190S.] 



BIRDS. 



379 



the Athabaska May 30 and 31. AVe noted it on Smith Portage June 

 14. and found it common on Slave Eiver between Fort Smith and 

 Limestone Point June 15 and 16. My brother and Gary noted it 

 at Fort Providence July 8. Fort Simpson July 10. near the mouth of 

 Xahanni River July 11. and near Fort Wrigiey Jidy 19, 20, and 2-2. 

 On their return trip they observed the bird above Fort Simpson 

 July 25. near Fort Pae July 28. and at Athabaska Landing, where 

 they saw single birds on September 2 and 3. In early June, 1904, I 

 observed the bird at several points on the Mackenzie north to near 

 Fort Xorman. 



The kingfisher was first recorded from this region by Richardson, 

 who described a specimen killed on Slave River.^ In the summer of 

 1848 the same naturalist observed it below Harrison Island, near 

 the mouth of the Mackenzie. In 1862 Ross recorded it as occurring 

 commonly in the Mackenzie River region north to Peel River, and as 

 having been taken at Fort Simpson.^ MacFarlane noted it on sev- 

 eral occasions on Anderson River, and received skins, probably ob- 

 tained on the lower Anderson, from the Eskimo.^ The bird cata- 

 logue of the National !Musemn records specimens received from Big 

 Island. Fort Simpson. Fort Halkett, Fort McPherson, and Fort An- 

 derson. Macoun states that Spreadborough found it abundant on 

 the upper Athabaska in 1898, and that J. M. Macoun, in the summer 

 of 1888, found it common along the Lesser Slave and Athabaska 

 rivers, between Lesser Slave Lake and Fort McMurray, and along 

 the Clearwater and the route to Isle a la Crosse.^ 



J. Alden Loring saw one at Edmonton September 13, 1894, and 

 one at Jasper House in the early autumn of 1895, and reported the 

 species rare 15 miles south of Henry House July 3 to 21, 1896. H. W. 

 Jones observed the species near Fort Providence May 7, 1905. 



Dryobates villosus leucomelas (BodcL). Xorthern Hairy Woodpecker. 



The hairy woodpecker is of regular occurrence north to the region 

 of Great Slave Lake and Fort Simpson and perhaps farther, since 

 it is rather rare and may have been overlooked. It retires from 

 the northern part of its habitat in severe winters, but may remain 

 during mild seasons. 



In 1901 this bird was first noted on the lower Athabaska near 

 Poplar Point. 90 miles below Fort McMurray, May 16, one being 

 seen. A pair was seen and the male taken at Smith Landing June 18, 

 and one was noted the same day on Smith Portage. Single birds 



<^ Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, p. 340, 1831. 

 * Arctic Searching Expedition, I, p. 231, 18.51. 

 «^Xat. Hist. Rev., II (second ser.), p. 278, 1862. 

 <^Proc. U. S. Xat. Mus., XIY, p. 437, 1891. 

 ^ Cat. Canadian Birds, Part II, pp. 295, 296, 1903. 



