ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. iS-Xo. I 



On the afternoon of May 30th I visited 

 the first nest spoken of. It contained five 

 eggs of the Warbler that were cold, which 

 led me to believe the female would have 

 laid at least one more ; but as the nest was 

 placed in a bunch of grass and the cows 

 had been tramping very close to it, I was 

 afraid to leave it another day, and thinking 

 a bird in hand was worth two in the bush 

 I packed the eggs in my box and started 

 for my home feeling well paid for my trip, 

 bringing home one set of seven, one of six, 

 one of five, and receiving the other three 

 sets of five in good condition when the sets 

 were completed. 



On Sunday, June i 2th, myself and friend 

 went over the same ground and found the 

 second nest of the pair from which I took 

 the seven eggs. It was placed in a bunch 

 of tall grass about 200 feet from the site of 

 the first one and contained four eggs ; in- 

 cubation commenced. About 300 yards 

 from this nest we found one containing four 

 eggs that we overlooked on the 29th of 

 May ; incubation was far advanced. On 

 our homeward trip we found the second 

 nest of the last pair we found on the 2Sth 

 about so feet from the old site, containing 

 four eggs ; incubation commenced. I do 

 not believe in robbing a pair of birds of 

 their eggs the second time ; my object in 

 going after them this time was to find out 

 what their second clutch would consist of. 

 I did it once before and never found but 

 four eggs, and by this I am led to believe 

 that they rarely, if ever, lay more. I hope 

 to spend several more pleasant days look- 

 ing after them the coming season. 



I would be pleased to have other col- 

 lectors give their experience with this spe- 

 cies. To my mind it is one of the most 

 interesting of tiie Warbler family. 



Isaac .S'. Re iff. 

 Philadelphia. 



A Comparison of the Nesting Hab- 

 its of the Long-billed and Short- 

 billed Marsh Wren. 



R. H. Carr reported a Scarlet Tanager 

 taken at Brockton, Mass., on November 

 II, 1892. 



The Short-billed Marsh Wren ( Cistot- 

 liorus stellaris) seems to be confined to 

 certain sections for the nesting season. I 

 know of but two places where they are to 

 be found in numbers, and as these places 

 are somewhat under thirty miles from my 

 present residence, and, so far as I know, 

 but one other oologist besides my brother 

 and myself knows about them, the birds are 

 disturbed^very little and consequently con- 

 gregate in considerable numbers every 

 year. The Long-bills ( C. pah/sfris) are 

 common almost anywhere. 



The Short-billed usually has the first 

 nest completed and eggs laid by the last of 

 May and the Long-bills about a week 

 later ; as at that time of the year the grass 

 is not very long, the nest is often built so 

 that it almost touches the hummock from 

 which the supporting grass grows, but I 

 have never seen them actually' on or in the 

 hummock. As a rule it is built some dis- 

 tance from the ground, and one, containing 

 seven eggs, was built in the top of the 

 bunch of the grass — the tops of the live 

 grass being woven in and forming part of 

 the nest. 



I have noticed that while both species 

 build in wet meadows (in this case fresh- 

 water meadows) the Long-bills invariably 

 build in the tall rank grass and near some 

 river or brook, while the Short-bills are 

 equally particular in choosing a shorter 

 and much less rank kind of grass. When 

 the first set is laid, the grass all over the 

 meadows is rather short and not very 

 rank, so that the nests may be anywhere 

 and it is nothing but pure luck when one 

 is found ; but later in the season, when 

 most of the grass is long and rank, the 

 Long-bills stay wherever they happen to 

 be, while those of the other species come 

 from all parts of the meadows, and con- 



