'1912 J General Notes. 395 



investigation of the nests of the Redwings in the vicinity showed them to 

 be either empty or only one or two young in the several nests which I 

 located. This lead me to believe that the Grackles may have carried off 

 some of the nestlings, for the Redwings usually have from three to five 

 young to a nest. — J. A. Webeu, Palisades Park, N. J. 



Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolimis) wintering in Essex Co., 



Mass. — A flock of Rusty Blackbirds spent most, it not all, the past winter 

 in Danvers, Mass. This seems remarkable considering the great severity 

 of January and February, 1912. 



Mr. Brewster records a flock of this sjjecies in Brookline, February 8, 

 1879. Mr. A. C. Conrcy noted one on Concord turnpike, Concord, Jan- 

 uary 22, 1905. Howe & Allen, 1901, give February 20 as earliest, except 

 the accidental February 8, and in Townsend's Birds of Essex Co., March 

 14 is given. 



I first saw a floc^k of eight individuals during a snowstorm on Januar}^ 

 29, feeding on a large pile of manure close to Burley St. On January 30, 

 they were in the same place. 1 could not find out whether anyone had seen 

 them before this. On February 6, Mr. G. A. Peabody saw twelve on his 

 estate near the same spot, and on February 7, he counted eighteen. I 

 looked up the flock again on February 18, and also counted eighteen 

 birds. They were getting most of their food, apparently, from a large 

 pile of horse manure. From that date until March 19, Mr. Peabody tells 

 me he constantly saw the birds at the same place. — J. C. Phillips, 

 Wenham, Mass. 



Lark Sparrow {Chondesles grammacus grammacus) in Cuba. — On 

 December 12, 1911, I took in a " potrero " on the San Carlos Estate, 

 Guantanamo, Cuba, a female specimen of the Lark Sparrow in very fine 

 plumage. This is the first Cuban record for this species. The specimen 

 was kindly compared and identified for me by Mr. W. DeW. Miller at the 

 American Museum of Natural History. — Chas. T. Ramsden, Guanta- 

 namo, Cuba. 



Unusual Nest Site of the Cardinal. — I have known of Catbirds, 

 Phoebes, Robins and Hummingbirds building and rearing their young in 

 vines on porches or verandas; but it was not until the other day (May 11, 

 1912) that my attention was called to the fact of a Cardinal Grosbeak 

 (C. c. cardinalis) exhibiting such implicit confidence in man. 



This spring, a pair of these birds built their nest in a small, white wisteria 

 vine running up some wire-netting on the porch of Mr. G. W. H. Soelner 

 at 343G Seventeenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C, very near my own 

 home. On the morning of the 13tli of May, they completed the somewhat 

 flimsy nest, and one egg was laid. A Purple Grackle, which had undoubt- 

 edly watched the entire proceedings, stole the egg a few hours after it had 

 been deposited, and I doubt whether the Cardinals will return. — R.W. 

 Shufeldt, Washington, D. C. 



