Vol i909" VI ] General Notes. 435 



The water is studded with trees that have been dead long enough to lose 

 their branches and part of their bark. Bushes and cat-tail flags border the 

 inside of the horseshoe, while beyond the dead trees is a fringe of mixed 

 growth of willows, ash and elm. The adjoining fields are not at present in 

 cultivation. While wading through this swamp on the 6th of June, 1909, 

 I observed two Brown Creepers (Certhia familiaris americana) making trips 

 to one of the dead elms with something in their beaks. As they were not 

 very timid, the spot they were visiting was easily located. A strip of 

 bark about eight inches wide had drawn away from the tree and a nest 

 was placed behind this and about twelve feet from the water. It did not 

 contain young, as I expected, but the surface was covered with small pieces 

 of bark, evidently the objects that the birds were carrying. I left the nest 

 undisturbed and returned the following week. During an hour's wait no 

 creepers visited the tree, though I thought I heard one's note. The nest 

 was still empty, possibly deserted, and, as it was very doubtful whether 

 I would have another opportunity to visit the nest, I collected it. The 

 nest was placed between the bark and the trunk, filling the crescent-shaped 

 opening. Some coarse material, sticks and pieces of bark, formed a frame- 

 work for the support of the nest proper which was composed almost entirely 

 of downy material, packed rather closely. The downy material appeared 

 to be a mixture of fine shreds of bark and a cotton-like substance. The 

 width of the nest was four and a half inches at the top and the depth was 

 about three and a half. Mr. Widmann, after examining the nest, felt sure 

 that it was of last year's make. Its condition indicated that young birds 

 had been raised in it at some time. Perhaps the pieces of bark that were 

 being added were in the nature of repairs. On the 20th of June the tree 

 was again visited for a short time but no creepers were heard. On the 

 27th of June, I entered the swamp at a point about a half mile from the 

 ' Creeper tree' and was fortunate enough to find a pair of Creepers feeding 

 in the live growth of willows and ash. They did not act as though feeding 

 young, the only thing in any way peculiar in their actions being the fact 

 that one bird, on two occasions, flattened itself out on a horizontal limb, 

 with wings and tail extended, and remained in that position for several 

 seconds. Other birds frequenting the swamp were Flickers, Hairy, Red- 

 headed, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, White-eyed 

 Vireos, Yellow-breasted Chats, Redstarts, Yellow-throats, Prothonotary 

 W T arblers, Crested Flycatchers, Bronzed Grackles, Redwing Blackbirds, 

 Green Herons, Chickadees, and Titmice. One Black-billed Cuckoo and a 

 Song Sparrow were also seen, both rather rare breeders in this part of 

 Missouri. — Norman deW. Betts, Pittsburgh, Pa. 



A Colony of Hermit Thrushes at Yaphank, Long Island, N. Y. — On 



the afternoon of the 25th of July, 1908, I heard an unfamiliar bird song 

 in the woods at the easterly end of the village of Yaphank, not far from 

 the middle of Long Island. Upon investigation I found several of the 



