190S.] 



BIKDS. 



451 



Progne subis (Linn.). Purple Martin. 



The only reliable record of this species in any part of the Macken- 

 zie region which I find is that of Macoun, who says, on the authority 

 of Spreadborough : 



Observed two at the crossing of the McLeod River, [west] of Edmonton, 

 June 19, 1898. * * * Observed several in the dead woods north of Peace 

 River, near White Mud River, lat. 56° 20' in June, 1903.« 



Richardson's record of its occurrence at Great Bear Lake is proba- 

 bly an error. ^ 



Petrochelidon lunifrons (Say). Clilf Swallow. 



This sociable species is a common summer resident throughout the 

 region north nearl}^ to the Arctic coast, nesting on the faces of cliffs 

 and clay banks, and beneath the eaves of the buildings of the trading 

 i^osts. 



In the spring of 1901 we first noted the cliff' swallow at Fort 

 Chipewyan, where a number were seen on May 31. We next ob- 

 served it on June 11, 10 miles beloAv Peace River, Avhere a large col- 

 ony was nesting on the left bank of the river. During the first 100 

 miles of our journey along Slave River, below Fort Smith, we fre- 

 quently observed the species, Jinie -20 to July 1, and collected a speci- 

 men on the latter date. The nest^- v\ere often built on the face of a 

 clay bank amid the nesting holes of a colony of bank swallows, and 

 the tAvo species seemed to be on the best of terms. When we ascended 

 the Athabaska in August, deserted nests were frequently seen, but 

 with the exception of a pair Avhich Avere still lingering about a nest- 

 ing site near Pelican Rapid on August 21, we obserA-ed none of the 

 birds. . 



In the spring of 1908 cliff' swalloAvs Avere first obserA-ed 30 miles 

 beloAv Fort ^IcMiirray on the morning of May 29, Avhen a fcAv Avere 

 seen. A number Avere noted at Smith Landing, June 12, and at Fort 

 Smith, June 14, and they Avere common along Slave River between 

 there and Limestone Point, June 15 to 17. The species AA^as observed 

 at Fort Providence by my brother and CarA^ July 2 to 8, Avhere sev- 

 eral pairs had nests on one of the post buildings; and it Avas noted 

 also betAveen there and P'ort Simpson, July 9, and at the latter place, 

 July 10. On their return trip it Avas obserA^ed at Fort Simpson, July 

 21, and at Fort McMurray. August 12. During my trip northAvard 



« Cat. Canadian Birds, Part III, p. .538, 1904. 



^ " It malves its first appearance on Great Bear Lake on the 17th of May, at 

 which time the snow still partially covers the ground, and the rivers and lakes 

 are fast bound in ice." (Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, p. 335, 1831.) Twenty 

 years later he speaks of it thus : " On the Winipeg it [the bank swallow] was 

 accompanied by the purple swift {Progne purpurea), whose northern limit we 

 did not ascertain." (Arctic Searching Expedition, I, p. 229, 1851.) 



