96 The Wilson Bulletin — ]S'o. 112 



eastern edge of the Pine Ridge. During November they appeared 

 at Oshkosh, Garden county, and spread eastward along the Platte 

 to Gothenburg, Dawson county, and Kearney, Buffalo county. A 

 specimen taken at Kearney on November 18 is now in the A. M. 

 Brooking collection. Mr. A. B. Colvin of Gothenburg writes, un- 

 der date of December 8, that a few of these birds appeared there 

 in the winter of 1918-19 also. 



Myron H. Swenk. 

 Lincoln, Nebraska. 



FURTHER NOTES ON THE DECREASE OF THE 

 CAROLINA WREN' 



In the Auk, No. 2. April, 1919, page 289, Mr. Alex. Whetmore 

 has an article relating to Ihe decrease of the Carolina Wren in 

 his section, 



I have also noticed 'this decrease in Virginia, a little further 

 south of Washington, D. C. These birds, as a rule, are resident 

 the year round, and are found in pairs around some farm, often 

 as much in evidence in winter as in summer. I have attributed 

 their decrease, not so much to hard winters, with snow on the 

 ground, as to the "Swat-the-Fly" movement in the rural districts 

 during the last ten years. These wrens, as well as the House 

 Wrens, feed extensively about the house and farm buildings, and 

 feed on flies, spiders and other insects found under porches, barns, 

 cow stables 'and other farm buildings. The use of poisoned ar- 

 senical fly paper to kill off flies in the above mentioned farm build- 

 ings has resulted in the killing of countless numbers of flies. I do 

 not think that the wrens ever drink the water from the shallow 

 receptacles in which the sheets of poisoned paper are placed, but 

 I have seen the wrens hopping around on the porches of my coun- 

 try home, picking up 'the dead flies, and on the ground also after 

 the flies had been swept from the porch. I have also noted them 

 engaged in similar feeding, — in the cow stable. After watching 

 them extensively while thus engaged, I have noticed they became 

 weak and wabbly in their movements, and I have been able to 

 catch them by hand; and within a short time they have died. For 

 a number of years this has been going on, and both the Carolina 

 and House Wrens, especially the former, have become scarce in 

 this section. Of course the House Wren migrates, generally by 

 September 1st, and so escapes the multitude of dead flies killed in 

 September, the height of their season. If snow is on the ground, 

 Carolina Wrens are seen extensively around the farm 'buildings, 

 looking over the cobwebs, in which old flies, spiders and other in- 



