™ 9 f] General Notes. 253 



The Barn Owl (Strix pratincola) in Northern Vermont.— A male Barn 

 Owl was killed in a barn in Lyndon, Vt., June 4, 1894, and bought by a 

 gentleman in St. Johnsbury. The measurements of the bird were as 

 follows: Length, 16.50; extent, 45.00; wing, 14.00; tail, 5.50; bill, 1.00; 

 tarsus, 3.75. Its plumage was light in color and upon skinning, it was 

 found to be very thin and muscular as though it had led a hard life. 



The first known occurrence of a Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) 

 in this town was noted on May 5. They are frequent ten miles south 

 but have not been known here before. — Martha G. Tyler, Curator of 

 the Fairbanks Museum, St. Johnsbury, Vt. 



Observations on the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. — One 27th of May 

 my son discovered a Hummingbird at work upon her nest, and drew for 

 me a map of the locality by which I had no difficulty in finding the spot. 

 It was well in the depths of an eighty acre forest. I watched my oppor- 

 tunity and while the bird was away for material succeeded in obtaining a 

 desirable seat for observation. The saddle was already formed and the 

 nest evened up to a platform level with the upper surface of the limb. It 

 was placed beyond the middle of a long, slender maple branch about 

 fifteen feet above the ground. The bird always followed the same direc- 

 tion whenever she went for material. Oftener than otherwise she returned 

 laden to her nest in thirty-nine seconds after she left it — now and then 

 more ; once ninety seconds. 1 also spent much time there the 28th and 

 29th. and find the history of those days very similar to that of the 27th. 

 Occasionally she took a vacation for food and rest; but those vacations 

 were short. On May 30, at two p. m., the cup was complete and the 

 bird was carrying silk and lining it. For this material she would be gone 

 about as long again as for that of the outside. The next day, May 31, 

 she was sitting. During incubation she sat lightly on her nest a lew 

 minutes, then off as many, and looked brightly about her while on her 

 eggs. 



On June 8 I found my bird in trouble; another female Hummingbird 

 was trespassing. The aggressor would hover over the nest, swoop back 

 and forth above it like a pendulum, alight with a tantalizing gesture on 

 a twig close beside it, or, with a squeal, dart under it, ami each time she 

 came near would get driven away by the sitting bird. Twice I saw her 

 rob the nest, once of lichens from the outside and once a good bill-full 

 of silk from the lining. The poor mother came back to her eggs as often 

 as she was disturbed. After watching the constant conflict for more than 

 two hours, I left them still battling. The next day the nest was unoccu- 

 pied. During all these thirteen days — I had spent much time in close 

 observation — I did not once see a male Hummingbird in the vicinity of 

 the nest. It was the female who did all the labor of nest-making and of 

 incubation and who, as long as she could, valiantly defended her eggs 

 and property. In my chosen seat I was not more than twenty feet from 



