354 THEOUGH THE MACKENZIE BASIIST 



exhibit a larger proportion of spotted ones than the latter, 

 while they average about 59 by 46.5 millimetres. This 

 species is not uncommon in British Columbia, where it un- 

 doubtedly breeds. The Dominion Museum collection at Ot- 

 tawa contains but one specimen, taken at Agassiz, B.C., May 

 17th, 1889, by Mr. W. Spreadborough ! 



342. Swainson's Hawk — Buteo swainsonii (Bonap.). 



On the 18th of June, 1885, a hawk of this species was 

 shot near Fort Chipewyan, Athabasca, and it was duly for- 

 warded to Dr. Bell. It has been met with at Great Slave 

 Lake, while in July, 1860, we discovered a nest thereof 

 which was built on a spruce tree along the banks of the 

 Onion River, an important tributary of the Lockhart Kiver, 

 while the latter is the principal affluent of the Anderson 

 River. It contained two well-grown young. Both parents 

 were seen and the male was shot. They certainly made a 

 great ado in endeavouring to protect their offspring. In 

 June, 1865, another nest was found in the top crotch of a 

 tall spruce pine in a ravine some twenty miles south-east of 

 Fort Anderson. It contained but one egg, the contents of 

 which were found in a well-developed stage of incubation. 

 Mr. Raine states that this is a most useful bird to the farmer, 

 as it devours, an immense number of gophers and mice. 



Bendire states that " incubation lasts about twenty- 

 eight days, both sexes assisting, and the eggs, from three to 

 four, are deposited at intervals of about two days. In shape 

 they vary from a short ovate to an oval, and their shells are 

 rather smooth and close-grained. Their ground colour when 

 fresh is a very distinct greenish-white, which in course 

 of time fades into a dull yellow-white. When not closely 

 looked into many of this hawk's eggs appear to be unspotted, 

 but on careful examination, there are, in reality, very few 

 that are immaculate. The majority are more or less dis- 

 tinctly spotted and blotched with different shades of brown, 

 such as burnt-umber, liver-^brown, hazel, tawny, and of clay 



