1908.] 



BIRDS. 



497 



our camp on the shore of Great Bear Lake east of Leith Point Sep- 

 tember 3. and one specimen was taken. A few birds were seen at the 

 same phice on September dt. and a very large flock on September 5. 

 The birds were then feeding on the juicy crowberries which grow in 

 profusion there. Many deserted nests proved the species to be a fairly 

 common breeder along this semibarren shore. As we voyaged west- 

 ward a few individuals were seen near Mc Vicar Bay September 10, 

 and miles west of there September 12. At Fort Franklin a few 

 were observed on September 19. 22, and 25, and while we were ascend- 

 ing the Mackenzie two individuals were observed at Boche Trempe- 

 I'eau on the evening of October 9. 



In the spring of 1904 the robin was first observed at Willow River, 

 near Fort Providence, on May 2, and several specimens were col- 

 lected during May by Mills and Jones. The first female was taken 

 May 10. At Fort Simpson it was first seen May 4, when I noted 

 five individuals, and a few were observed nearl}^ every day after- 

 wards. It was abundant by May 13, when females were first ob- 

 served. The first eggs were seen May 28, in a nest built beneath the 

 eaves of an outbuilding. During my trip down the Mackenzie in 

 June I found the bird present in small numbers at all the posts, and 

 frequently noted it along the river. During my return trip I noted 

 it at Smith Landing, August o ; at Fort McMurray, August 14 ; near 

 Pelican Portage, August 27; and between Athabaska Landing and 

 Lily Lake, September 2 and 3. 



In 1905, H. ^y. Jones observed this species at Willow Biver, near 

 Fort Providence, on April 29, and at Fort Simpson on November 17. 



Franklin, during his first overland journey to the Polar Sea, noted 

 the arrival of this bird at Fort Enterj^rise on May 14, 1821." In the 

 narrative of his second expedition, he records its arrival at Fort 

 Chipewyan on May 7, 1827;^ Bichardson states that it arrived the 

 same year at Fort Franklin on May 20.^ Boss recorded the bird 

 as occurring in the Mackenzie Biver region north to La Pierre 

 House, and as having been taken at Fort Simpson.'^ MacFarlane 

 intimates that it was common on Anderson Biver, and states that a 

 few were met with also on the banks of Swan and Wilmot Horton 

 rivers, on the Barren Grounds.^ The bird catalogue of the National 

 Museum shows that skins were received from Fort Smith, Slave 

 Biver, Fort Besolution, Fort Bae, Fort Simpson, Fort Good Hope. 

 Peel Biver, and Fort Anderson, and that eggs were received from 



« Narrative Journey to Polar Sea, p. 301, 1823. 



^ Narrative Second Expedition to Polar Sea, p. 307, 1828. 



^ Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, p. 176, 1831. 



<^Nat. Hist. Rev., II (second ser.), p. 279, 1862. 



^ Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XIV, p. 445, 1891, 



44131— No. 27—08 32 



