22 



ORNTTHOLOGTST 



[Vol. 14-No. 2 



tenth of May until the end of June. Average 

 height of nests has been four feet. Have never 

 found over four eggs in a nest. 



Sylvania canadensis. Canadian Warbler. 

 Very common on the Black Mountains. Ranges 

 fully 6,000 feet up. Have never taken their 

 eggs, but have found several nests with young 

 birds. 



Setophaga ruticilla. American Redstart. 

 Summer visitor; rare. Breeds sparingly on the 

 French Broad River. 



Mlmiis poli/fjlottns. Mocking-Bird. Sum- 

 mer visitor; not comnnm. Have seen eight or 

 ten pairs in Asheville, and one pair nested in 

 Weaverville. 



Gale.nscoptes cnrolinensis. Catbird. Very 

 common; arrives here usually by the middle 

 of Apiil and stays until October. Range over 

 fi,()00 feet. 



JIdrpttrhj/nrhiixriifiis. Brown Thrasher. Sum- 

 mer visitor: common. Arrives here generally on 

 the third or fourth of April, nesting in that 

 month. Called Mocking-bird by tlie farmers. 

 A great many are shot each spring by the 

 farmers who say that they pull up theiV corn. 

 Catbirds and Towhees also share the same 

 fate. 



Thryotlinrus JK'wickii. Bewick's Wren. Com- 

 mon in tlie mountains, also in the towns. I 

 found it abundant on f^raggy Mountain wliere 

 it ranges over the highest points. Have never 

 found it as high on the Black Mountain. Ar- 

 rives usually on fifteenth or sixteenth of March. 

 Nests early in April. Builds under logs, in 

 hollow stumps and barns and old houses. 



Thn/otJiorus Indoi'lrianus. Carolina Wren. 

 Resident, very common up to 400 feet. Nests 

 from Api'il until July, sometimes later than 

 that, as I once flushed a bird from her nest f)n 

 the ninth of October. Where all the young 

 that are hatched go, 1 could never tell, for the 

 birds are very prolific. A i)air have nested in 

 our barn the past three summers. In 18S(5 they 

 raised fifteen young ones, seventeen in 1SS7, 

 and sixteen in 1SS8, but still there are only the 

 one pair there. 



Troglodytes Iiicmdlis. Winter Wren. Res- 

 ident, on Black Mountains in summer. 



Certhia familiaris ainencfina. Brown Creep- 

 er. Resident, and common, on the higher 

 mountains in summer. Breeds usually iii May, 

 nesting in knot holes and natural cavities. 

 Five and six eggs are tlie usual ininiber found 

 in this locality. 



Sittn carolinensis. White - breasted Nut- I 

 hatch. Resident; very common. Nests early 

 in April. Range r),000 feet on Craggy Moun- I 



tains, but does not range so high on the Black 

 Mountains. 



Sitta canadensis. Red-breasted Nut-liatcli 

 Resident; common on Black Mountains. Have 

 found but two nests of this bird, one in 1886 on 

 the 10th of May and the other on the loth of 

 May, 1885. The first was in a dead stub 20 

 feet up, and the other was in a stump six feet 

 up. Each nest contained four fresh eggs. 

 They were much more heavily marked than 

 those of the White-breasted Nuthatch. 



PdDis hirolor. Tufted Titmouse. Resident; 

 comnnm in this vicinity, 'i'his is one of my 

 favorities and I have spent a great deal of time 

 studying their habits, and have found out a 

 great many curious things about them. Usu- 

 ally about the middle of April they begin to 

 hunt for a nesting site, and scmietimes they 

 are very liard to please. When the tree has 

 been chosen the female begins at once to clean 

 it out and to gather material for the nest. 

 Leaves, moss and hair form the main ])art of 

 the nest. The fonale does all the building, 

 while the male provides the food. A very 

 peculiar trait they have is to carry nesting 

 material to the nest after the female has been 

 incubating. I have observed them on several 

 occasicms carrying moss and hair into their 

 nests and on examination I found that incub- 

 ation was well along. 



If their eggs are disturbed they will at once 

 remove them. The eggs are always ne.atly cov- 

 ered up, and they aie quite skilful in the art 

 of hiding them. Often have 1 had a liard 

 climb up some old giant of the forest only to 

 find a few acorn shells in the bottom of the 

 cavity, nor could I find the eggs even when I 

 knew they were near. 



'i'he usual number of eggs found in a set 

 has been five and six although sometimes seven 

 and eight are found. The average height taking 

 from one liundred nests has been nearly thirty- 

 five feet. The lowest was five feet up and the 

 highest sixty-seven feet. 



Pdvns nfrirnpiUiis. Chickadee. Resident, 

 common on Black Mountains above .^.000 

 feet. 



Pants <-(ir<)liue»sis. Carolina Chickadee. 

 Resident; abundant up to (5,000 feet on Craggy 

 Mountain. I have never found it above the 

 line of firs on the Black Mountain. Breeds 

 early in May. six and seven eggs are the usual 

 number. 



Begulns satrapa. G(dden-crowned Kinglet. 

 Resident; common. Black Mountains in sum- 

 mer. I found young just out of the nest on 

 June 24th, 1887. 



