i886. 1 General N^o/es. \ T^'^ 



tions of instances wherein certain other kinds have passed the winter far 

 to the north of their usual habitats are simply irrelevant, and his references 

 to what may be possible are entirely outside the range of evidence. 



But when Mr. Chadbourne comes to speak of Yellow-rumps, he is, to 

 say the least, forgetful of the laws which regulate the geographical distri- 

 bution of birds. He believes it "almost equally certain that the Yellow- 

 rumped Warblers were wintering at Pine Point, Maine," because "they 

 do regularly at Milton, Mass., only about ninety miles south," and 

 because they winter also at other points in Massachusetts. He gives no 

 other reasons. It is hardly necessary to discuss the cogency of those 

 which he does produce : they are not in the nature of evidence. ^ — Nathan 

 Clifford Brown, Portlatid. Maine. 



On the Former Breeding of Psaltriparus minimus in South Carolina. — 

 In a letter received sometime since from Dr. C. Kollock, mention was 

 made of the former breeding of the Least Bush-tit in the vicinity of Che- 

 raw, South Carolina. Subsequently I wrote to him asking for further 

 particulars concerning this interesting occurrence. His reply is as fol- 

 lows : — "As to the Chestnut-crowned T\\.vn.ou&e~ Pants minimus of 

 Townsend and Audubon— I never wrote anything on the subject except a 

 short letter to the Rev. Dr. M. A. Curtis, who was then pastor of the 

 Episcopal Church at Society Hill, about fifteen miles below Cheraw. 

 When I first wrote him that I had found specimens of the Chestnut- 

 crowned Titmouse near Cheraw, he wrote me promptly, saying that I 

 must be mistaken, as that bird was never seen east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. I had captured both the male and female, and the nest with six 

 eggs in it. A few days later Dr. Curtis came to Cheraw, and when he saw 

 the birds, nest, and eggs, he gave it up and said, "You have discovered the 

 first Chestnut-crowned Titmouse ever seen this side of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains." I saw perhaps six or eight others in the same locality. I have 

 never seen any since that date, [the spring of] 1857, so it must have been 

 an accident their appearing in this latitude." 



This account adds still another instance of that peculiar easterly migra- 

 tion of 'western' species toward the South Atlantic seaboard, which has 

 so recently been revealed in the records of Le Conte's Bunting, Painted 

 Longspur, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Finch, and Yellow-headed Blackbird. 



It is to be hoped that the constantly increasing band of ornithological 

 workers, scattered over the State, will be able to throw the clearer light 

 of later experience on this and other legacies of the Bachmanian epoch 

 of South Carolinian ornithology. 



P. S. — Since writing the foregoing I have received a more detailed 

 account from Dr. Kollock respecting the occurrence noted above, from 

 which I add the following : 



" . . . . The nest was suspended from low bushes, from three and a half 

 to five feet from the ground ; was in the shape of a long purse, from four 

 to six inches in length, with a round hole at the top. The lower part or 

 bottom of the nest was wider than the upper part. The nest was made 



