244 General Notes. [^'JS 



territory very few have hitherto been reported from Chester Co., Pa., and 

 they only very recently I believe. My first observation of them was made 

 within six miles of West Chester, east of the town Nov. 30, 1911, when two 

 of them were noticed in a field, on the ground. Three days later, on Dec. 

 3, I observed quite a large flock of them closely associated with a belated 

 colony of Purple Crackles, they were seeking shelter for tlie night in a 

 clump of evergreen trees on a lawn in the town and numbered thirty or 

 forty individuals, enough to start a good sized colony next spring if they 

 remain. — Thomas H. Jackson, West Chester, Pa. 



Strange actions of a Red-eyed Cowbird. — I have always con- 

 sidered the Cowbirds as playing the character of sneak, when necessity 

 compelled them to seek out the nest of their feathered kin, but in view 

 of the following incident I feel somewhat dubious. 



Toward the end of May, 1911, a pair of Sennett's Oriole {Icterus cucul- 

 latus sennetti) built their semi-pensile nest, composed almost entirely of 

 fibers from stem or leaf of Spanish Dagger,^ Palmetto ^ and Banana, in 

 or rather attached to a vine-stalk of a Rosa de Montana,^ that shaded the 

 library windows of our house from the morning sun. Therefore, the 

 position of the nest allowed easy observation at all times. Early one 

 morning, after the complement of three eggs had been laid, and were being 

 brooded, a female Red-eyed Cowbird ( Tangavius aniens involucralus) was 

 noted on the ground near the site of the nest. Its restless manner held my 

 attention, and within a very few moments the cause was apparent. Walk- 

 ing to the base of the vine-stalk supporting the nest it flew upward several 

 feet then grasping the stalk continued its vertical progress, at the same 

 time flapping the wings vigorously, thereby producing considerable noise. 

 Reaching a point well within a foot of the nest — or about six feet above 

 ground — it arrested progress, but continued the wing movement. Al- 

 though this needs have perturbed the setting Oriole, she never once quitted 

 her treasures. After a period of a minute or thereabouts the Cowbird 

 flew away. Two days later the same scene was reacted, only, on this 

 occasion, the departure of the Cowbird was due to the appearance of the 

 male Oriole on the scene. The nest was examined at various times there- 

 after and it never held more than the rightful contents. Two eggs 

 eventually hatched, but the young never left the nest alive, being 

 destroyed by some mammal, possibly the Texas Opossum {Didelphis 

 marsupialis texensis) a serious enemy to bird-life in southern Texas. — 

 Austin Paul Smith, Brownsville, Texas. 



The Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) Wintering in New Jersey. — 



An immature male of this species was found dead and frozen stiff in Haddon- 

 field, N. J., January 16, 1912, and brought to me by my nephew, Henry 



1 Yucca treculeana. ' Inodes texana. 



'Antigonon leptopus. 



