DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 25 



Two broods are reared each year, one in June and the other 

 in the last of July and the first of August. Many false, or 

 dummy nests are constructed for the first brood, they vary from 

 a complete nest, without the lining, to a few grasses in a tule 

 twisted together: but in July they build only (?) one nest, the 

 one they use. This statement is borne out by observations 

 made by Mr. Dickerson covering many years. He owns a 

 meadow which he cuts about twice a year, the first time about 

 the first of July, when he finds many dummy nests and few 

 completed ones; the second mowing is done about the last of 

 August, when he finds only completed nests which bear evi- 

 dence of having been used. I have been told bj' Messrs. 

 Callender, Dickerson and Merriam, that a nest once touched 

 would be destroyed by its owners, even though it contained eggs. 

 Mr. Merriam based his statement upon a nest found in the 

 Great Swamp, which contained an incomplete set of eggs, he 

 returned to the nest several days later and to his astonishment 

 he found the nest torn to pieces. Mr. Dickerson tells of having 

 seen a pair of infuriated birds tear a nest to pieces that he had 

 just examined, both birds took part in the dismantling of their 

 home. 



It has been recorded that the nests were always so well 

 constructed that no amount of rain could penetrate them. I 

 have reason to believe otherwise, for I have found the nests of 

 both species, from which the young had flown, so wet that 

 when squeezed, the water ran from them as from a sponge; 

 this, however, was after an unusually bard rain, covering a 

 period of three days. 



In the foregoing pages I have endeavored to give a summary 

 of our knowledge concerning this bird in New Jersey and East- 

 ern Pennsylvania, and if any of my readers can add any infor- 

 mation I shall be pleased to hear from them, that I may com- 

 plete my notes on this species at a future date. Records that 

 are especially desirable, are winter occurences, definite breeding 

 records from southern New Jersey and any record from Penn- 

 sylvania. 



