190S.] 



BIRDS. 



499 



any information respecting its habits, except that it builds its nest 

 in a bush, similar to that of the Merula migratoriay ^ Baird says: 

 Mr. Kennicott found another in the Rocky Mountains, on Porcu- 

 pine Eiver. * * * August 28. 1861.^ Macoun publishes the fol- 

 lowing note: 



I have a nest and four eggs that were taken by Rev. Mr. Stringer m the east 

 channel of the Mackenzie River, 40 miles from its month. The nest was fonnd, 

 June 5th, 1895, in a spruce tree, 15 feet from the ground. The nest is made of 

 goose grass and is six inches in diameter and three inches deep. The eggs are 

 a paler blue than a robin's, and are spotted with brown. (W. Raine.)'^ 



Saxicola oenanthe leucorhoa (Gmel.). Greenland Wheatear. 



Under the name Sylvia oenantlie, J. C. Ross recorded a specimen 

 taken at Felix Harbor, Boothia, May 2. 1830.^' It was the only one 

 observed, and appears to represent the only record for this region. 



Sialia currucoides (Bechstein). Moimtain Bluebird. 



This beautiful bird is of regular occiuTence in the region now 

 under consideration only in its southwestern part, along the Rocky 

 Mountains and among their foothills, though a few specimens, in- 

 chiding the type, have been taken to the eastward of the Mackenzie. 

 During our investigations we met Avith it but once. On September 

 3. 1904. while traveling along the road near Stony Creek about GO 

 miles north of Edmonton I observed at least fifty individuals, old 

 and young. The birds were in a loose flock and appeared to be mov- 

 ing westward, feeding as they traveled. The species was described 

 to me by a yoiuig man who had spent, the winter and spring of 1904 

 at Fort Xelson, on Xelson River, in northeastern British Columbia. 

 He stated that it arrived there about May 10. According to informa- 

 tion obtained by Merritt Cary, it is a common sj)ecies in the Grand 

 Prairie district, on upper Peace River. 



The xVrctic bluebird was first described by Swainson, from a speci- 

 men taken at Great Bear Lake, concerning which Richardson says: 



The only specimen that we procured of this l»e;iutiful bird was shot at 

 Fort Franklin in July, 1825. It is merely a summer visitor to the fur countries, 

 and we obtained no information respecting its habits.^ 



King took a specimen, which was recorded by Richardson, on Great 

 Skive Lake. The exact locality was not specified, but was probably 

 Fort Resolution.'^ 



" Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, pp. 187, 188, 1831. 



Rev. Am. Birds, p. .32, .June, 1864. 



Cat. Canadian Birds, Part III, p. 724, 1904. 

 '^Appendix to Ross's Second Voyage, p. xxvi, 1835. 



Fauna Boreali-Americana, II, p. 209, 1831. 

 f Narrative Arctic Land Expedition to Great Fish River, Appendix, p. 2G0, 

 1836. 



