1(34 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 13-No. 11 



ri'fcnc'il to this in a foiiiier voluiiii; of the 

 O. & O. in the case of Cassiu's Purple-tincli aud 

 have observed it among Western tree sparrows, 

 .Innoos, GoUitinclies aud other winter birds. 



I call to mind an instance of a common Gold- 

 finch chased by limwalis in which tlie pursued 

 souglit safety in flight over a treeless country. 



Several times the little Goldfinch was over- 

 taken by his foe but eluded him by expert 

 dodging. 



This continued until both were out of sight i 

 aud I know not how it ended. 



In wiuter the small birds usually band to- 

 gether in mixed flocks, usually contaiidng 

 several species, and tlie collector is often guided 

 to them by the appearance of one or more 

 Shrikes which hang around in tlie viciinty. 



Some writers in the O. & O. liave mentioned 

 the singing of this species and indeed he has a 

 very pleasant song, e.specially if heard when 

 woods are bare and other songsters are for the 

 most part silent. 



The White rumped Shrike also has a nuud)er 

 of pleasant notes which much resemble those 

 of the Mockiug bird. 



I believe the food of tlds species is almost 

 entirely insects, though I once saw oue which 

 had captured a small lizard, common on the 

 plains. 



The White rump is the only species which I 

 have observed impaling insects on thorns. 



The barb-wire fences in this locality are very 

 useful to him and it is not uncouniiou to find 

 beetles and grasshoppers in such positions. 



full grown, healtliy ruffed grouse which was 

 feeding on gi'ain which had fallen from crip- 

 pled cars. About three hundred yards distant 

 is a wooded hill and the bird must have come 

 down into the railroad yard to feed. But why 

 it should do this at this season is more than I 

 can tell, and it is still more difticult to under- 

 stand why the bird allowed itself to be caught. 

 — Salamanca, N. Y. 



Breeding of the Upland Plover on 

 Cape Cod. 



A Curious Habit of the Chimney 

 Swift. 



BY M. K. BARNDM. 



In the September Oruithilogist and Onlorjist 

 Mr. J. C. Gaboon expresses himself as " not 

 positive" that the Upland Plover breeds on 

 Cape Cod. 



It may be of interest to him and other readers 

 of the "O. & O." to know that the Upland, or 

 " Grass Plover" as it is there called, is abun- 

 dant on Nantucket Island and breeds there. 

 I have in my collection a nice set of three eggs 

 taken near Siasconset, Nantucket, July 18, 18S0 

 from a deserted nest in a newly mown haytield. 

 The eggs were addled and I think the bird had 

 deserted the nest on account of the grass being 

 cut, leaving the nest so exposed that the eggs 

 could be seen twenty yards awaj'. 



A few days ago some car repairers, working 

 near the Erie K. R. car shops here, caught a 



C. E. III>YLE. 



In studying the habits of the Chimney Swift 

 {0/(a<'tura jylaaien) I have noticed a very 

 peculiar one that I have never seen recorded. 

 Thinking that it would be of interest to the 

 readers of the O. & O. I will describe it. 



The Chimney Swift is a very close incubator 

 and has to be forcibly disturbed before it will 

 leave its eggs. I have noticed that almost in- 

 variably upon being so disturbed they would 

 drop one or two feet below the nest, to the side 

 of the chimney, and after getting firndy 

 fastened, they would slowly raise their wings 

 over their backs until the tips almost touched, 

 and then suddenly jump or spring backward 

 and upwards, at the same time beating the 

 hack of their wings against the opposite side of 

 the chimney, producing a heavy mutHed sound. 

 They repeat this until as near the top of the 

 chimney as they dare come when they again 

 drop and repeat as before. The way I explain- 

 ed it was, that it was an attempt to terrify the 

 disturber of its home. 



Remarkable Eggs of the Field Spar- 

 row. 



BY J. P. N. 



During the past season I received a large and 

 beautiful series of sets of eggs of the Field 

 Sparrow (Spizdla pusilla) from North Carolina. 

 One of the sets contains an egg which is so 

 large that it seems worthy of having its size 

 placed on record. It measures .79 x ..i.i, aud in 

 shape aud coloration is an exact counterpart of 

 the two other eggs comprising the set, which 

 are of normal size (.68 x .51.) 



And in this connection it may be said that 

 unless oue has seen a lai'ge series of eggs of 

 this species it is difficult to imagine how great 

 their variation is in size, shape and coloration. 



