5l8 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



it entirely, hence the idea, I think, that it is scarce. I have met 

 with these birds in the middle of April when each bush contained 

 several, many perched on the upper twigs singing the richest 

 sparrow melody I know of. On visiting the locality the next 

 morning at day break not a sign remained of our fleeting visitors,; 

 in the fall, their visit is of much longer duration, but on disturb- 

 ing a small party of these birds while scratching the dead leaves 

 for their food they will fly up into the nearest evergreen tree and 

 remain perfectly motionless till the intruder has passed from view. 

 (/. Hughes- Samuel^ .Usually rare but occasionally a common 

 migrant in either spring or fall, and in rare seasons we may hear 

 this fine songster in full song for perhaps a week; and yet until 

 1885 only two or three specimens had been noted near Loijdon, 

 Ont., so that it appears to be increasing in abundance quite 

 steadily. {W. E. Saunders)) Irregular migrant in spring at Guelph, 

 Ont.; it is never common. {A. B. Klugh.) A rare and transient 

 visitant at Penetanguishene.Ont. {A.F.Youtig.) A not very common 

 migrant in Manitoba; breeding at Duck Mountain in the northern 

 part of the province. {Thompson-Seton.') A not very common 

 migrant in southern Saskatchewan. {Co:beatix.) First noticed 

 on the afternoon of July 10th, when its beautiful song was heard in 

 the willow thickets, bordering Hayes River, a few miles above 

 York Factory. While at York Factory we found fox sparrows 

 fairly common in willow thickets, and took a pair, July i6th. {E. 

 A. Prebles.) This handsome species, breeds in the wooded dis- 

 tricts of the Northwest Territories up to the sixty-eight parallel 

 of latitude; it constructs its nest in a low bush, of dry grass, hair 

 and feathers. (^Richardson.) North to Lapierre's House on the 

 Mackenzie River; common. {Ross.) Saw one, April 19th, 1897, at 

 Edmonton, Alta.; saw individuals up to June ist, a few pairs 

 doubtless breed here; observed two individuals near Edmonton, 

 June 7th, 1898, common from Lesser Slave Lake to Teace 

 River Landing, Lat. 56° 15', June, 1903. (Spreadborough.) Not 

 rare at Fort McMurray at the confluence of the Clearwater River 

 and the Athabasca, Lat. 56° 40'; one bird and nest seen on 

 Methye Portage, eggs not hatched July 'i8th, 1888. (/. M. 

 Macoun) 



I did not discover the presence of the fox sparrow at Cape 

 Blossom, Kotzebue Sound, until the evening of July 31st, 1898 ; 

 fox sparrows were seen or heard all along the lower course of the 



