65 
Interior of British North America. 
p. 4) were taken by me to belong to C. riparia; but as I find 
there is. another species ( C . serripennis) which might be mistaken 
for it, I must leave the matter doubtful. Whichever of these two 
species it may be, it breeds in large numbers along the alluvial 
banks of the Saskatchawan River, where the holes may be seen 
frequently in horizontal lines, caused by the birds preferring to 
bore in the softest of the lines of strata in the cliffs. They select 
situations from 10 to 150 feet above the river; and the Cliff 
Swallow [Hirundo lunifrons) frequently constructs its mud-nests 
in the same bank. No specimen is recorded in the * Fauna 
Bor.-Am./ but Mr. Bernard Ross gives C. riparia abundant as 
far north as the Arctic Sea. 
43. Progne purpurea. 
No specimen is recorded in the ‘ Fauna Bor.-Am./ although 
the bird is noted; so that on mine, from the Saskatchawan 
( f Ibis/ vol. iv. p. 4), rests the undoubted occurrence of the Pur¬ 
ple Martin to the west of Canada and north of the United States. 
Ampelis garrulus. 
The European Wax-wing was obtained by both Mr. Drummond 
and Sir John Richardson, as recorded in the ‘Fauna Bor.-Am./ 
in the Mackenzie River district; and specimens and eggs have 
since been collected in that locality by Mr. Bernard Ross and Mr. 
R. Kennicott. A specimen was shot in February, which stamps 
it as a much more northern bird than the following species. 
Ampelis cedrorum. 
The ‘ Fauna Bor.-Am. 5 records a specimen of this species 
killed on the south branch of the Saskatchawan. The “ Wax¬ 
wing 55 is also known to the inhabitants of Red River Settlement. 
On the 25th of August, while travelling at the western base of 
the Rocky Mountains, near the Kootonay River, in latitude 49°, 
I saw a number of Cedar Birds, of which I killed a couple : one 
proved to be a male in the young plumage; it was 6| in. long, 
and 3| in. in the wing, which seems to prove its being A. cedro¬ 
rum. Their stomachs were filled with a delicious berry, called 
by the Cree Indians and half-breeds the “ Sasketoon. 55 
44. Collyrio borealis. 
It will be seen by the date of one of my specimens ( f Ibis/ 
vol. v. 
F 
