476 



NOETH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[no. 27, 



1898 ; and abundant from the month of Lesser Slave River to Peace 

 River Landing in June, 1903. J. M. Macoun in 1888 noted it along 

 the Athabaska between the Landing and Lesser Slave River about 

 the last of May. Later in the season he saw a few at Fort McMurray 

 and at the north end of Methye Portage." 



Seiiirus noveboracensis notabilis Ridgw. Grinnell Water-thrush. 



The water-thrush breeds rather commonly throughout the Atha- 

 baska-Mackenzie region north nearly to the limit of trees. Swamp- 

 loving birds like the water- thrushes can not fail to find congenial 

 homes in this region of marsh and muskeg, and their sprightly songs 

 are often heard as the traveler floats doAvn its waterways. 



In 1901 we first noted the water-thrush on the Athabaska, near the 

 mouth of Little Red River, May 15, where its song was several times 

 heard in the thickets bordering the river. During the two following- 

 days, while traveling on the river to Athabaska Lake, we heard the 

 species every little while. We did not note it at Fort Chipewyan, 

 but while encaraped on a wooded island near the outlet of Athabaska 

 Lake, June 1 to 4, we heard the bird daily in a swampy thicket, and 

 took a male on J une 4. We noted it also on Rocher River, June 5 ; 

 at the mouth of Peace River, June 6 ; 10 miles below that point, June 

 8; and at Smith Landing, June 15. We next noted it on the banks 

 of Slave River, 25 miles below Fort Smith, June 30, and farther down 

 the river on July 1 and 2. At Fort Rae I saw one or two on July 

 26, and took one July 27. 



In 1903 we first noted this species, a single individual, at Grand 

 Rapid, May 22. We next noted it below Little Buffalo River, May 

 26, found it common at Cascade Rapid on the morning of May 28, 

 and observed numbers nearly every day between there and the mouth 

 of the Athabaska up to June 1. We observed the species at Fort 

 Chipewyan, June 3, and near the outlet of Athabaska Lake, June 5, 

 and found it common on Rocher River, June 6 to 8. Along Slave 

 River, between Fort Smith and Fort Resolution, June 15 to 19, we 

 found it abundant, and we noted it at the latter place on June 22 and 

 23. During their trip to the Mackenzie, my brother and Cary saw 

 it at Hay River, June 30 and July 1 ; at Fort Providence, July 2, 4, 

 and 5; and at Fort Simpson, July 10. On their return trip they 

 observed it at Fort McMurray, August 11. While on my way to 

 Fort Rae from Fort Resolution, after the division of the party, I 

 noted it at the delta of the Slave, July 17 ; and while following the 

 canoe route north of Fort Rae I noted one on Lake St. Croix, August 

 13, and another, still in song, on a large lake a few miles south of 

 MacTavish Bay, August 22. This was the last one of the season. 



« Catalogue Canadian Birds, Part III, p. 626, 1904. 



