46 



ORKITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-No. 3 



pot, with the common ones, and discuss its 

 flesh instead of its pliiinage. 



Vet such a triiinipli has beeu mini'; tlic first 

 spei'inieu of all tliat list of stragglers fell into 

 my hands on the 20th of October last — a Corn 

 Crake {Crex crex), a bird about tlie size and ap- 

 pearance (if not examined too oloselj') of a 

 Woodcock, aside from the beak, which latter 

 more nearly resembles that of the domestic 

 fowl. Keddish tints predominate, especially 

 on tlie wings, and a more critical examination 

 reveals the somewhat flattened form peculiar to 

 tlie RalUihe. It was a male, apparently fully 

 mature in size and plumage, and was found in 

 such a place as one would be likely to look at 

 that season for Woodcock — a swampy thicket 

 at the head of a marsh, the source of a small 

 stream winding some two miles through salt 

 meadows to its outlet into Long Island Sound. 

 Whence came this bird, and whither was it go- 

 ing? Are there others and have they a breed- 

 ing ground in our county? Questions without 

 solution are only conjecture. It would be in- 

 teresting to me if some(me acquainted with the 

 habits of tlie species would present them at 

 length. All the information I have been able 

 to gather is comprehended in the brief "acci- 

 dental on our coast." If a single .specimen es- 

 tablishes the status of a species then the List of 

 the fauna of Connecticut is increased by one. 



[The Corn Crake (Crex pratensiit until lately, 

 when Linn;eus"s name has been adopted by the 

 A. O. U. nomenclature, and we now have Crex 

 crex), is quite a common bird in England, where 

 it is found in the meadows and low lands where 

 there is water. It is migratory, and arrives 

 there from the Kuropean Continent about April 

 or May. 



It is of a shy and retiring disposition, and 

 will not fly unless compelled to do so. The 

 nest is constructed of dry grsss, on the ground, 

 in meadows, and from seven to ten eggs are 

 laid. Their ground color varies from eciai drab 

 to fawn, and tliey are spotted and blotched quite 

 heavily with cinnamon and russet. There are 

 also a few spots of purplish-gray. They meas- 

 ure 1.41 X 1.07 and larger, and the spots have a 

 tendency to run lengthwise on the eggs. 



Specimens of this bird have beeu taken in 

 Gieenland, Long Island, New Jersey, and the 

 Bermudas, and now Judge Clark has added 

 Connecticut to these localities. It therefore 

 has a far better claim to be included in our 

 Xorth American fauna than many other birds 

 who have been admitted on the strength of a 

 single specimen having been taken here. — J. 

 P. N.] 



An Unusual Nest of the Parula 

 Warbler. 



nv WII.LIA.M liltEWSTKR. 



In the interesting article on "The Farula 

 Warbler, Its Nest and Eggs," in January O. 

 & O., "J. M. W." says: "I do not think this 

 warbler ever attached the upper part of the nest 

 to limb or twig like the orioles and vireos." 

 It is natural that this keen observer and charm- 

 ing writer should feel sure of his ground in 

 dealing with a species which he knows so well, 

 but, nevertheless, he is mistaken in the opinion 

 just quoted. 



I have a nest of the Parula Warbler taken 

 with a set of three eggs at Stoneham, Mass., 

 June 24. 1867, which in shape and general style 

 of construction closely resembles a wide- 

 mouthed nest of the Baltimore Oriole, except- 

 ing, of course, that it is much smaller. There 

 is no hole in the side, and the bird entered at 

 the top as this Oriole does. The upper edges 

 and sides were securely fastened to the fine 

 terminal twigs of the drooping bough of a 

 vigorous live hemlock, where the nest was 

 prettily concealed among its foliage, and hung 

 suspended precisely as the Oriole's hammock 

 hangs in the drooping spray of an elm. 



This nest is composed entirely of usnea, 

 loosely woven or perhaps merely felted together. 

 It had a scanty lining of flue grasses and pine 

 needles, which the birds must have been at some 

 pains to collect, tor the closest scrutiny, on the 

 part of a friend and myself, of all the trees in 

 the surrounding grove, failed to show more 

 than a few scattered tufts, the largest not 

 larger than an English walnut. 



This fact doubtless explains the unusual char- 

 acter of the nest just described. Its builders 

 having chosen to ignore one of the most firmly 

 grounded traditions of their race, by settling in 

 a spot where usnea was too scanty to be used 

 in the ordinary way, were obliged to depart 

 still further from established precedent and 

 construct a finished nest. As it is, the case af- 

 fords an interesting example of evolution in 

 nest building. Another step in the same direc- 

 tion would give us a nest composed of twine, 

 bark, or what not. Who can say that a Parula 

 w'ill not yet build such a house? 



In Xorthern Xew England, where the usini'a 

 is found in almost every tree, the Parula War- 

 bler, as far as I have observed, never breeds in 

 coloines such as "J. M. W." describes, but, on 

 the contrary, is quite as evenly and generally 



