190S.] 



BIEDS. 



445 



River, August 4 and 5 ; oii Lake Faber, August 8 ; and on Lake 

 Ilardistv. August 16. 



In the spring of 1904 I saw the first one at Fort Simpson on Ma}^ 

 16. The species was next seen May 19, on which date it was common, 

 and was noted nearly every day during the remainder of the month. 

 Several specimens were taken near Fort Providence, May 18 to 21, 

 by Mills and Jones. A"\^iile descending the Mackenzie I noted it 

 nearly every day at Fort Xorman, June 11 to 15, and took one at 

 Fort Good Hope, June 21. On my return trip I saw it near the 

 mouth of Xahanni River, July 25 ; found it common at Fort Mc- 

 Murray, August 11 to 14; and saw several between La Biche River 

 and Athabaska Landing, September 1. H. W. Jones observed the 

 species near Fort Providence, May 14, 1905. 



This bird Avas first recorded from the Mackenzie River region by 

 Ross, who listed it as not rare north to Fort Simpson and as having 

 been collected at that post.'^ Two skins from Fort Rae, labeled as 

 having been taken with eggs, and one from Fort Resolution, are now 

 in the Xational Museum : and the bird catalogue shows that specimens 

 were received also from Big Island, Fort Simpson, and Lesser Slave 

 Lake, the skin from the latter locality being accompanied by eggs. 

 Eggs taken at Pelican Lake, eastern Saskatchewan, in June, 1891, 

 were received through MacFarlane. Macoim, on the authority of 

 Spreadborough, states that this bird was first seen at Edmonton on 

 May 5, 1897, and a nest found June 1 ; that it was observed every- 

 where from Edmonton to YelloAvhead Pass in June, 1898 ; and was 

 abundant from Edmonton to Lesser Slave Lake and Peace River 

 Landing in 1903.^' 



J. Alden Loring collected a specimen at Edmonton, September 8, 

 1894, and in the early summer of 1896 reported the species abundant 

 along streams on the Jasper Flouse trail, taking one 25 miles north- 

 west of Edmonton. ^lay 25. 



Melospiza georgiana (Lath.). Swamp Sparrow. 



In 1901 the swamp sparrow was first noted at Fort Chipewyan_, 

 May 23, when sevei-al were seen and one Avas taken. A nest found 

 near the outlet of Athabaska Lake, June 4, was built in a tussock at 

 the margin of a marsh, and contained five eggs. An immature bird, 

 apparently not long from the nest, Avas taken at Trout Rock, July 

 18, and another at Fort Rae, July 23. 



In 1903 Ave first detected the swamp sparroAv at Fort Resolution. 

 June 23, Avhen a nest containing young a day or two old was found 

 in a sAvamp near the post. During my trip northward from Fort 



«Xat. Hist. Rev., II (second ser.), p. 282, 1862. 

 ^ Cat. Canadian Birds, Part III, p. 513, 1904. 



