Interior of British North America. 81 
for Grackles. Mr. Ross mentions the Cow-bird as very rare on 
the Mackenzie. 
75. Agel^us phceniceus. 
The Swamp Blackbird (‘ Ibis/ vol. iv. p. 7) arrived in the 
neighbourhood of Fort Carlton on the 4th of May, 1858; or, at 
least, I did not observe it before that, notwithstanding that I was 
out every day at that season with my gun. I fancy, however, that 
it is an early spring bird ; for I saw it at Red River Settlement 
the following spring (which was a very late one) on the 26th of 
April. No doubt, had there been a garden or other cultivated 
land about the fort, I should have found it earlier on the Sas- 
katchawan; but husbandry is almost entirely neglected in the 
territories of the Hudson’s Bay Company, where vegetable diet, 
excepting wild berries, is despised by the carnivorous fur-traders 
and voyageurs. I found this bird as far west as the Rocky 
Mountains. Mr. Murray records a specimen from Hudson’s Bay, 
and Mr. Ross on the Mackenzie. 
Agel,eus gubernator. 
Common on the Mackenzie (Bernard Ross). 
Agel^us tricolor. 
Rare on the Mackenzie (Bernard Ross). 
These are two more instances of the Pacific-coast birds fre¬ 
quenting the Mackenzie River district. 
76. Xanthocephalus icterocephalus. 
I saw this bird at Red River Settlement on the 29th of April. 
Two, shot at Fort Carlton in May Ibis/ vol. iv. p. 7), had the 
remains of insects and Snow-berries (Symphoricarpus racemosus) 
in their stomachs. Mr. Murray also notices it from Hudson’s 
Bay; but whether this means the shores of that bay, or from some 
part of the H. B. Company’s territories, I cannot tell. Sir John 
Richardson did not observe it eastward of Lake Winipeg, while 
its eastern limit in the United States is Illinois. However, it 
has been found in Greenland, and may range to the eastward in 
the north. 
77. StURNELLA MAGNA. 
My specimen ( f Ibis/ vol. iv. p. 7), having been compared with 
specimens of both S. magna and S. negleeta given me by Professor 
vol. v. 
G 
