l63 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-X0. II 



would be difficult to distinguish it, even 

 at a short distance, from either the Least 

 Flycatcher, or the tra/Iii, but its habitat 

 and notes are different, and its nesting 

 modes more so. The habitats of both 

 the other species of this genus above- 

 mentioned, are easily discovered by their 

 song notes, which in the early summer 

 season are continually repeated, but so far 

 as I am aware this species is songless, and 

 owing to the wild places that it frequents, 

 and its habits of darting off into deep con- 

 cealment on the approach of human kind, 

 it would scarcely be known to exist were 

 it not for its simple lament uttered when 

 the environs of its nest is invaded. 



]V/7/ia/>f L. Kc//s. 



A Few Notes which I have Noted. 



On reading Mr. Brotherton's article in 

 the Septemlier number of the Ornith- 

 ologist AND OoLOGiST on "The Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeak in Oakland County, 

 Michigan," I thought that my observations 

 might throw some light upon the subject. 

 The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is one of 

 those peculiar birds which does not appear 

 in every locality throughout its entire 

 geographical range, but visits only its old 

 haunts and breeding grounds, where per- 

 haps it was reared and has bred for years, 

 and while it may be abundant in one 

 locality, yet but a few miles from there it 

 may be seldom if ever seen. Such is the 

 case where I live at Plymouth, Michigan. 

 Although we have inviting forests, swamps 

 and ravines, yet I have never seen a Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeak on an average of more 

 than once in two years, and never found a 

 nest in a radius of three miles around my 

 place, and I have kept the ground well 

 canvassed ; and yet only four miles east in 

 the township of Levonia, they nest every 

 year quite abundantly ; and while on a 

 collecting trip in this same locality in 

 company with my friends, Albert and 



Elmer Durfee, they led the way to what 

 they called their "Timbered Forty," and 

 there for the first time in my life I heard 

 the Wilson's Thrush. The}' were sending 

 forth their ringing notes on every hand and 

 we were not long in finding three nests. 

 But I do not expect to live long enough to 

 ever hear one of these birds or find one of 

 their nests in Plymouth ; and I know where 

 there is a little narrow strip of marsh 

 grass bordering a small stream where 

 there is a small colony of Short-billed 

 Marsh Wrens breeding every year, and 

 although my friend, Mr. W. A. Davidson 

 of Detroit, tells me that they breed quite 

 abundantly in the marshes along the De- 

 troit river, yet this is the only place where 

 I have found them nesting myself, and al- 

 though there are hundreds of places which 

 would seem more inviting, yet they cling 

 to the place where they have been hatched 

 and reared for years ; and so it is with 

 many others of this class of birds. They 

 nest only in certain localities, while the 

 Robin, the Bluebird, the Meadow Lark, 

 the Song Sparrow and many other varie- 

 ties are more evenly distributed, and are 

 found breeding in every orchard and 

 meadow and on every farm throughout 

 their entire range. The above notes I be- 

 lieve to be correct, for many a pair of 

 boots I have worn out and many a suit of 

 clothes I have torn out wading through 

 the deepest swamps and quagmires, climb- 

 ing steep hills and wandering thi'ough 

 valleys and tearing my way through thick- 

 tangled underbrush to make these observ- 

 ations, and yet there is a great deal to be 

 learned about bird-life that will never be 

 known, for when a young bird leaves its 

 nest it may never see another one like it 

 until it builds one for itself, and then it 

 uses the same material for its foundations, 

 fashions it in the same form, and uses the 

 same kind of material for its lining that its 

 ancestors have used for generations before. 

 I think I hear some one say, " That is in- 



