THE 05L0GIST 



331 



is what gives the birds that striking 

 odor. A little of it goes a good ways. 

 Eggs and skins of these birds which 

 have been kept for years still retain 

 the scent- 

 There is a very odd thing which the 

 fishermen told about them, and both 

 told the same story. I will repeat it 

 and the readers of the ,'Oologist" may 

 take it for what it is worth. They said 

 that earlj"^ in the spring, before the 

 ground thawed, they dug out several of 

 the Petrel which were apparently dead, 

 but upon being placed near the tire, 

 they soon completely revived. Quite 

 a number of holes were dug into, and 

 most of them contained birds in this 

 condition. The fishermen were of the 

 opinion that many birds I'emained in 

 this state during the entire winter. As 

 for myself, I hardly like to believe it 

 and I would be thankful to the person 

 who looks it up and finds out the truth. 

 Besides the Petrel, there was very 

 little else on the island. A few Com- 

 mon Tern hovered over one ^end; the 

 Song and Savanna Sparrows chirped 

 around in the grass and stones. Three 

 sets of Spotted Sandpiper were taken. 

 On a rocky point several Black Guille- 

 mots evidently made their home, and 

 had nests underneath the rocks, but 

 one would need a derrick to get at 

 them. I did not try to get any, for 1 

 had securred several sets two years be- 

 fore on another island in the bay. 

 Having gathered all the eggs I cared 

 for I wandered over to where Mr. Reed 

 was; he too, was satisfied. He did not 

 ■look so fresh as he did when we landed; 

 he did not look as clean; in tact he was 

 decidedly dirty. His ears and eyes 

 were full of dirt; his nose was smuttj'; 

 his arms and hands were scratched and 

 his clothes were torn. He said he bet 

 I was as dirty as he was; we left it to 

 one of the fishermen, who said he would 

 have to toss up a quarter to decide. 

 No one had tiiat amount of money, 

 so we are still in doubt. 



It was with reluctance that we left 

 the island with its thousands of birds 

 sitting on their eggs just underneath 

 the surface. How I would like to have 

 i-emained over night and watched the 

 strange scenes that would then occur, 

 when thousands of birds would come 

 from their burrows and as many more 

 would come from their distant flight 

 over the sea. 



It was impossible however to remain 

 longer, but as I watched the little island 

 fading from sight over the stern, I 

 made a vow that if ever I had an op- 

 portunity to remain in a Petrel village 

 over night, I most certainly would im- 

 prove it. 



H. T. VanOstrand, 



Millbury, Mass. 



Nesting Habits of the Chestnut-sided "Warbler 



As I understand it Mr. Editor you do 

 not desire notes on our common birds 

 as the habits have been repeatedly de- 

 scribed in your columns. Therefore in 

 describing this species there is a good 

 chance that my writing will go for 

 naught, as it is a well known Warbler. 

 However, I will chance a few pages of 

 manuscript as I believe the notes to be 

 of interest to many who happen to live 

 in sections whei'e this agreeable undem- 

 onstrative little Warbler is rare. 



Of the family SyUncoUdce, there is, 

 perhaps no other of the long kno\> n 

 members who has been recorded as ir- 

 regularly, both as to locality and date 

 of arrival as this. If my readers will 

 take the time to look over a goodly 

 number of authorities it Avill be found 

 that discrepancies occur concerning 

 this species. Audubon, I believe and 

 .several other prominient ornithologists 

 consider this Warbler quite rare. 

 Then, too, there are observers who 

 have found the bird abundant, and 

 again very rare. In fact, this condition, 

 due to a change of location for breed- 

 ing, is quite noticeable in this Warbler. 



