356 THEOUGH TPIE MACKENZIE BASIN 



tion, which he, however, failed to discover. No other party 

 could have taken them without leaving some trace of his 

 presence thereabouts. " Dozens," and not as stated, " hun- 

 dreds," of skins of this species were forwarded by us to the 

 Smithsonian Institution. Mr. Eoss says, " Eare " in Upper 

 Mackenzie Eiver. Quite a fine series of the eggs of this 

 species from Fort Anderson is in the United States National 

 Museum collection. With but few exceptions most of them 

 were found during the month of June. The earliest date 

 on which eggs were taken was on May 23. Incubation lasts 

 about four weeks, and by the middle of July most of the 

 young are hatched. They are deposited at inter^^als of two 

 or three days, and were often found in different stages of 

 incubation. " They vary greatly in size as well as in shape. 

 Some are ovate, many short ovate, and others are rounded 

 ovate; The ground colour in the more recently collected 

 specimens is a pale greenish-white, which appears to fade 

 out in time, leaving the egg a dull dingy-white. The shell 

 is cross-grained and strong. There is an endless variety in 

 the markings, both in regard to size and amount, in different 

 specimens. In some they are fairly regular in shape as 

 well as in size, in others exactly the reverse. In some they 

 are well defined, evenly coloured throughout ; in others quite 

 clouded and of different tints. A few specimens are streaked 

 and the markings run longitudinally from end to end. 

 The spots and blotches consist of various shades of brown, 

 the predominating being burnt umber and claret brown, 

 and among these are mixed lighter shades of ochreous clay, 

 fawn colour, and ecru-drab. Quite a number of specimens 

 show also handsome shell markings of a rich heliotrope- 

 purple and pale lavender, mixed in and partly overlaid with 

 darker tints. In many eggs the blotches are large and irre- 

 gular in outline, and usually heaviest on the large end; but 

 in no case do they hide the ground colour. Others are regu- 

 larly and sparingly marked over the entire egg with, fine dots 

 of different shades of brown and lavender, giving the egg a 



