326 THEOUGH THE MACKENZIE BASIIT 



the south thereof, as a few small flocks have been annually 

 observed flying past Forts Simpson and Good Hope, on the 

 Mackenzie, and at Eort Anderson and other points also, in 

 the spring and autumn of the year. Mr. Ross mentions that 

 it extends to Eort Simpson and is rare in Mackenzie River. 

 Professor Macoun states that some thirty years ago this 

 species was found in all the large marshes from Red River 

 to the Rocky Mountains ; but, with the building of the Cana- 

 dian Pacific Railway and increased population, it is gradu- 

 ally retiring northward. A few still breed in eastern 

 Saskatchewan. Richardson wrote, many years ago, that it 

 frequented all parts of the North- West traversed by him. 

 The Ottawa Museum holds a fine pair, presented by Mr. 

 Thomas McKay, of Red Deer Hill, near Prince Albert, 

 Saskatchewan, taken in the spring of 1893. One egg, ob- 

 tained at Oak Lake, Manitoba, May 21st, 1893, is also in 

 the collection. 



205. Little Beown Ceane — Grus canadensis (Linn.). 



In the spring of 1885 a bird of this species was shot near 

 Eort Providence, and sent to Dr. Bell the following summer. 

 A skin was also obtained by an Eskimo of the lower Ander- 

 son River in the autumn of 1863, and an egg was found 

 in a nest at Franklin Bay in June, 1864. A second nest 

 was discovered the following season on an island in Liverpool 

 Bay, while the eggs (two each) and the parents of two other 

 sets, received from the lower Anderson in the spring of 1866, 

 were afterwards among those specimens referred to as having 

 been destroyed by animals. The nest is usually a mere 

 cavity in the sandy soil, thickly lined with fine dry grasses 

 and a few feathers. Mr. Ross has entered them as common 

 in his Mackenzie River Bird List. Grus mexicana may also 

 prove to be a northern migrant. 



Mr. Nelson says that " Lemmings, mice and berries con- 

 stitute the food of this crane during the spring season. 

 The spot usually selected for nesting has an unobstructed 



