356 



NOKTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[NO. 27. 



quently noted the bird while ascending the Athabaska, and found 

 it common near Athabaska Landing August 31 to September 21. 

 observing two melanistic birds September 5. Several individuals 

 were seen at Lily Lake September 24. During my trip northward 

 from Fort Rae, I observed the species on Grandin River August 1 

 and 3 and on Lake Faber August 8. I next noted it while descend- 

 ing Bear River September 30, when I saw several a few miles above 

 Fort Norman. They seemed to be hunting varying hares, which 

 were abundant. 



Li the spring of 1904 I saw the first redtail at Fort Simpson May 

 T, and others on Mav 15 and 22. While descending the Mackenzie I 

 saw the species nearh^ every day between Fort Simpson and Fort 

 Norman June 2 to 10. The melanistic and normal phases seemed 

 to be about equall}^ represented. I saw one near the head of the 

 Ramparts June 20 and another below Fort Good Hope June 25. On 

 my return trip I observed a melanistic individual a short distance 

 below Fort Norman July 25, and birds of the normal coloration 

 below Fort Smith August 3, near Poplar Point August 8, near 

 Grand Rapid August 22, near House River August 24, and near 

 Pelican Rapid August 26, collecting the last one. 



J. Alden Loring saw red-tailed hawks at Edmonton, Alberta, on 

 September 13 and 20, 1894, and reported the species common on the 

 Jasper House trail between Edmonton and the Rocky Mountains 

 in the summers of 1895 and 1896. 



Macoun records a nest of two eggs, probably belonging to the west- 

 ern form, taken at Edmonton May 17, 1897, by Spreadborough.^ 



Buteo swainsoni Bonap. Swainson Hawk. 



This western hawk is rare over most of the region now under con- 

 sideration, but has been reported from a few localities. On May 13, 

 1903, we saw a single bird, apparently a male, a few miles north of 

 Sturgeon River, Alberta. 



This species was taken by MacFarlane in the Anderson River 

 country and referred to as follows: 



In July, 1861, we discovered a nest of this species, which was built on a 

 spruce tree along Onion River, the principal tributary of the Lockhart. It 

 contained two well-grown birds. Both parents were about and made a great 

 ado in endeavoring to protect their offspring. The male was shot. In June, 

 1865, another nest was found on the top crotch of a tall pine in a ravine some 

 20 miles southeast of Fort Anderson. In composition it was similar to thp 

 nest of an Archihuteo. The female was shot as she got off her nest, which 

 contained but one egg in a well-developed stage. The male was not seen.* 



The male obtained by MacFarlane, a melanistic specimen, was 

 described by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, who state that the species 



«Cat. Canadian Birds, Part II, p. 231, 1903. 

 ^ Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XIV, p. 432, 1891. 



