129 
Interior of British North America . 
Ardea herodias. 
The Great Blue Heron, mentioned in the ‘ Fauna Bor.-Am . 9 
only as accidental in the interior, was found breeding by 
M. Bourgeau, in July 1858, near Battle River, a tributary of the 
north branch of the Saskatchawan. There were several nests in 
a poplar-wood, situated in a large ravine near a lake; they were 
about fifty feet from the ground. One was taken, which contained 
six eggs of a greenish blue; and a parent-bird was shot, which I 
carefully compared with Wilson's description. The length of the 
skin was 50 inches, wing 18§ in., and bill, from the forehead, 
6 in. For my own part, I never saw a Heron until I was 
leaving the interior, when I observed what I took for an 
individual of this species, in Northern Minnesota, near the 
49th parallel, on the 2nd of May. 
Botaurus lentiginosus. 
The American Bittern is not an uncommon bird in the 
interior, although I cannot boast of a specimen; however, one 
is recorded in the ‘ Fauna Bor.-Am/ from the Saskatchawan, and 
there is a specimen in the Smithsonian Institution from Nelson 
River. Mr. Murray notices it from the coast of Hudson's Bay; 
and Mr. Ross gives the range on the Mackenzie to the Arctic 
coast. 
95. Charadrius virginicus. 
The breeding-quarters of the American Golden Plover being 
the "barren grounds" and coasts and islands of the Arctic Sea, 
it is only a passing visitor in the more southern parts of British 
America. It is numerous in autumn on the shores of Hudson's 
Bay; but I do not fancy it can be a common bird on the 
western plains; for I only shot a single individual (‘ Ibis/ vol. iv. 
p. 8) in the fall of they ear, wilich I took to be a maimed bird, 
and one again in the spring. Mr. Murray has received specimens 
from Hudson's Bay; and Mr. Ross notes it as abundant on the 
Mackenzie. 
96. AEgIALITIS VOCIFERA. 
The Kildeer arrived in the neighbourhood of Fort Carlton on 
the 19th of April in 1858. I found it a difficult bird to approach 
within the range of small shot. Besides my own, M. Bourgeau 
