CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS 5 IQ 



Kowak, and at our winter camp they were quite common up to 

 August 23rd, when they abruptly disappeared. {Grinnell.) A wave 

 of sparrows occurred at Circle City, Alaska, August 19th, 1899, 

 and one individual was indentified as being of this species. 

 {Bishop.) Along the coast of Norton Sound this bird is an abund- 

 ant summer resident, sharing with the tree sparrows the bushy 

 shelter of the alder thickets on the hillsides and sheltered ravines. 

 {Nelson.) The fox sparrow arrives at St. Michael by the 8th June; 

 breeds here in the thickets of alder around the edges of the small 

 lakes. {Turner.) 



Breeding Notes. — This bird is very common on the Magdalen 

 Islands where I found four nests in June, 1897; all except one con- 

 tained young by the 21st June ; these nests were built in stunted 

 spruce, one as much as five feet above the ground; they occasion- 

 ally make their nest on the ground like the song sparrow, and I 

 have seen a nest found in such a locality ; a most interesting 

 species, it perches on the topmost branches of a young spruce, 

 and sings incessantly in its breeding habitat. {Rev. C.J. Young.) 



Tolerably common on both banks of the Anderson, and two or 

 three nests were also discovered in the vicinity of a small stream 

 named Swan River, in the "barren grounds;" most of the nests were 

 built on trees, and they resembled those of Turdus alicice, but a 

 few found on the ground, however, were composed of coarse dry 

 grass, lined with some of a finer quality, a few deer hairs, and a 

 sprinkling of fresh moss; the cornplement of eggs varies from four 

 to five. {Macfarlafie) I have several sets from the Mackenzie 

 delta; on June loth, 1900, a nest and three eggs were found by Mr. 

 C. E. Whittaker at Peel River, the nest was built in the root of a 

 shrub near the ground; on June ist, 1898, another nest and 4 eggs 

 were found at Peel River by the Rev.I.O. Stringer, through whose 

 kindness I have been able to describe the nests and eggs of many 

 Arctic birds found by this gentleman in the far north, during his 

 eight years sojourn amongst the Eskimos of that region, and it is 

 to be regretted that owing to failing health Mr. Stringer had to 

 abandon his work amongst the natives of the Arctic coast, as 

 he has proved himself to be a keen observer and careful pains- 

 taking ornithologist; many of the specimens collected by 

 Mr. Stringer were taken while he was travelling up or down the 

 Mackenzie delta or along Arctic coast with bands of Eskimos and 

 often at night when the natives had laid down to sleep, Mr. 



