1908.] 



BIEDS. 



435 



ray, August 11 to 13; and daily between Athabaska Landing and 

 Edmonton, September 1 to 1:. 



Richardson, under the name Fringilla peiinsylvanica^ mentions a 

 nest found at Great Bear Lake;-" he later recorded the species under 

 the same name from Fort Simpson.^ During the period of ornitho- 

 logical activity following the visit of Robert Kennicott to the Mac- 

 kenzie Valley, specimens were sent to the Smithsonian Listitution 

 from Fort Resolution, Buffalo River, Fort Rae, Fort Simpson. Fort 

 Xorman. Fort Good Hope, and Lesser Slave Lake, eggs accompany- 

 ing the specimens from the last locality. Eggs taken at the trading 

 post on Pelican Lake, eastern Saskatchewan, in June, 1891, by H. 

 MacKay, were received by the Xational Museum. Skins from Fort 

 Resolution, Fort Rae, and Fort Simpson are still in the collection. 



Macoun, on the authority of J. M. Macoun, states that in 1888 the 

 white-throated sparrow was first seen on May 7, near Calgary, and 

 was common thence to Edmonton and Athabaska Landing, along the 

 Athabaska from Lesser Slave River to the Clearwater, along that river 

 to Methye Portage, and from there to Isle a la Crosse. He also 

 states, from the notes of Spreadborough, that it was first seen at Ed- 

 monton May 6, 1897; was noted from Edmonton westward to Pem- 

 bina River in June, 1898 ; and was abundant from Lesser Slave Lake 

 to Peace River Landing in June, 1903.^" 



J. Alden Loring found this sparrow abundant at Edmonton, Sep- 

 tember 7 to 26, 1894, taking a S2:>ecimen September 19. In the early 

 autumn of 1895 he reported it common in the mountains in western 

 Alberta. He reported it breeding commonly in the high mountains 

 near Henry House, July 3 to 21, 1896. 



Spizella monticola (Gmel.). Tree Sparrow. 



Tree sparrows, including the eastern and western forms, occur at 

 some season of the year over the entire region north to the extreme 

 limit of trees. They breed only in the Hudsonian zone, the region 

 of more or less stunted timber which terminates to the northward the 

 great transcontinental coniferous forest. 



In 1901 I first saw this bird on an island in the Northern Arm of 

 Great Slave Lake 45 miles southeast of Fort Rae, July 16, Avhen I 

 collected an adult male and a young bird not long from the nest. 

 Later in the day I found it rather common at Trout Rock, 25 miles 

 south of Fort Rae, and collected an adult female. Comparison shows 

 that these specimens are referable to S. monticola. 



During my trip northward from Fort Rae in 1903 I found this 

 form rather common on Lake St. Croix, August 10, and observed it 



^ Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, p. 256, 1831. 

 ^ Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., XI, p. 484, 1843. 

 c Cat. Canadian Birds, Part III, p. 486, 1904. 



