1908.] 



BIRDS. 



409 



In the spring of 1903 Ave first observed this bird a few miles north 

 of Edmonton, May 11. It vras then common, and we observed it in 

 numbers daily to May 15, while on our way to Athabaska Landing. 

 It was next seen on the lower Athabaska, where we found it common 

 May 31 and Jime 1 ; and it was common also on Rocher River, June 6 

 to 8. It was next noted on Slave River below Fort Smith, June 15. 

 Great numbers breed in the marshes in the delta of Slave River, but 

 the species was seldom seen in the inmiediate vicinity of Fort Resolu- 

 tion until July 15. when a number of old and young birds were ob- 

 served. Great numbers of old and young were seen at the delta when 

 I passed there on July 17. On their return trip in the fall Alfred E. 

 Preble and Merritt Gary noted a few at Fort McMurray, August 10, 

 and found the species common and migrating at the same place on 

 August 11. During my trip northward from Fort Rae, I observed the 

 species on Grandin River. August 1 and 4, and on Lake Faber, 

 August 7, noting a number on each occasion. 



In the spring of 1904 the arrival of the redwing was noted at Wil- 

 low River, near Fort Providence, on May 9, by H. W. Jones. He took 

 a male May 14. and saw the first females on May 22. At Fort Simp- 

 son I noted the first one May 16, saw another May 17, and foimd the 

 species common May 18, when a specimen was taken. The species was 

 noted nearly every day during the remainder of the month, females 

 first appearing on May 26, when the type of arctolegus was taken. 

 On my return trip I saw a few migrants on the Athabaska near the 

 mouth of La Biche River on the morning of September 1. 



King recorded the redwing blackbird from Methye Portage.'^ Ross 

 listed it as common in the Mackenzie River region north to Fort Nor- 

 man, and as havmg been collected at Fort Simpson.^ In addition to 

 skins from the latter locality, the bird catalogtie of the National 

 Museum records specimens from Fort Resolution, Big Island, Fort 

 Rae, Fort Liard, and Lesser Slave Lake, all undoubtedly belonging to 

 the present form. Specimens from the first two localities are still in 

 the collection. At Fort Resolution, in 1860, Kennicott first noted red- 

 wings on Ma}^ 14.^ Macoun records eggs taken by Spreadborough at 

 Edmonton, Alberta, May 27, 1897.^ 



In July, 1896, J. Alden Loring found redwings, undoubtedly of 

 this form, common in the vicinity of Henry House. Hubert Dar- 

 rell informs me that he saw redwing blackbirds on the divide 

 between the Coj^permine and the head of Dease River early in Au- 

 gust, 1902. MacFarlane, in notes recently received, records a female 

 taken at Fond du Lac, Athabaska Lake. 



Narrative Journey to Arctic Ocean, II, p. 216, 1836. 

 ^^Nat. Hist. Rev., II (second ser.), p. 282, 1862. 

 ^ Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci., I, p. 170, 1869. 

 ^ Cat. Canadian Birds, Part II, p. 400, 1903. 



