136 



THE OOLOGIST. 



on May 25th, in a large tract of vir- 

 gin forest, in the mountains, I shot 

 an adult female Goshawk that was 

 trying to drive a Grouse out of a 

 laurel bed. This bird showed all 

 signs of being a breeding bird and no 

 doubt had a nest in some of the big 

 hemlocks. 



We also have plenty of Canada 

 porcupines, varying hares, woodland 

 jumping mice and other of the more 

 northern mammals. 



This summer I have seen a Soli- 

 tary Sandpiper at different times 

 since the middle of May, but think it 

 is alone, as I have never been able to 

 see its mate. Last summer a pair 

 were about but I could find no nest 

 nor did I see any young. 



But with the conditions I have 

 named and the already long list of the 

 more northern breeders, the occasion- 

 al breeding of other northern birds in 

 this as well as other boreal regions of 

 Pennsylvania may be looked for. 

 Yours sincerely, 



R. B. SIMPSON. 

 Warren, 



Warren Co., 



Pa. 



Ruby-throat Hummer. 



Dear Mr. Short: — 



In the July issue of the Oologist I 

 read with interest Mr. Smithwick's ar- 

 ticle on the Ruby-throat (Trochilus 

 colubris). In closing he speaks of 

 never having found a nest in a yard. 



Although I have only had the for- 

 tune to examine two nests, both of 

 these were placed in shadn trees. 



The first one of these was placed 

 on a cone of a larch tree. It was 

 about S feet from the trunk, near the 

 end of one of the long streamers, and 

 25 fe< t up. This nest was within ten 

 feet of the house. 



The s. cond n< st was built in a 

 large shade tree, about 100 feet from 



the residence. This pair of birds en- 

 tered the green-house on the estate in 

 order to procure the down off a cer- 

 tain species of fern for building pur- 

 poses. I did not examine this nest in 

 situ, but the record is authentic. 



I do not doubt that the reason I 

 have not found more nests is because 

 I have not looked in the proper lo- 

 cations, and that Mr. Smithwick is 

 right in saying they generally nest in 

 the forest trees. 



Yours very truly, 



D. E. HARROWER. 



American Bittern. 



We have excellent localities near 

 Buffalo where a good patient observer 

 can learn a great deal about the hab- 

 its of the American Bittern. They 

 arrive here in the latter part of April. 

 Before selecting a nesting site, the 

 male is very jooisy, especially before 

 dark sets in up to midnight. The 

 queer call of the male during the mat- 

 ing season almost equals that of a 

 bull, something like "Up-rump," and 

 can be heard for at least a half mile, 

 and to accomplish this the male 

 stands on. both of his feet and places 

 the bill in the water, and by jerks 

 produces the noise. After the selec- 

 tion of a suitable spot for the nest, 

 both birds construct the same, in 

 some instances on level ground out- 

 side, but near the swamp. Others 

 place their nest on a platform con- 

 structed of dry and coarse water 

 plants, as tales, sedges, etc., from 12 

 to L8 inches above the water in the 

 swam]). When completed, the female 

 starts on the duties of life, laying 

 from 1 to fi eggs, from light brown 

 greenish to a dark shade of brown. 

 They also vary greatly in size. Win n 

 the nest is placed among the tules 

 and sedges of a swamp, the male in 

 visiting the female alights from 15 to 



