134 



OKNITIIOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-No. 9 



alow black berry sprout ; four eggs in which 

 incubatiou had beguu were iu the nest. A Field 

 Sparrow {Splii'lJa pnsilht) nest about one foot 

 up iu a deciduous bush, also held four eggs 

 which were almost fresh. I noticed a Wood 

 Thrusli (Tiirdns iiui><t<Uitits) on its nest on a 

 liorizontal beech brancli; it sat close and would 

 uot tly ofY wlicu I shook the branch. 



The following species were identified : — 

 Woodcock {Fhiloht'ln minor) ; Flicker {C'olaptes 

 aunUus); Kingbird {Tijraunus ti/rdiiiius) ; 

 American Crow {Corvus anuiricanns) ; Purple 

 Grackle (Q«(.s««;i(s qHimmla) ; American Gold- 

 finch (Spiniis tristix) ; Cliipping Sparrow 

 {Spi.-ella soci(ilis); Field Sparrow {Spizi'Un 

 piisUlii) ; State-colored Junco (,/imro htjcmalis) ; 

 Song Sparrow {Mclospiza fasHdta) ; Towliee 

 {ripilo iirijthr-ophthalmus) ; Indigo Bunting 

 {PaasKriiw ciianea) ; Cedar Waxwing {Ampelis 

 cedronan) ; Ovenbird (Si'iinum iiiiraiicniiillns) ; 

 Cat-bird {(Salroscoptes canjlinemiis) ; Wood 

 Thrush ( 'J'nrdus musteliinis) ; American liobin 

 (Mcnda miiiratoria). Also heard tlie familiar 

 notes of Blue .lay (Ci/aiw-rittarrisCnln) ; .Scarlet 

 Tanager Piramja eri/thromelas) ; l!eil-eyed 

 Vireo (\^lreo oUrnccits) ; Vellow-breasted Chat 

 (Icleria vircns) ; nml Broun Thrasher {Ilarjiur- 

 lii/iichus rufn.i) . 



The State-colored .Juncos, of which 1 noticed 

 two, doubtless breed here; the residents know 

 this bird merely as a Sparrow. 



Of course my stay was too short to form an 

 accurate idea of the ornithological value of the 

 place but I concluded that I could find a much 

 better locality than this, to spend a week or 

 two collecting. 



Large Set of Eggs of the Yellow 

 Warbler. 



BY T. W. OI.OVEK, WIIIT.MAN, MASS. 



Thinking tliat the nesting of a Yellow War- 

 bler {Dandroeca mstiva) the set of which con- 

 tained six eggs of that liird and one of the Cow 

 Bunting may be of some interest to the readers 

 of the O. & O. I subn\it the following: 



On May Kith, ISiSS, while searching for birds 

 in a small bit of swamp on the shore of a pond, 

 I found the nest of a Yellow Warbler about 

 one half done, the bird being busy at work. 

 On the 19th I visited the nest again, and found 

 it completed and it contained an egg of the 

 Cow Bunting. 'J'hinking that the Warbler 

 might build a new bottom to the nest, le:iving 

 the Cowliinrs egg lielow, I went again on lh(^ 

 20tli and found an egg of the Warbler with the 



Bunting's egg. On the 21st the nest contained 

 two eggs of the Warbler. 1 next visited the 

 nest on the 2r)th and found it contained five 

 eggs of the Warbler, and on the 20tli 1 found 

 the nest to contain six eggs of the Waibli'r and 

 the old bird sitting. 



I then took them. The coloring is substantial- 

 ly the same in the six eggs, and as six days 

 were consumed in depositing the six eggs I 

 think there can be no doubt about their belong- 

 ing to the same bird. 



The lower part of the nest was composed of 

 cotton waste, probably from some of the fac- 

 tories ncai' by. The remainder was of gi'asses 

 and plant down. It was about six feet from 

 the ground. 



Food of the Great Northern Shrike. 



liY UEN.T. F. IIESS. 



I take pleasure in noticing a discussion aris- 

 ing about the food of this bird. In the July 

 number of the O. & O. last year, will be found 

 a short article written by me on the food of this 

 bird. My notes were mostly taken from obser- 

 vations during the winters, as the Shrikes are 

 not very numerous during summers. My ob- 

 servations since that time have assured nie of 

 the accuracy of the statement in regard to the 

 English Sparrow forming a principal element 

 in the food of the Great Northern Shrike dur- 

 ing the winter. 



The observations of ornithologists in ditlerent 

 sections ditti^r, but such has been the case at 

 least as far as my limited experience goes. I, 

 in eonj unction with other meudx'rs of the 

 brotlierhooil, would like to hear about the ex- 

 perience of collectors in diflerent parts of the 

 country relative to the food of this bird. The 

 columns of this magazine have often been open 

 to friendly discussion, and I presume that a 

 corner may be found for the discussion of this 

 topic until all are satisfied as to what consti- 

 tutes the chief element of food of this bird. 



Food of the Great Northern Shrike. 



HY C. C. MAXWELL 



Referring to Jlr. .Tohu C. ('abo(ni"s article, 

 July O. & O. "Food of the Great Xorthern 

 Shrike," the sentence to which Mr. Cahoon 

 probably refers is this; — "The Shrike at 

 Phoenix, N. Y. is a bird very hard to find iu 



