486 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



Assa.,in May, 1895, but they soon disappeared. {Spreadborough.) 

 One of the most abundantbirds at Grand Rapids of the Saskatche- 

 wan; it breeds there in great n\xrahtrs.{Nutting.)Th\s species reaches 

 the Saskatchewan about the middle of May, and spreads through- 

 out the Northwest Territories up to Lat. 66° to breed. {Richard- 

 son.) North to Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River; rare. 

 {Ross.) First seen May 7th, 1888, near Calgary; common from 

 there to Edmonton and Athabasca Landing and up to Little 

 Slave River, down the Athabasca to Clearwater River, and up 

 that river to Methye Portage and thence to Isle a la Crosse; it is 

 the chief bird of the whole region. (/. M. Macoun.) First seen 

 at Edmonton, Alta., May 6th, 1897. Shortly after they became 

 common and remained to breed. Abundant from Lesser Slave 

 Lake to Peace River Landing, Atha., Lat. 56° 15', in June, 1903; 

 observed from Edmonton to the Pembina River in June, 1898. 

 Spreadborough . ) 



Breeding Notes. — Nest on ground among bushes, composed 

 of grass, weed stems and moss, lined with rootlets and fine grass. 

 Eggs 4, dull white, spots and splashes of brown and lavender. 

 {G. R. White.) I have observed that this bird is sparingly dis- 

 tributed throughout eastern Ontario through -the summer. In 

 June, 1888, I found two nests on the rocky ground, two miles west 

 of the village of Renfrew, Ont., one in a small thick bush, the 

 other among grass, etc., on the ground. During ten years I ob- 

 served one pair close to Lansdowne, Ont., that by their manner 

 had young, though I did not succeed in finding the nest. I saw 

 one bird on the Magdalen Islands and have seen two nests taken 

 in 1899 near Mingan, Que., where it commonly breeds. {Rev. C.J. 

 Young.) I found a nest of this bird May24th,i886, in the park,built 

 in the roots of an up-turned tree stump, containing four eggs, and 

 another nest May 30th, 1891, at Hdchelaga woods containing three 

 eggs, built on the ground in a tussock of grass. {Wintle) I took 

 a nest near Sand Lake on May 2Sth, 1897. ^t was placed under 

 some dead ferns on the flat, grassy bank of a stream, and was 

 lined with moose hair ; there were four eggs in the set. I took 

 a nest some years ago at Rosseau, built about three feet up in a 

 raspberry bush. (/. H. Fleming.) On June 8th, 1893, I found a 

 nest and eggs at Long Lake, Manitoba ; June 19th, 1901, I found 

 two nests at Carleton Junction, 40 miles west of Ottawa. One 

 nest was on the ground, the other in a brush heap some distance 



