100 



OKNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-No. 7 



thi; other ego; was perfectly fresh and looked as 

 if It might have been laid that morning. I 

 found the fourth nest but got there too late, as 

 some boys had just finished digging the eggs 

 out, and lirolie them all, as the shells were lay- 

 ing on the ground. 



1 found a number of nests of the Spotted 

 Sandpiiicr, finished or nearly so, but no eggs. 

 Jiciug somewhat tired, but more hungry, I con- 

 cluded to start for home. 



In the afternoon I examined the trees in the 

 orchard, and found Chipping Sparrows' nests 

 in different stages of conipletion, and one con- 

 taining four eggs, with incubation advanced 

 aliout one-half, ilobins' nests were in the 

 same state, only one containing eggs. The 

 Bain Swallows were building, and 1 found one 

 Plio'be Bird's nest containing j-oung birds. 



Com|)ariug notes of this day's find, with 

 other years having more favorable weather, I 

 cannot see that our birds were one day behind. 



Supposed Breeding of the Barred 

 Owl in St. Joseph's Co., Mich. 



HY LEUN E. KEEU, WHITE PIGEON, MICH. 



What I liclicve to be the first known instance 

 of the breeding of this bird in the county, was 

 lately lirought to my notice. A young man of 

 unquestionable veracity showed me the foot, 

 and gave me the description of an owl which 

 he had killed. The foot and the description 

 tallied exactly with the Barred Owl. 



The liird was on the nest when first seen, 

 May 12. and from the .iltsence of feathers un- 

 der the breast and under the wings, had evident- 

 ly lieen setting some time. This, I am certain, 

 adds another to the four species of Stritjidiv 

 known to breed in the county. 



Nesting of the Carolina Chickadee 

 in i888. 



BY C. S. BRIMLEY, RALEIGH, N. C. 



The Carolina Chickadees (Panis ctirdliiii-ii- 

 sis), started building toward the end of the first 

 week in Apiil, selecting an old rotten stum|) or 

 a natural hollow for the scene of their opera- 

 tions, seeming however to prefer to do at any 

 rate some digging on theii' own account. After 

 digging out a hole to suit their taste, they 

 started ai)parently in a great hurry to line it. 

 using almost any soft material that was 



handy, such as cotton, green moss, rabbit fur, 

 and horsehair. 



In lining the nest cavity, which, as a rule, 

 was not directly below the entrance, but some- 

 what on one side, they built the nest higher on 

 the side towards the light, so as to efVectually 

 hide the eggs from view in most cases. 



The nest complement varied from five to 

 seven, usually five or six, one set of four being 

 found, but this was the second laying. The en- 

 trance hole varied in height from two and a 

 half to twelve feet, the nest being some six 

 inches deep in the hole. 



While incubating, the bird did not seem to 

 keej) on the nest more than half the time, but 

 when once on the nest, she didn't seem inclined 

 to leave it, as in several cases while breaking 

 out the hole, I almost buried the bird under the 

 trash before she would leave the nest. 



B^ill sets of eggs were to be found only from 

 April 21 to 2f, these birds all seeming to nest at 

 the same time. They did not any of them take 

 long in building, fifteen to eighteen days being 

 the time from date of starting digging to date 

 of taking full sets from the nests. 



Notes on the Nesting of the Yellow- 

 Throated Warbler. 



ISV WALTER HOXIE, FROGMOKE, S. C. 



In a recent issue of the O. & O. (October, 

 1887), two articles appeared on the Nesting of 

 the Yellow-throated Warbler (Dcndrwra domin- 

 ka). The experience of the two observers 

 seems to be so very difterent, that it would ap- 

 pear at first as though one or the other of them 

 must be wrong. But when we take into con- 

 sideration that they are both well ])ractised 

 collectors, and also that there is a wide dift'er- 

 ence in the localities in which their observa- 

 tions are made, we must pause and seek for a 

 natural explanation of the apparently conflict- 

 ing facts which they record. 



Leaving out of account tlie difference of lo- 

 cality, it seems as though the habits of the bird 

 itself will almost explain away all these con- 

 flicting points. Pre-eminently a searcher for 

 his food, he is no less an adept at fly-catching 

 on the wing, and can also if occasion requires 

 it, do some pretty fair work at picking into tlie 

 bark and crevices after the manner of the Nut- 

 hatches and Tits. In fact, I remember once 

 seeing a pair of Yellow-throated Warblers 

 shower down so much bark 'and rotten chips. 



