Q 18 Provincial MuseujJ Keport. lfll'i 



Oijve-sideu Flycatchkb ( .\'» t lullornis borealis). 



A common summer resident in the Canadian Zone. Taken on the Nahun Plateau and at 

 Shuswap Falls. 



Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xantliocephalns xantho'peplialiis) . 



.Several breeding colonies found at Swan Lake, the only locality in this region where the 

 writer has found them breeding. An example of how very local some species are in mountainous 

 countries: On May 15th a number of incompleted nests were found, and on June 8th four sets 

 of eggs were taken. The nests are more loosely constructed than those of the North-western 

 Redwing, and are lined with flat pieces of tule fibre. Those of the North-western Redwing art' 

 lined with coarse grass. Nests of both species were found close together and they made common 

 cause in driving away crows, marsh hawks, and other marauders from the vicinity of the nests. 

 In common with other blackbirds, the males of this species have the habit, when uttering their 

 harsh grating song, of elevating the shoulders and erecting the feathers until the singer appears 

 twice his natural size. 



Western Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savanna rum biinaculatus). 



This handsome, unobtrusive little sparrow is common locally breeding on the dry, open hill- 

 sides above Vernon. They arrive early in May and remain until the second week in October ; 

 one of the last sparrows to leave in the fall. Contrary to the published accounts of this bird's 

 habits, it is the writer's experience that the males generally sing while on the ground or hidden 

 in a thick clump of sage-brush. On only two occasions has the writer heard it singing while 

 clinging to a weed-stalk or bush in full view. A series of skins collected includes breeding males, 

 moulting adults, and ju venal s. 



Slate-coloured Junco (Junco hycmalis In/cmalis) ; Shufeldt's Junco (Junco hyemalis conncc- 

 tens) ; Montana Junco (Junco hyemalis montanus). 



These three subspecies occur here as migrants ; also another form, evidently intermediate 

 between oreganus and connect ens. The breeding form has hot yet been determined. 



Black-headed Grosbeak (Zainelodia melanoccphala) . 



An adult male taken on August 24th, 1916, is the only local record. Major Allan Brooks 

 found the species breeding in the Shuswap District, but it was not observed by the writer. 



Townsend's Warbler (Dendroica towhsendi). 



Of regular occurrence during migrations at Okanagan Landing; also taken on the Nahun 

 Plateau oh May 30th, where it appeared to be common. 



PISHES. 



Early in the month of June the Director drew the attention of Dr. C. H. Gilbert, of Stanford 

 University (who was visiting the Museum), to a strange fish that had been caught and presented 

 to the Museum by the Bentinck Island fishermen, near Race Rocks, Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 

 ten miles south of Victoria. Dr. Gilbert noticed at once that the specimen was one that he had 

 never seen in this portion of the Pacific, and identified it as a species of Benthodesmiis; also 

 suggesting that I send it to him at Stanford University, along with other fishes, which he would 

 be pleased to examine and identify for this Department upon his return to California. The 

 extract from his letter of November 27th, 1916, is here quoted: — 



" The long silvery fish which you showed me last summer turns out to be a Benthodesmiis, 

 as we thought at the time. There are three other species of this genus known — one from New 

 Zealand, one from Japan, and one from the Atlantic; each of these is known from a single 

 specimen. A careful comparison with the brief description indicates that your specimen cannot 

 be identified with either of the known species from the Pacific, but the differences from the 

 Atlantic species are so small in amount that I do not care to risk describing it as a distinct 

 species. This is the more unfortunate that the Atlantic species has received the name 

 ' atlanticus.' " 



