J.IO Correspondence. [October 



of this species in Massachusetts in winter will he found in Bull. Nuttall 

 Orn. Club, VIII, 149. 



The winter of 1SS9-90 was on the whole a very mild one. with but 

 little snow, yet marked by great and sudden changes of temperature. The 

 mercury stood at 5 F. or thereabouts on several nights, and on the 22<\ 

 of February it fell to — 7 . It is worthy of note that the Yellowthroat, 

 Nashville Warbler and Blue Heron above-mentioned were all birds born 

 during the preceding summer. It seems reasonable to suppose that many 

 young birds annually get left behind when the autumnal migration occurs. 

 In such an event thev might survive the following winter if it should 

 prove to be a mild one, while the stoutest heart among them would prob- 

 ably succumb to the rigors of a genuine 'old-fashioned' New England 

 winter. — WALTER Faxon, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, 

 Mass. 



Two Notes from South Carolina.— I shot a male Dendroica ccerulescens 

 on December 6, 1SS9, at Pinopolis, a few miles from Charleston. The 

 weather was very cold at the time, anil was the coldest of the winter of 

 1889-90, up to March. This species ordinarily passes through here as 

 late as the middle of October. 



On May 9, 1S90, Mr. W. F. Colcock brought me an adult male Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeak. It was shot in Saltkehatchie Swamp which is only a 

 few miles from tide-water. A few days later another male was seen. This 

 is the first record for lower South Carolina. It is only found in the moun- 

 tainous portions of the State. — Arthur T. Wayne, Temassee, S. C. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



A Query in regard to the Least Tern. 



To the Editors of the Auk : — 



Dear Sirs : — I wish to inquire about a peculiarity in the nesting habits of 

 the Least Terns or, as they are commonly known here, the 'Little Sea 

 Gulls.' They generally arrive here about May 6 (this year, May 13) to 

 breed on the sand bars of the Mississippi River. If the water is off the 

 bars they begin laying about the middle of June, and they continue to lay 

 until August, for I have found their eggs as late as the middle of the latter 

 month. I have generally found three or four, and often five, eggs in a 

 nest. The nest is only a little hollow scooped out in the sand. In July, 

 when most of them are laying and have eggs, if you walk over the bars 

 thev fly close to you and almost strike you with their wings, making a 

 loud noise as if they were terribly annoyed by your presence and wished 

 to drive you away. 



Upon examining the eggs you will find perhaps half of them have a spot* 

 of water on them. How did it get there? Is it put there by the parent 

 bird, and if so, for what purpose? I have questioned persons who were, 



