8 4 



General Notes. [j U]i 



LJan. 



locality and were passing down the line of willows along an extensive 

 canal. A strange faint note arising from out of the meadows beyond 

 arrested our attention, the author of which we could not discover. It 

 struck me that this was the object of our search although I had never met 

 with the species before. This supposition proved correct, as a few minutes 

 later Taverner was able to flush a small bird, which he secured, prov- 

 ing it to be a female Henslow's Sparrow. We found a small colony of 

 these birds in this portion of the meadows — about twelve pairs as far as 

 we could judge. The two females taken demonstrated that they were 

 breeding- by the bare abdomen and the tough thickened skin of the bellv. 

 In the limited amount of time at our disposal no nests were found; 

 indeed, it was a difficult matter to locate the birds themselves, much less 

 the nests. In the vast expanse of meadow the search was in vain. By 

 careful concentration we could detect the se-slick notes of the birds arising 

 from out of the medley caused by the Meadowlark, Bobolink, and Red- 

 winged Blackbird, but to an unaccustomed ear the notes would easilv be 

 passed over or ignored. 



The birds favored perching on the tops of the various weed stalks, 

 golden-rod, asters, etc., that invested certain portions of the field. Once 

 flushed the birds would fly in a peculiar wavering manner a short dis- 

 tance, drop suddenly into the tangled grass, and were with extreme 

 difficulty put up again. Mouse-like they would worm their way through 

 the matted grass and were shortly in a different direction from the place 

 one expected to find them. Towards sunset the birds were more active 

 and the notes would arise from various points. I did not hear them after 

 sunset. 



We visited this colony again on July 23 and 24 and August 21. On the 

 latter date the birds had moved up to higher ground where a tangle of 

 golden-rod and other weeds made a good cover. On September 25 

 thorough search failed to reveal even a single bird. On October 2, in 

 Wayne County, we were passing through a neglected piece of meadow 

 when I flushed a small sparrow which, by its peculiar flight I realized 

 was an Ammodrainus of some species. This bird quickly dropped into 

 the grass and we searched for an hour before Taverner flushed it again in 

 a distant portion of the field and secured it. This bird proved to be a 

 male Henslow's Sparrow — a much more brightly plumed bird than the 

 June specimens ; the dark streaks of the sides showed up very plainly 

 against the ochreus wash on the breast. 



I think that A. henslotvii will prove to be a much more abundant 

 species in this section of Michigan than is supposed, though very locally 

 distributed. — Bradshaw H. Swales, Detroit, J\/ic//. 



The Northern Parula Warbler in Southern Michigan. — I am enabled 

 by the courtesy of Mr. J. Claire Wood of Detroit to record the first speci- 

 men of the Northern Parula Warbler {Compsothlypis americana tisnece) 

 taken in Wayne County. Michigan. On September 25, 1904, Mr. Wood 



