138 



General Notes. [January 



principally ot" moss, lint, and down, and lined with feathers. There were 

 several eggs — I do not now remember how many — four or five, I think, 

 and were pure white. The nest was in a low place, not exactly a swamp 

 or marsh, but a low bottom, grown up thickly with bushes of sweet-gum, 

 hackberry, a bush known here as the spice tree. It was most beautifully 

 and securely attached to the twigs. 



'Tn 1S57, Dr. Curtis was in the zenith of his reputation as a botanist 

 and ornithologist. He died soon after the war. This is all I have to say 

 on the subject of the Parus minimus being found in South Carolina. I 

 had the male and female and a nest of eggs, all of which was burned in 

 my office by Sherman's army in 1865. The birds and nest I procured in 

 In the very early part of May or latter part of April. ... I was not mis- 

 taken in my identification. I saw the birds before they were captured, 

 knew they were rare in this region, having given some attention to the orni- 

 thology of this State. Having procured the specimens, I referred the 

 matter to Dr. Curtis, who, when he saw them, admitted at once they were 

 the Pants minimus, and said, 'You are the first to find this bird east of 

 the Rocky Mountains." Dr. Curtis doubted my correctness of identifica- 

 tion till he saw the specimens." — Levekett M. Loomis, Chester, S. C. 



Helminthophila celata in South Carolina. — Tiiis plain-colored little 

 bird, discovered and described by Say in 1S23, was for a long time sup- 

 posed to inhabit only the West, from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean, 

 as in 1858 Professor Baird gives its habitat as such. But in later years the 

 bird has been taken all along the Atlantic coast. Audubon is one of the 

 early writers who defines its habitat correctly. I first became acquainted 

 with this interesting little Warbler in the fall of 1SS4. I secured the first 

 specimen I had seen living on the 29th November, 1SS4. I was attracted 

 to it by its peculiar little chirp. It kept in the thickest of the bushes, and 

 was not still for a second, so I had considerable difficulty in procuring it. 

 The bird was shot on Sullivan's Island. This island, about six miles 

 long, and seven miles from Charleston, is a famous summer resort for the 

 residents of Charleston. It is directly on the Atlantic Ocean, and is my 

 favorite collecting ground for this Warbler, as well as the numberless 

 Waders that migrate along the coast in April and May. This Warbler is 

 a late autuinnal migrant, arriving late in November, and wintering in 

 small numbers, especially on Sullivan's Island, as nearly all my specimens 

 were taken on that island. They were all shot from myrtle bushes, and 

 invariably fell when shot into the water. I therefore consider this species 

 strictly maritime when in South Carolina. The bird reminds me of the 

 Worm-eating Warbler, it being exceedingly active, and always keeping in 

 the thickest bushes, searching for worms and larvae amongst the deda 

 leaves. I have failed to find the species five miles from Charleston, away 

 from the coast, but have taken it nine miles from Charleston on the 

 coast. I have taken specimens in November, December, January, Feb- 

 ruary, and March. The bird appears to migrate early in the spring. 

 They love to gambol in company with the Yellow-rumped Warblers, and 



