138 General Notes. [| a u n k 



going to breed. There can be no reasonable doubt that this species breeds 

 in northern New Jersey. — W. deW. Miller and Ludlow Griscom, 

 American Museum of Natural History, New York City. 



Hermit Thrush's Nest in Unusual Location. — At Jefferson Highland 

 N. H., the Hermit Thrush (Hylocicfila guttata pallasi) is a common summer 

 resident. In the season of 1919, six singing males have been within hearing 

 of my home, outnumbering the Robin two to one. And their disposition 

 to sing freely at all hours of the day from an hour before sunrise to a half- 

 hour after sunset, far surpasses that of our local Robins. One pair of 

 Hermits has been located at the wood border below our garden and has 

 been frequently seen in the garden and nearby orchard. When the season 

 of ripe blackberries had come and I was gathering berries on August 9 in 

 the plot of considerable size within our garden, I came upon a nest lodged 

 on several of the canes within about a foot, of their tips and four feet or so 

 above the ground. One fledgling about ready to fly was in the nest, and I 

 surmised that two or three others had probably already flown. The 

 mother bird came and perched on the top of a bean pole standing, perhaps, 

 thirty feet from her nest and showed no excited anxiety over my presence, 

 continuing to hold her perch for some time and quietly giving her hissing 

 call only. The next day when the blackberry plot was visited, the fledgling 

 left the nest upon my approach. This nest rested firmly on several canes 

 and was concealed from casual view by the leaves thickly surrounding it; 

 while clusters of berries hung all about it, so it had not been discovered 

 until on the day named the branches were drawn aside a little in gathering 

 the fruit. The location in the plot of blackberries was on the outer edge 

 southward, the plot having a width of about twenty feet, and was one 

 hundred and fifty feet from the border of the woods, thus well up therefrom 

 in the garden. The male bird continued singing up to August 16 inclusive; 

 on that day I heard him sing a few times at 6 A. M. and again at 12 M., as 

 he had done the preceding clay. But this was the last voicing of his 

 beautiful song for the season. Subsequently, an occasional call only was 

 heard, and like his brother Hermits in the neighborhood he was for the most 

 part silent, without even expressing himself in either of his four distinctly 

 different call-notes. — ■ Horace W. Wright, 107 Pinckney St., Boston, Muss. 



Peculiar Nesting of Hermit Thrushes. — How far the nesting of 

 birds may be influenced by friendly contact with man is worthy of careful 

 study and observation by all bird lovers. The peculiar nesting plan of a 

 pair of Hermit Thrushes, near the shore of Asquam Lake, Holderness, N. H., 

 is of especial interest and may lead to other observations of a like peculiar- 

 ity. In all our previous observations of their nesting, the nests were found 

 among low- bushes on damp ground. Mr. F. Schuyler Matthews writes 

 that he has found them on low bushes mar the ground. How far the fol- 

 lowing facts may have been influenced by association with man, can only 

 be" conjectured. 



