CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 463 



the Nicola valley, B.C., in June, 1889, and on the plateau between 

 the North Thompson and Bonaparte rivers; a few observed at 

 Chilliwack, B.C., in the spring, and one at the mouth of Tami Hy 

 Creek, September 8th, igoi. In April and May, 1903, they were 

 quite common at Penticton in southern British Columbia. 

 (Spreadborough!) Very common in the interior; breeds. {Sireator.) 

 An abundant summer resident east of Coast Range, also on Van- 

 couver Island. {^Fannin.) Migrant; not common at Chilliwack. 

 Specimens are very pale and may belong to affinis. {Brooks^ 



Breeding Notes. — Several nests were found at Pembina, con- 

 taining eggs, about the middle of June. One of them also held 

 two Molothrus eggs. The nests were built in open ground, quite 

 deeply sunken so as to be flush with the surface, and more sub- 

 stantial than those of many ground-builders, the walls being an 

 inch or more thick at the brim. The cavity is small and deep in 

 comparison with the whole nest. The usual materials are grasses 

 and weed-stalks, the coarser material outside, the finer fibres 

 within and at the bottom. The eggs, of which I have not found 

 more than four, measure about 0'8o by 0"55; they are grayish- 

 white, heavily marked all over with spots, dashes and blotches of 

 reddish-brown, and a sprinkling of fine dots of the same or darker 

 brown. The female is a close sitter, not leaving the nest until 

 nearly trodden upon, and then fluttering off as if crippled, to dis- 

 tract attention from the nest to herself. {Coues) This is a very 

 common prairie species, breeding in all parts of Assiniboia and 

 Alberta. A nest taken on 31st May, 1895, contained three fresh 

 eggs. The nest was, on the sloping side of a coulee, placed 

 on the ground under a tuft of grass. It was built chiefly of fine 

 material, the base being leaves of grass, the coarser at the bot- 

 tom. A few hairs were worked in at the last. Another nest 

 identical in every way was taken igth June, in a clump of Poten- 

 tillagracilis at the edge of a ravine. {Macoun.) 



MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 



Twenty-seven; one taken atCarberry, Man., by Mr. Thompson- 

 Seton; four at Indian Head, Assa., in May, 1891, one at Old 

 Wives' Creek, Assa., May 27th, 1895, seven at Medicine Hat, 

 Assa., May, 1894, two at Edmonton, Alta., May, 1897, six at Banff, 

 Roqky Mountains, May, 1891, two at Kamloops, B.C.,' June 20th, 

 4 



