CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 639 



the same in the Milk River valley and along St. Mary's River and 

 at Waterton Lake; first seen at Edmonton, Alta., May 27th, 1897, 

 common and nesting in the willows by June ist ; common from 

 Edmonton to the summit of the Rocky Mountains in Yellowhead 

 Pass in July, 1898, breeding in willow thickets on the borders of 

 marshes; common from Lesser Slave Lake to Peace River Land- 

 ing, Lat. 56° 15', in June, 1903; quite common in the foothills 

 from Calgary southward; a nest containing four eggs was found 

 on Bragg's Creek on June 28th, 1897, in a tuft of grass, nest made 

 of dry grass; this was a common species at Banff, within the 

 Rocky Mountains in June, 1891. {Spreadborough.) 



Breeding Notes. — Breeds at Ottawa and Lake Nominingue, 

 100 miles north oi it, from the middle of May to the middle of 

 July. Nests in swampy places and undergrowth, on or near the 

 ground, hidden among reeds, weeds and small bushes; they are 

 made of reed-stalks, grasses and leaves, lined with fine grass and 

 sometimes a few hairs; two nests were found in reed-plants hav- 

 ing the form of inverted cones five inches long. Nests average 

 4x3 and 2 X I'^o. {Garneau.) Nests are built in low bushes close 

 to the ground at Ottawa, composed ot dead leaves and grass, lined 

 with fine grass, hair and rootlets. Eggs 4 to 6, white, sparingly 

 sprinkled at larger end with brown. {G. R. White) The nests I 

 have seen contained eggs the first week in Junef; the nest is well 

 concealed, but I have seen two, which were six or eight inches 

 above the ground; one of these was in a small elm sapling, around 

 which long rank grass- grew; I could not assign the nest to any 

 other species as the eggs were similar to others I had seen and 

 a male bird was hopping about in the immediate vicinity. {Rev. 

 C. J. Young.) 



museum specimens. . 



Eleven; one taken at Ottawa by Dr. F. A. Saunders; one pur- 

 chased with the Holman collection in 1885; one taken at Ottawa 

 in May, 1888, by the writer; one taken at 12-Mile Lake near Wood 

 Mountain, Assa., June 5th, 1895, ^^° ^t Medicine Hat, Assa., May, 

 1894, three at Edmonton, Alta., in May, 1897, two at Banff, Rocky 

 Mountains, June, 1891, all by Mr. W. Spreadborough. 



Three sets of eggs; one of three taken at Indian Head, Assa , 

 June 6th, 1892; one of four taken on Bragg's Creek, foothills of 

 Rocky Mountains, Alta., June 28th, 1897, both by Mr. Spread- 

 15 



