70 



JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



ican Eider Ducks are very plenty, 

 this winter. Large flocks of Pur- 

 ple-backed Sandpipers can be seen 

 any day on the small ledges or 

 islets. There was also a large flight 

 of Duck Hawks, Fako feregrinus^ here 

 at the island during the fall. I never 

 saw so many before." 



Mr. F. B. Spaulding of Lancaster 

 N. H., one of our subscribers, whom 

 we had the pleasure of meeting in 

 Cambridge at the A. O. U. meeting, 

 writes us as follows regarding the 

 Wilson's Black-cap Warbler. "The 

 nest of Wilson's Warbler, which is 

 extremely rare and whose discovery 

 was entirely accidental, was found 

 May 30, 1894, on top of a small, grassy 

 knoll in a swamp of two or three 

 acres extent, within sixty rods of my 

 home and not more than twenty-five 

 rods from nearest house in out- 

 skirts of the village. When I first 

 flushed the bird the nest was empty, 

 but on June 6 the nest contained four 

 eggs. The parent bird was caught on 

 the nest. The eggs were heavily 

 marked with large blotches of light 

 brown, one being marked at the small 

 end, presenting a peculiar appearance 

 for a Warbler's egg. The nest was a 

 slight affair of moss and fine grasses, 

 lined with fine, dry grass and a little 

 horse hair, sunken into the ground 

 even with the surface. The ground 

 was quite wet and covered with a 

 sparse growth of small bushes. Other 

 birds common in the locality were 

 White Throated Sparrow, Md. 

 Yellow-throat and Alder Flycatcher." 

 We are very glad to get these notes 

 on this rare nesting species as it adds 

 another locality to the list of nests 

 found, and makes a valuable addition 

 to the notes on this Warbler that we 

 published in the July number. 



NOTES ON THE WARBLERS 

 FOUND IN MAINE. 



(Continued from Vol. VI, P. 6b.) 



Contributions to the Life His- 

 tory OF THE Water Thrush. 



Seiurus noveboracensis ( Giiiel ) 

 I J. Merton Swain.] 



Geographical Distribution. Eastern A'ort/i 

 America as far west as the Mississippi Valley. 



Breeds from the northern United States, 

 northward, south in winter to the Gulf 

 States. IVest Indies, Xortliern South 

 America. 



This extremely interesting, thrush- 

 like warbler seems to be a migrant in 

 the southern counties of the state, 

 but in the counties of the Canadian 

 fauna it occurs as a summer resident, 

 more or less common in some locali- 

 ties and seemingly scarce in others. 

 I have observed it during the breed- 

 ing season in Androscoggin, Franklin, 

 Penobscot, Piscataquis, Kennebec, 

 Oxford, Somerset and Waldo coun- 

 ties, while it is reported as breeding 

 at Fort Fairfield in Aroostook Co. 

 (Bacheller, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, VII, 

 p. 110.) 



It arrives in Maine from May 1st 

 to May 10th, usually about the 10th 

 to the 15th in the interior of the state. 

 The first arrival in the spring, I find 

 in Capt. Spinney's notes, was seen on 

 May 15, 1901, on the lantern at Seguin 

 Light. The first mention I find in the 

 notes of the late Clarence H. Morrell 

 of Pittsfleld, was on May 14, 1894. I 

 have not found it a common bird in 

 Franklin Co., at any time in the 

 year, during the 15 years I have ob- 

 served birds in that county. I looked 

 for it during spring migrations for 

 several years before it came to my 

 notice. I did not see it until the 

 spring of 1893, I was in Wilton in 

 Franklin Co. on the early morning of 

 May 12. I was out on a swampy 

 marsh bordering the shore of a small 

 pond. Suddenly a bird perched upon 

 a low willow bush and gave utterance 

 to a very thrilling song. Knowing, 

 at once, it to be a new bird to me, \ 

 trained my glass upon it as it perched 

 in plain view, and soon saw it was a 

 Water Thrush. On May 18, 1902, Mr. 

 Brownson first saw it in Portland and 

 I saw it the same year in Waterville 

 on May 7, as will be seen in Mr. 

 Sweets' tabulation of the migration 

 report of that year. 



