582 General Notes. [^ 



speckled at the greater end chiefly, where there was more or less of a ring 

 on a background of grayish white. 



This nesting of D. coronata at Webster, Mass., in southern Worcester 

 County, on the Connecticut State line, in transition country with fauna 

 almost purely Alleghenian, is of interest. It may be remarked en passant 

 that within one-quarter of a mile of this white pine grove, where the Myrtle 

 Warbler had its nest, was a wooded laurel swamp with scattered black 

 spruce, where a Hooded Warbler was in full song (May 23) and a pair of its 

 cousins, Sylvania canadensis, were building a nest. 



While D. coronata has long been known as a summer resident of many 

 of the elevated parts of Massachusetts, although less numerous than either 

 D. maculosa or D. ccerulescens, this Webster breeding of the bird appears 

 to be the first recorded case of a nest of the species in Massachusetts. — 

 John A. Farley, Maiden, Mass. 



The Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica ceruka) in the Catskills. — Santa 

 Cruz Park is a little community of cottages in the Catskill Mountain 

 woods, a little southwest of the center of Greene County, having an altitude 

 of about 2000 feet. The cottages harmonize well with their surroundings 

 and are not sufficiently obtrusive to seriously affect the natural environ- 

 ment of the mountains. While deciduous trees have rather the upper hand, 

 there is a very formidable rivalry of spruce, balsam, and hemlock. 



Arriving here late in May for a month of bird study, almost the first 

 bird which demanded our serious attention was the Cerulean Warbler, 

 hitherto unknown to us. 



Between May 29 and June 28, hardly a day passed without giving this 

 evasive bird more or less of our attention, sometimes amounting to several 

 hours in the course of the day. 



A bird more difficult to observe I have rarely if ever met with. His 

 life seemed to be confined almost entirely to the tops of the tallest decidu- 

 ous trees, where he would generally feed, with apparent design, on the side 

 most remote from the would-be observer, exhibiting a wariness not expected 

 on the part of a warbler, and finally leaving the tree, the first intimation of 

 his departure being a more distant song. He never remained in the same 

 tree-top more than eight or ten minutes at a time and yet rarely ventured 

 out of hearing distance from the center of his range. Fortunately, he would 

 sometimes take a perch on a bare twig and sing for several minutes, but the 

 perch was always high and generally with the sky as a poor background for 

 observation. Had it not been for the almost incessant singing, being heard 

 almost constantly from daybreak until nearly dark, the task of identifica- 

 tion would have seemed hopeless. 



The musical exercises of the bird consisted of an alternation of two dis- 

 tinctly different songs, so different indeed that until the bird was caught 

 in the act we never for a moment suspected a single authorship. One song 

 suggested slightly that of the Magnolia Warbler but rather softer, four 

 syllables, though not quite so well defined as in the Magnolia. The other, 



