j^ J General Notes. 8 1 



long axis almost horizontal, I found the eggs reposing in perfect safety. 

 The upward trend of the entrance, forming the "pent-house" of Wilson, 

 naturally decreases the liability of the eggs to fall out, even if the wind 

 should force the side of entrance toward the earth. It therefore appears 

 to me at least probable that the main object of this Wren in constructing 

 its elaborate dwelling is protection from the wind rather than the rain. 



It lias also been my experience that the top of the nest is generally more 

 firmly fastened to the reeds than the bottom, and in two instances I 

 noticed among the partially leveled reeds nests whose bases swung free 

 of all support, thus retaining their original perpendicular position. 

 However, this may have been the result of accident rather than design. 



The taking of three sets of white eggs, presumably of this species, maj' 

 be of interest. They consist of four, five, and four eggs, and were taken 

 on June 24, July 11, and July 2S, 1893, near the edge of a small salt-water 

 ditch in the Quinnipiack Marshes, Hamden, Conn. The nests, which 

 are fairly typical of C. pectusin's, were not more than eight yards apart, 

 and probably belonged to the same bird. Tbe eggs are white, translucent 

 when taken, irregular in shape, and several have small, roughened pro- 

 jections on the shell. One from the set of five has a few dark spots half 

 concealed beneath the surface of the shell and most perceptible in holding 

 the egg to the light. 



C. palustris is the only Wren known to inhabit this marsh, and a male, 

 which I believed to be the owner of the first set, together with a Wren 

 which settled for an instant at the entrance of the third nest, were of this 

 species. The character of the locality, and the large numbers of the Long, 

 billed Marsh Wrens everywhere around, made more certain identification 

 impossible. 



The white eggs of this species which have been recorded, taken in con- 

 nection with the normally white eggs of its near ally, C. stellaris, and 

 the frequently white eggs of the Bluebird {Sia/ia stalls') have to mv mind 

 a peculiar importance as an additional argument for the truth of the 

 theory of protective coloration, the covering of the nest rendering the 

 usual dark pigment unnecessary. — Louis B. Bishop, M. D., New 

 Haven, Conn. 



[Albinistic eggs are well-known to occur more or less frequently in 

 birds that normally lay colored or spotted eggs, and which do not breed in 

 holes or in covered nests; just as albinism may occur in the bird itself in 

 any species. Why, then, should abnormally pale eggs be considered as 

 having any special significance in the two species above cited? — J. A. A.] 



Distribution of the Hudsonian Chickadee. — In his paper on 'The 

 Hudsonian Chickadee and its Allies,' published in 'The Auk' of Oct. 1S93, 

 Mr. Rhoads makes the statement (p. 322) that "this Chickadee is a rare 

 visitor in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, and for that matter, in any 

 non-mountainous locality south of Hudson's Bay." This is entirely con- 



