tinttermg of tho birds during the broedmg-scason. As aireadv noted, I saw 64 of tbo
completed nests, and many in various stages of advancement, under a 50-foot eave, down
m toe nver valley by Brandon. Similarly, tho sheltered iraildings l>y the river near Fort
Elhce were colonized. At Shoal Lake I saw a somewhat low building with about thirty
nests under tho eaves, Tliis was not in a sheltered place, hut it overlooked tlie wateil
About our own building at Carberry tbere never wore any Cliff-Swallows, for the reason,
i lielievc, tliat they w ere out on tlie open prairie, remote from slielter and water. On
the otlier liand, the new mill at Assessippi, deep down in the slielterod valley, by the
inducement, and, as I myself saw in Juno 1SS4. over 300 pairs
o Uitt-Swallows had commenced to build before tbe carpenters wore out of the buildin«
ih e air around was filled with the hirds, like bees about a l.ive, and their contiimai
twittering made m the aggregate such a volume of sound as to be an annoyance to tho
mhahitauts of tlie village.
“ In estimating tlieir number I liave assumed that each nest represented a pair.
“ accompanying pliotograpli will illustrate the manner of tlieir uestiii« in tiie
Xortli-west of Canada.” ®
Capt. Blakiston writes Tlic Cliff-Swallow is also given iu the ‘ Fauna Boreali-
Aincrleana’ and hy Mr. Boss on tho Mackenzie; and 1 observed it in considoral.le
numbers under the eaves of the buildings at Fort Pitt, on the north branch of the
Saskatohawan, m June. AVliile travelling over the prairie in tho neighbourliood of Bow
Kivcr, our party came upon au immense graiiito-houlder, about 36 feet high, standimr
alone on the plain. This had been taken advantage of by the, Cliff-Swallow, tlic mud"!
formed nests of wliioli were clustered togetlier in a mass. Tlio steep cliffy banks of some
parts of the Saskatcliawan River are also used by this bird for nesting-places.” To the
northward, in Alaska, Mr. Dali found the Cliff-Swallow, and he o b s e r v e s “ Tliis is the
most common species at Nulato, where the oaves of the fort, inside and out, are lined
with their olay-domcs. It is also found at Fort Yukon, and the Redoubt, St. Michael’s.
Tlie Indians k y tliat before tho forts were huilt this bird made its nest on tho face of
some sandstone cliff under some projecting fragment. H. homorum frequently builds
on the Indian caches, hut I have never known this species to do so.”
Mr. B. AV. Nelson writes The lack of proper surroundings on tlic coast of
Alaska and tlie Arctic Ocean appears to limit the range ot this liird to tlio interior, and
althougli I kept a continual look-out for it during my residence in tho north, I did not
see a single individual. At Nulato, Dali records its arrival from May lOtli to Kith, aud
from tliese dates up to tlie 24tli. At the same place ho found it nesting commoiily
about the trading stations, and was told hy the natives that it nested on tile faces of tlie
sandstone cliffs along the Yukon, before the advent ot the white man placed at it.s
disposal the convenient shelter ot the trading posts. The birds wero quick to take
advantage ot the liospitality offered them, and to change from their primitive nesting-
sites to civilized domiciles.
“ It is also found breeding at Fort Yukon. Mr. Dali records tlio presence of tliis
bird at St. Michael's, hut not one was seen during the four years passed hy mo at tluit
place, and the evidence seems to point to a mistaken identification, whereby the oomiuoii
Barn-Swallow (which is very common there) was mistaken for the present bird. Tliese
Swallows are recorded from Point Lake, latitude 05”, in British Nortli America, and in
Alaska tliey are known to extend north ot the Arctic Circle. Its o.stension north to tlie
Arctic Ocean is doubtful—at least in our territory—owing to the low and unsuitable
nature ot the country, in addition to the harsh and repelling climate. There is a single
specimen in the National Museum Collection, obtained hy Kcniiioott at Fort Resolution,
June 23, aud this and the points previously given constitute the nortlienimost limits of
its range. There is uo evidence of its presence in the soiitli-eiistern part of tho
Territory.”
Mr. Agersborg states that it is common m South-eastern Dakota, and breeds; and
the following note is given by Dr. Coues in bis paper on the Birds of Dakota and
Montana:—
“ This is the most abundant, generally distributed, and characteristic species of the
family throughout the region under consideration. I'he various streams that cut their
devious ways through the prairie afford an endless succession of steep hanks exactly
suited to its wants during the ncsting-season, and at various places great clusters of the
curious bottle-nosed mud-ncsts were found, while the flocks of Swallows which often
liung about our camps w'ere mainly composed of this species. At some points, the Bank-
Swallows were breeding with them; the same banks being peppered with their littlo
round holes, generally in the soft soil just below the surface, while the projecting nests
of the Cliff-Swallows studded the harder or rocky exposures below. At Fort Pembina