104 



THE OOLOGIST. 



cono mountains conditions just as fa- 

 vorable as in Canada and Maine and 

 some of them stop there to breed. 



The Academy museum contains 

 nests and eggs of the Winter Wren, 

 Olive-sided Flycatcher, Brown Creep- 

 er, White-throated Sparrow, Goshawk, 

 Red-breasted Nuthatch and other lo- 

 cal species from the Pennsylvania 

 mountains and I have little doubt that 

 those of the Solitary Sandpiper will 

 son be added to the number. 

 Very truly yours, 



WITME.C STONE. 



Chili, N. Y., July 10, '06. 



Both Mr. Harlow's and Mr. Stone's 

 observations and explanations are wel- 

 come at this juncture, and now I'll 

 add my mite. Potter Swamp in the 

 Alleghany Hills of Yates Co., N. Y., is 

 only 80 mi. north of the latitude of 

 Pike Co., Pa. 



It has been known to several of 

 the field ornithologists of Central N. 

 Y., that the Solitary Sandpiper could 

 be found in the upper end of this 

 swamp, way into the breeding sea- 

 son for several years back and that 

 the young and old would appear to- 

 gether on the beach of Keuka Lake. 

 12 miles south, promptly about July 

 5th. 



Personally, I know they were in the 

 swamp May 26th, this year. 



They appear singly in the swamp, 

 and are very quiet and unobtrusive at 

 this time, feeding on the partly sub- 

 merged hummocks, logs and stumps 

 which are all that show above the wa- 

 ter in their haunts at this time. If 

 the theory that they habitually nest 

 in old nests of other birds be correct, 

 they would have ample opportunity 

 to indulge this fancy in the almost 

 inaccessible Crackle colonies located 

 there. 



Where conditions are so boreal that 

 the Mourning Warbler, Water Thrush 

 and Solitary Vireo will stay to rear 



their young, it is not a "far cry" to 

 the Solitary Sandpiper. 



Should this Sandpiper breed in this 

 or similar location, they could not do 

 so on the ground as the rapidly shift- 

 ing water level would absolutely pre- 

 vent their successfully doing so. 

 Three or four days of successive 

 thunder showers will often raise the 

 water two feet, submerging all but 

 the outskirts and higher hummocks. 

 ERNEST H. SHORT. 



In North Carolina and Virginia. 

 (Trochilus colubris). 



Distributed throughout Eastern 

 United States to the Great Plains, 

 north to Canada, in winter south to 

 Cuba, Eastern Mexico and Central 

 America to Uraguay in South Amer- 

 ica (in general). 



This beautiful bit of bird life is a 

 common summer resident in all parts 

 of these states, breeding abundantly 

 in all suitable localities. From the 

 shores of the Atlantic on the south- 

 eastern border of the "Old North 

 State," to the rocky sides of the 

 mountains in Northwest Virginia they 

 are scattered without regard to any 

 fixed lines or localities. They seem 

 to abound alike in all sections unless 

 locally unfitted for their habitation. 



With the balmy air of April they 

 usually arrive. In the southeastern 

 sections the first ones are usually no- 

 ticed from the fifth to the tenth of 

 the month, while to the westward 

 tluy put in an appearance a few days 

 later, arriving about the fifteenth or 

 twentieth in Western North Carolina 

 and about the same time in South- 

 eastern Virginia. In Northern and 

 Western Virginia it is often early 

 in May before they are to be found. 



This busy little summer visitor 

 seems to be capable of adapting it- 

 self to all kinds of surrondings, For 

 ili« m to inhabit, no forest seems too 



