16 TowNSEND, Summer Birch of the St. John Valley, N. B. [f^^ 



unusual abundance was visited. The weather was beautiful, 

 and Professor Whitman was in fine spirits. 



A small duck boat conveyed the party to nests of Coots, Rails, 

 Gallinules, Black Terns, etc., with eggs and young birds just 

 hatched. These aroused keen enthusiasm. 



A unique experience was an encounter with some young Pied- 

 billed Grebes and their parents. The writer had found the nest 

 five days before, with two downy yoimg just hatched which were 

 'lying on the material covering the other eggs not yet hatched, as 

 is the custom of grebes. On this later visit, we saw the parent 

 grebes swimming with several of their offspring in open water not 

 many rods from the now deserted nest. Professor Whitman urged 

 a very quiet and deliberate approach. Our little boat in which 

 we were obliged to sit with some care to avoid tipping, was grad- 

 ually paddled up to within a very few rods of the grebes. As we 

 drew near, the little grebes gathered about one of the parents and 

 took places inside its wings. In another moment, the bird dived 

 taking the young with her. We were able later to capture one of 

 the little grebes for a few minutes' inspection. 



NOTES ON THE SUMMER BIRDS OF THE ST. JOHN 

 \'ALLEY, NEW BRUNSWICK.i 



BY CHARLES W. TOWNSEND, M. D. 



The following observations were made between July 11 and 

 August 4, 1911, in the lower part of the valley of the St. John 

 River, New Brunswick, between St. John and Fredericton. Two 

 days were spent at St. John, a day on the Kennebecasis River, 

 eight days at Glenwood, three days at Upper Greenwich, a day at 

 Fredericton, and nine days at Gerow's Landing, Wickham. 



As one ascends the St. John River, one is struck with the sudden 

 change in the physical character of the valley from the liilly,. 



1 Read before the Nuttall Ornithological Club, October 2, 1911. 



