CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 489 



559a. Western Tree Sparrow. 



Spizella monticola ochracea Brewst. 1882. 

 Very common in the spring at Indian Head, Assa.; first seen at 

 Medicine Hat, Assa., April loth, 1894, and all were gone by the 

 i8th ; rare at Edmonton, Alta., in April, 1897 ; the bulk of the 

 migration had passed before I reached there ; a few observed at 

 Lesser Slave Lake, and one individual at Peace River Landing in 

 Lat. 56° 15' in June, 1903; rather common at Penticton, B.C., early 

 in April, 1903; quite common at Revelstoke, B.C., in April, 1891, 

 feeding on the ground up to April 17th, when they disappeared; 

 from the crossing of the McLeod River, October 6th, 1898, to 

 Edmonton, Alta., the species was common, evidently passing 

 south. {Spreadborough) Common at Athabasca Landing, 90 miles 

 from Edmonton, May 24th, 1888. {J.M. Macoun.) 



This little bird arrives in small flocks on the. Saskatchewan in 

 the third week in April, and after a short halt proceeds further 

 north to breed. {Richardson.) North to Lapierre's House on 

 the Mackenzie River; abundant. {Ross.) This is perhaps the 

 most abundant sparrow found breeding in the valley of Anderson 

 River, as is evidenced by the number of nests, two hundred and 

 sixteen, secured. Most of them were found on the ground and 

 others on dwarf willows at a height of one to four feet. Four and 

 five eggs and sometimes as many as six and seven appeared to be 

 the complement. {Mac/arlane.) 



Regular summer visitor. {Lord.) Migrant ; not common at 

 Chilliwack ; a few stay all winter at Lake Okanagan, B.C.; a few 

 bred at Barkerville, Cariboo district, B.C., 1901. {Brooks.) Taken 

 on Vancouver Island by A. H. Maynard. {Farming At Haine's 

 Mission, Lynn Canal, I took a female June 2nd, 1899. At Cariboo 

 Crossing, Lat. 60°, B.C., we took two pairs June 29th, one of them 

 with a nest containing three fresh eggs. The nest was buried in 

 moss at the foot of a clump of willows in a willow swamp near the 

 lake; it was composed of fine dry grasses, lined with feathers 

 covered externally with a thick coating of living moss. It was 

 occasionally seen the whole length of the Yukon River to St. 

 Michael. {Bishop.) The western tree sparrow was numerous at 

 Cape Blossom, Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. The patches of 

 stunted willow and alder back among the hills seemed to be 

 particularly favoured by this species, and in such localities full- 



