Vol i906 IH ] General Notes. 463 



parent Townees soon came to the rescue and by their actions put identifi- 

 cation beyond a shadow of question. This was also in Cochituate village, 

 Wayland, Mass. 



Mr. Brewster regards this double experience as especially noteworthy 

 in eastern Massachusetts. He believes that a few instances of bush- 

 nesting by Towhees are on record as occurring in central Massachusetts. 

 Personally, through a lifetime of bird experience (off and on) in eastern 

 Massachusetts, I have never met with nor heard of a case of bush or tree- 

 building by the Towhee there. With us of eastern Massachusetts the 

 Towhee has ever been the closest kind of a ground-builder, so far as I 

 know. — Fletcher Osgood, Chelsea, Mass. 



The Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) Breeding 

 near Springfield, Mass. — In the July number of 'The Auk,' I reported the 

 capture of a Rough-winged Swallow at Longmeadow near Springfield. 

 Afterwards, not far from the place where this one was taken, three more 

 were observed, and a pair of these were found to be breeding. The site 

 of the nest was located in a ravine two hundred feet long, washed out a 

 few years ago from a bluff twenty feet above the flood plain of the Con- 

 necticut River. This pair were successful in raising their young. I 

 noticed that they flew low and did not pause in their flight, as do the Barn 

 Swallows; they often came to feed their young through the woods adja- 

 cent to a portion of the ravine, flying not more than ten feet from the 

 ground.— Robert O. Morris, Springfield, Mass. 



The Water-Thrush (Seiurus noveboracensis) Nesting in Rhode Island. 

 — In April of the present year I was searching through a swamp in Wash- 

 ington County for Red-shouldered Hawks' nests and came upon some 

 uprooted trees in a small area which was very wet and swampy. In 

 looking over one of these stumps I found a last year's nest which from its 

 location gave me a suggestion that a Water-Thrush might have nested 

 there. 



On May 20, in company with Mr. John H. Flanagan, I again visited 

 the swamp and upon approaching the spot where I found the old nest I 

 heard a Water-Thrush singing. A search through the swamp was begun 

 for its nest and after examining nearly every stump, I found it with the 

 female sitting closely. We approached within two feet of the nest, thor- 

 oughly examining her, and were fully satisfied that it was the Water- 

 Thrush (Seiurus noveboracensis). The bird would not leave when we 

 struck the root and only left when I almost touched her with my hand, 

 and flew into a tree within ten feet of us, and all the time we were there 

 she was close by in clear view uttering a sharp chirp and kept her tail in 

 motion like a Spotted Sandpiper's. 



There- were five eggs, incubated but three or four days. The nest was 

 placed in a cavity in the roots about a foot above the water, which was 



