408 THROUGH THE MACKENZIE BASIN 



that they bred up to latitude 66° north. Nests and eggs 

 resemble those of No. 554. 



There are ten specimens and but one set of four eggs, 

 taken at Wolfville, N.S., 24th June, 1894, in the National 

 Museum at Ottawa ! 



559. Teee Spaeeow — Spizella monticola (Gmelin). 



During the 1880 season of nidification, examples of this 

 numerous and widely distributed sparrow were taken at 

 Forts Chipewyan, Eae, and Resolution, and the same (par- 

 ents, nests, and eggs) were duly forwarded to Mr. Dalgleish, 

 Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1885 a couple of similar speci- 

 mens were sent to him from Fond du Lac, Athabasca. Mr. 

 E. Preble first met this bird at York Factory, Hudson Bay, 

 on 12th July, 1900. He found them abundant at Fort 

 Churchill, and many were also noted on the "Barren 

 Grounds " fifty miles south of Cape Eskimo early in August, 

 while several were seen at Duck Point, Playgreen Lake, 

 near Norway House, on their return trip to Winnipeg. Nest- 

 ing similar to that of No. 559a. It is also presumed that 

 the eggs greatly resemble each other, while the Dominion 

 Museum contains fifteen birdskins but not a single egg of 

 either ! 



559a. Westben Teee Spaeeow — Spizella monticola ochra- 

 cea Brewster. 



This is probably the most abundant sparrow found breed- 

 ing in the Anderson River region, as is evidenced by the 

 number of nests — two hundred and sixteen — secured. They 

 were almost invariably composed of hay or dry grasses, inter- 

 mixed with a little stringy bark and lined with feathers. 

 Most of them were found on the ground, and the others were 

 built on dwarf willow, at a height of from one to four feet. 

 Four and five eggs, occasionally as many as six and seven, 

 appeared to be the complement. The Rev. C. E. Whittaker 

 and the Rev. (now Bishop) Stringer also discovered nests 



