^6 Dutcher, Bird Notes from Long-Island, N. T. [January 



The lining is composed entirely of horsehair, and this is laid with 

 precision, and shaped into a prettily formed cup, the brim being 

 turned with exquisite grace. The dimensions of the nest are, 

 outside, z\ inches high and 2\ to 3 inches across the mouth ; 

 inside, \\ inches deep and ff inches wide. 



The eggs are of much the same dull white ground-color, of a 

 slightly ashen hue, as that of the Magnolia's. The form of the 

 egg is different, however, the Cape May's being less pyriform — 

 the point less acute. The markings are of light and dark lilac, and 

 yellowish and reddish tints of brown ; the brown being on the sur- 

 face and the lilac underneath, the coatings of shell producing the 

 various shades. As a rule the spots are circular and very small — 

 many being quite minute — and are irregularly distributed, no two 

 eggs bearing the same pattern, though in all four there is decided 

 tendency to concentration in a ring near the large end ; but on 

 some there are spots over the larger part of the entire shell, while 

 the small end of others is immaculate. The measurements 

 are .69 x .49, .65 x .49, .66 x .49, .66 x .48. 



BIRD NOTES FROM LONG ISLAND, N. Y. 



BY WILLIAM DUTCHER. 



I. Passerculus princeps Maynard. Ipswich Sparrow. — Wishing to 

 ascertain whether this species is as rare as it has been generally supposed 

 to be, or was overlooked from the inaccessibility of its winter habitat, I 

 arranged with two of my correspondents to send me all the individuals of 

 this species that they could secure. Both of them spend the winter 

 months on the beach, one at Fire Island Inlet and the other at Shinne- 

 cock Bay, which is some forty miles further east. That they might be 

 perfectly familiar with these birds, I sent them early in the autumn a skin 

 of one as a sample. December 29, 1S83, I received from my Fire Island 

 correspondent twenty-nine specimens which he shot between December 

 17 and 29. He informed me that he had looked carefully but unsuccess- 

 fully for them until December 17, when he found six and secured them all. 

 Subsequent to that time and prior to the 29th he secured twenty-three 

 additional specimens. He also added that he usually observed them in 

 pairs, although sometimes there would be three or four together. They 

 were always found feeding on the seeds of tall grasses and weeds that 



