THE OOLOQIST 



197 



pair was found breeding in the thick 

 forest high in the mountains. The 

 nest contained two eggs on June 10th. 

 i^'ound in tlie Canadian zone. 



Merula migratoria achrustera. West- 

 ern Robin. Common in the mountains. 

 Probably breeds. Found in the Cana- 

 dian zone. 



Cialia arctica. Mountain Bluebird, 

 l^'airly common. Seen around ranch 

 buildings in the basin, and occasional- 

 ly seen in the mountains. Breeds. 

 Found in the Canadian zone. 



A Full Stomach. 



On September 26th I received a Bit- 

 tern (Botaurus lentiginosus) which 

 was shot on the fresh water marshes 

 in the southern jiart of Philadelphia 

 On examining the contents of the 

 stomach I found the following: Seven 

 s.oecimens of Xeoconocehalus ])alus- 

 rris, an insect closely resembling and 

 allied to our Katydids; one specimen 

 of the De Kay's brown snake (Storeria 

 De Kayi) six inches long, one water 

 snake (Natrix sipedon) nine inches 

 long, and three meadow mice (Micro- 

 lus pennsylvanicus) each four and a 

 hair inches long. All the specimens 

 were in first class condition except one 

 of the mice, which was partly digest- 

 ed. In my time, I have examined the 

 stomachs of a thousand or more birds, 

 but for a full stomach this bittern 

 "takes the cake." 



Warren in his "Birds of Pennsyl- 

 vania" cites a case of a bittern in 

 which the stomach contained two 

 snakes ABOUT eighteen inches in 

 length — another case of a full stomach. 



Philip Laurent. 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



Some Towhee Nests. 



In May, 1914 number of THE OOLO- 



GIST, is an article "Elevated Nests of 



the Towhee," in which the author 



cites two instances of Towhees nest- 



ing one at a four foot elevation and 

 the other at an elevation of two feet. 

 He was of the opinion that the Tow- 

 hee commonly nested on the ground. 

 I would like to add a few more instan- 

 ces of elevated Towhee nests. In 

 fact,, I have never found a nest on the 

 ground, although the birds are plen- 

 tiful around Clinton. 



On May 2, 1911, I found a Towhee 

 nest containing three young in a brush 

 pile on the side of a hill in a pasture 

 near town. The brush was about two 

 and a half feet high and the nest was 

 in the top of the pile. 



April 14, 1913. Towhee nest in a 

 small oak bush, containing three eggs 

 Nest was about two feet above the 

 ground and was in an open place. 



Same day. Towhee nest in a small 

 cedar tree in a gully, about four feet 

 up and containing three eggs. Both 

 of these nests were in the growth 

 along a small branch and were only a 

 few hundred feet apart. 



May 31, 1913. Towhee nest in a 

 cedar tree in a patch of woods above 

 a railroad cut. This nest was easily 

 six feet up and the tree had to be 

 climbed to secure the set cf three eggs 

 which are now in my collection. 



June 6, 1913. Towhee nest in a 

 small redhaw bush in a large plum 

 thicket. Nest was about two feet ui) 

 and contained two eggs. 



June 16, 1914. Towhee nest contain- 

 ing three eggs, in a small bush in the 

 woods. This nest was only a foot and 

 a half from the ground. 



June 21, 1914. Towhee nest with 

 three eggs in a small cedar in open 

 woods. Nest was three feet up. 



June 28, 1914. Towhee nest in a 

 small cedar in a patch of open wood- 

 land. This nest was two feet up and 

 contained one egg. A few days later 

 the female was flushed from the nest 

 which then held three eggs. 



Many other nests have been found 



