[88$.] General Notes. 379 



killed was the exact counterpart of the young of the Blue-winged Yellow- 

 Warbler, with its yellow breast and white wing-bars. 



In all probability the father of this interesting family was a specimen of 

 Helmintho-phila pinus. — A. K. Fisher. M. D.. Sing- Sing, New York-. 



The Loggerhead Shrike in New Hampshire.— On the morning of the 

 16th of April of this year an unfamilar bird-note — as of a Robin with a 

 cleft tongue — attracted mv attention to a clump of balsams {Abies bal- 

 samea) in the yard of our nearest neighbor. Here, after a few moments 

 of hide and seek, I discovered the birds to be a pair of these Shrikes (La- 

 nius ludovicianus) although at first 1 quite naturally supposed them to be 

 Lanius borealis, with whose acquaintance I have been little favored. 

 For the next ten days the birds were seen continually as they boldly flew 

 about the houses gathering materials for their nest. This they built 

 close to the trunk of one of the balsams, at a distance of about 20 feet 

 from the ground and scarcely more than that from the upper windows of 

 the house. On the 27th one egg was found, and. to anticipate any pos" 

 sible unnatural actions on the part of the birds, was taken. The female, 

 however, soon resumed her oviparous duties so that on Max- 4 we secured 

 five more eggs. But meanwhile doubts had arisen as to the species ; accord- 

 ingly the birds were shot and have since been identified by the editor of 

 this Journal as Lanius ludovicianus. 



The nest, which is large for the size of the birds, is composed outwardly 

 of twigs rather loosely joined together by wads of worsted anil twine ; the 

 inner portion, however, is quite compact, being composed of dried grasses 

 and roots finely interwoven with feathers and soft bits of worsted. The 

 depth of the nest is two inches: its diameter is three inches. 



The eggs are of a grayish-white ground-color, entirely covered with 

 small blotches of a sandy-brown of several shades, darkest at the large end. 

 The eggs measure (in inches) 1.01 X .70; .94 X .74: .98 X .70: .96 X 

 .70; .96 X .70; .98 X .66. 



While under my observation the Shrikes did not evince a particularly 

 savage or quarrelsome disposition; when the nest was building they en- 

 joyed driving away the Robins, whose customary abode they had pre- 

 empted, yet neither in the trees near at hand, nor in an apple tree 

 about 300 yards distant which the male made his look-out, did we see any 

 evidences of impaled victims. They frequently alighted in the grass, ap 

 parently in search of grasshoppers and crickets. Their vocal range was 

 broad; but to our ears disclosed a painful lack of culture; save for an oc- 

 casional liquid, far-away, tone, like a bit of blue sky seen through angry 

 clouds, — their notes were very harsh and discordant. In concluding I 

 will say that another season will doubtless add further evidence, and suffi- 

 cient, for the complete establishment of the fact that L. ludovicianus is a 

 regular resident in this locality. — Edwin Brant Frost, Hanover. Y. 11. 



Breeding of Loxia americana in the District of Columbia. — In Vol. 1 

 of 'The Auk,' p. z<>2. Mr Ridgway cites the occurrence of Loxia americana 



