1908.] 



BIEDS. 



483 



Dumetella carolinensis (Linn.). Catbird. 



The catbird lias not been found north of the SaskatcheATan ValleA' . 

 Macoun. on the authority of Spreadborough, says : 



First seen at Edmonton, Alta., May 25, 1897, heard a number of tliem singing 

 next day. they soon became common and began to breed ; common from Edmon- 

 ton north [should be west] to the McLeod River in June, 1898. 



He also records a specimen taken at Edmonton, Ma}^ 25, 1897." 



Salpinctes obsoletus (Say). Rock Wren. 



In the early autimm of 1895, J. Alden Loring observed a rock wren 

 at Jasper House, Alberta. Macoun, on the authority of Spread- 

 borough, records one seen at Prairie Creek [near Jasper House], June 

 29, 1898.^ 



Troglodytes aedon parkmani Aud. AYestern House Wren. 



The house wren is apparently a regular breeder on the Athabaska 

 and lower Peace, and has been detected once on the upper Mackenzie. 



Xoted but once in 1901, a single individual being seen in a thicket 

 near Athabaska Landing, August 30. The deserted nest of one was 

 seen in a shed at Edmonton. 



Merritt Cary took a male at Fort McMurray, August 10, 1903, in 

 the dense undergi^owth near some abandoned cabins. He Avas in- 

 formed by Bishop Young that a pair nested in on© of the outbuild- 

 ings at Fort Yermilion. Peace RiA^er. some years ago. 



On the morning of May 20, 11>01, Avhile collecting at Fort Simpson, 

 I saAA" a house Avren in a brushy tract near the post clearing, but failed 

 to secure it. This is the only instance knoAvn of its occurrence at this 

 place. During my return trip, I saAv tAvo about a deserted cabin in 

 the deep Avoods at Fort McMurray on August 12. 



Under the name Troglodytes aedon, Richardson described a male 

 taken ''near the sources of the Elk RiA^er *' [Athabaska], by Mr. 

 Drummond.^ Eggs taken at Lesser Slave Lake in 1868 by Strachan 

 Jones were receiA'ed by the Smithsonian Institution. Macoun, on the 

 authority of Spreadborough, states that the species was first seen at 

 Edmonton, Alberta, May 6, 1897; nests with eggs were found, June 

 8 and 11 ; obserA^ed from Edmonton to Athabaska Pass in June, 1898 ; 

 common from the mouth of Lesser SlaA^e River to Peace RiA^er Land- 

 ing in Jime, 1903; nesting in holes in trees and in the sandstone 

 cliffs and cut banks of Peace River ; specimens of the birds and eggs 

 are recorded from Edmonton, Alberta.'^ 



J. Alden Loring took a specimen at Edmonton, September 11, 1894. 



Cat. Canadian Birds, Part III, p. 662, 1904. 

 Mbid., p. 665. 1904. 



^ Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, p. 317, 1831. 



'^Cat. Canadian Birds, Part III, pp. 669, 670, 1904. 



