Young.) First 

 observed at a point on the International Boundary Line, a little 

 east of Frenchman's River, not far from the mouth of Milk River, 

 where a few individuals inhabited a small settlement of prairie 

 dogs {Cynomys ludovicianus). This seems to be about the northern 

 limit of the species, and it is nowhere so abundant in this region 

 as in many places further south. It was met with a second time 

 a little west of Frenchman's River, and for the third time, in 

 somewhat greater numbers, on a piece of prairie near Sweetgrass 

 Hills. There were no prairie dogs here or at the locality last 

 mentioned, so far as I know, but the ground was riddled with the 

 burrows of the tawny marmot {Spermophilus richardsoni), which 

 seemed to suit the owls just as well. {Coues.) I found this bird 

 breeding in Assiniboia at Rush Lake, June 12th, 1891. I have 

 only once taken the trouble to dig down to its eggs. It took 

 two of us nearly an hour to get at the nest, which consisted of 

 a hollow lined with cow dung and contained 7 eggs. The burrow 

 went down three feet and then ran along another four feet to 

 the nest. {W. Raine.) 



On June 23rd, 1896, three pairs were found occupying holes on 

 the prairie a little north of Moose Jaw, Assa. The nests were not 

 dug out, but the birds were nesting ; in June, 1895, along French- 

 man's River, Assa., this species was occasionally seen. In May, 



