BIRDS OF NORTH-WESTERN CANADA. 53 



carpus. The stately Kite pursued its journey southward with 

 equanimity, and soon left its persecutors far astern. I never met 

 with the species afterwards. 



American Marsh-Harrier, Circus hudsonius. — Abundant in 

 the Souris district, but the blue dress of the adult male is 

 relatively uncommon. This Harrier feeds principally on grass- 

 hoppers, but occasionally picks off a small bird, and is a source 

 of some discomfort to the settlers, who begrudge the blackmail 

 which it levies on their poultry-yards. 



Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter velox. — This game little 

 hawk was fairly common near the Nameless Lake in September. 

 Those which I dissected had been feeding on small birds. 



Bed -tailed Hawk, Buteo borealis. — A few breed on Moose 

 Creek, but we did not find this species on the Souris River. 

 Those that I dissected had fed on grasshoppers, with the excep- 

 tion of one individual, which contained a Red-winged Starling. 



Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni. — One of the commonest 

 birds of prey, especially near Moose Creek. I found half-a-dozen 

 pairs of these birds nesting within an area of four miles. The 

 anxiety evinced by the old buzzards, as they soared aloft, generally 

 led me to their nests. Dr. Coues states that he generally found two 

 eggs of this species in a clutch ; never more, and sometimes only 

 a single one. I never found less than two eggs or young in a 

 nest, but several of our nests contained three young birds. A 

 nest of this species, which I photographed on July 30th, was a 

 fairly substantial structure of dead twigs, placed on the top of a 

 prickly thorn, about twelve feet from the ground. 



Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos. — The Golden Eagle is 

 believed to be a comparatively rare bird in this region, at any 

 rate, as a breeding species. On the 11th July I observed a fine 

 Golden Eagle circling in the air at a great height above Moose 

 Creek. Three days later its eyrie was discovered by a settler 

 named Reed, situated on the bank of a small ravine. It contained 

 three young birds of different sizes, but all feathered and equally 

 intent on eating the gophers which the old birds had catered for 

 them. On Reed's approach these eaglets fluttered out of the 

 nest and sought to escape, defending themselves so pluckily that 

 Reed killed them with stones. The smallest eaglet still retained 

 much down. I may add that though the Golden Eagle was not 

 observed in the Souris River, yet we found a nest on the bank of 



