108 NEBRASKA ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION 



NOTES FROM CUSTER COUNTY 



I found the Say's Phoebe nesting four miles south of Callaway on the 

 ledge of a sod house; at Oconto it remained throughout the season 

 around the station and the mill; at Sumner around the station and four 

 miles north; at Eiverdale around the station. I had good evidence of its 

 breeding at Chadron, and it is an interesting question whether the bird 

 is not extending its range eastward. 



The White-rumped Shrike has bred for several years five miles south- 

 west of Callaway. On October 3, 1902, I saw a magpie six miles south, 

 but had no chance to inquire whether it bred in the cottonwoods, as 

 it does at Chadron. 



The Marsh Hawk disgraced its good name by chasing chickens very 

 fiercely, in the country, where I was staying in October. My host told 

 me they saw the same performance frequently. Swainson's Hawks 

 passed through Callaway in a flock of a hundred or more the past year 

 and the year before. 



The Purple Martin is abundant here, only five miles east of the 100th 

 meridian, the farthest west I have observed them. 



J. M. Bates, Callaway. 



SHORT-BILLED JIARSIT WREN AND CAROLINA WREN AT LINCOLN 



On the 28th of August, 1902, while in a tract of marshy hay land and 

 sloughs north of Salt Lake, near Lincoln, in company with Mr. M. H. 

 Swenk, the writer found a nest of the Short-billed Marsh Wren, empty 

 but apparently having been used this season. Several birds of this 

 species were in the vicinity. This is the first record of its breeding in 

 this part of the state. Mr. J. C. Crawford, Jr., has found it breeding 

 at West Point, but it is a rare bird in Nebraska. On September 27 the 

 same locality was visited and the birds found still present, singing, and 

 specimens were taken. 



On February 20, 1902, Mr. J. S. Hunter shot a specimen of the Caro- 

 lina Wren near Eoca, twelve miles south of Lincoln. The bird was on 

 a large, hollow tree in the timber along the creek exploring the edge 

 of a cavity, into which it fell when shot. The specimen is in the col- 

 lection of the Union. This species has only been seen twice before in 

 the state, once by Prof. Aughey and once by Prof. Bruner. Both 

 records were from Richardson County, in the very southeastern corner, 

 and it is many years since they were made. 



Robert H. Wolcott, Lincoln. 



