Pa | General Notes. 337 
no less than thirty-three individuals having been examined, or reported 
o me by accurate observers in various parts of the State.— B. H. Bartey, 
r Rapids, Iowa. 
Chimney Swift Nesting in a Well.— On July 23, 1916, Mr. S. V. 
LaDow and I hopefully approached a well in an open field between houses 
along a highroad near Westfield, Bergen Co., N. J. It was a rather fancy 
well, with a curb about a yard high and four columns supporting a pointed 
roof, the whole affair of stone. But we found it evidently unused, as the 
water was about twenty-five feet down, scummy and with no means of 
drawing it. As we sat on the curb, a strange noise came from below; on 
repetition, we decided that it was of wings, probably a bat’s. Hitting 
the inside of the well with a stick caused further repetition. Long looking 
revealed three blind, naked, pink-skinned Swifts (Chetwra pelagica) in a 
nest attached to the smooth, rounded concrete wall about seven or eight 
feet down, and finally an adult (disclosed by the whitish throat) perched 
a little to one side, also against the concrete. The young wriggled a little 
and made faint but distinct squeaking. We withdrew and after a few 
minutes returned and found the old Swift sitting on the nest covering its 
babies, its face toward the wall. 
As after gazing sorrowfully at the water, we had sat quietly for a space 
before the Swift flew, and as it had not flown upward to any extent as 
though to escape, perhaps the rather loud noise of the wings in flight 
was made to scare us away. 
Though the file of ‘ The Auk ’ contains occasional records of the Chimney 
Swift’s nesting in hollow trees and in buildings, I have found no record 
there or elsewhere of a nest in a well except in Bendire’s ‘ Life Histories 
of North American Birds,’ 1895, p. 178: “In a letter from Dr. William L. 
Ralph, dated San Mateo, Florida, May 19, 1895, he says: ‘One of my men 
brought me the eggs of a Chimney Swift that he said he took from a nest 
attached to the sides of a well, 4 feet below the surface of the ground. He 
says they often nest in such places in this vicinity.’ I consider this as a 
very unusual nesting site for this species.” — CHARLES H. Rogers, American 
Museum of Natural History, New York. 
Muscivora tyrannus (Linn.) in Massachusetts— On October 22, 
1916, I saw a Fork-tailed Flycatcher perched on the top of a wire fence 
at the side of the main road a short distance below Gay Head Lighthouse, 
Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. When disturbed by my repeated approach, 
the bird flew only a short distance each time, and returned to the fence. 
The conspicuously long outer tail-feathers and general coloration made it 
easily recognizable. Subsequently, by the kindness of Mr. Outram Bangs, 
of the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, I have examined specimens of 
this and other species, which entirely confirm my identification.— FRANCIS 
A. Foster, Edgartown, Massachusetts. 
