igo3 J General Notes. ^q 



tinus mojttattus). Tliis being in June, all were mated and pieparing to 

 nest. 



One day, while riding up a water-course in the heart of a great pine 

 forest, I saw, but 20 or 30 yards away, a female Grosbeak with a beak full 

 of dry grass, hopping on the ground, closely followed by three males. I 

 drew up at once, and from the saddle I watched the actions of the birds, 

 with the hope that I might discover the location of the nest. The three 

 males, in their anxiety each one to be nearer than the other to the female, 

 caused her to drop her load, and i^y into a pine tree, the three males fol- 

 lowing. The whole lot finally disappeared among the pines \vell up the 

 hill-side. Examination of the tree into which the birds flew revealed 

 nothing, and though I passed this spot every day or two, I saw nothing 

 more of the birds. At other times I followed pairs that had come some 

 distance to drink, from tree to tree over hills and hollows, with nothing 

 but failure at the end. — ^Geo. F. Bkeninger, P/ice?iix, Ariz. 



Another Record of phryothorus ludovicianus in Massachusetts. — As I 

 was returning home about seven o'clock on the morning of September 6, 

 1902, I stopped near the edge of a damp thicket of bushes and small trees, 

 consisting of willows, red maples and gray birches, with tangles of briars 

 and wild grapes. This tract, several acres in extent, is in the northern 

 part of Fall River, Mass. After a few moments my attention was 

 attracted by a new bird song. This came from a black alder bush, which 

 was so thick I could not identify the singer. After singing there for a 

 few moments, the bird hopped on to an exposed twig, and I at once 

 secured it, — a male Carolina Wren. Dr. Dwight, after examining the 

 bird, has kindly written me that it is a young bird, in juvenal plumage. 

 Among other variations of the song, I noted some which I presume are 

 those Mr. Chapman refers to as the 'tea-kettle' notes.— Owen Durfee, 

 Fall River, Mass. 



The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in Massachusetts. — I observed a Gnat- 

 catcher, doubtless the Blue-gray [Poliopitla c(srielea) at West Manchester, 

 Mass., November 16, 1902. My attention was at first attracted by a 

 new bird note — a nasal iwee — several times repeated. The bird was 

 flitting about in the top of an apple-tree and gave me a good, though 

 brief opportunity to note his catbird-like form and kinglet-like actions 

 before he flew farther off. He was very active and soon disappeared 

 entirely, but not without having shown me his blue-gray color against 

 the green of a Norway spruce. Messrs. Howe and Allen's list of the 

 'Birds of Massachusetts,' credits the State with six records foV this spe- 

 cies — all in the fall (August 27 - December 18). West Manchester is only 

 a few miles from Magnolia, where Mr. Outram Bangs took an immature 

 female. August 27, 1S79. — Francis H. Allen, Boston, Mass. 



