3.J Goss on Pcleccniits ervt/iror/ivnc/nts 



25 



94. Sitta carolinensis. White-breasted Nuthatch. — Rare. Have 

 seen joung being fed by old birds early in July. 



95. Parus bicolor. Tufted Titmouse. — Very common. 



96. Parus carolinensis. Carolina Chickadee. — Uncommon. An 

 early breeder. Have found fully fledged young on May 24. 



97. Polioptila caerulea. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. — Qiiite rare. Saw 

 a family of young Gnatcatchers being led about by old ones, on August 

 12, 1886. 



98. Turdus mustelinus. Wood Thrush. — Common. Regarding the 

 material composing the nest, Dr. Coues says : "As is well known, the nest 

 of this species is saddled on the bough of a bush, shrub, or low tree, and 

 has mud in its composition" ('Birds of the Northwest,' p. 2). In 'Avifauna 

 Columbiana,' p. 34, he contradicts this statement, and speaks as follows : 

 '•The nest, placed in a bush or sapling, differs from that of the Robin in 

 having no mud in its composition." As far as the writer's experience 

 goes, and it accords with that of other collectors here, the nest of the 

 Wood Thrush does contain cotisiderable mud. The number of eggs found 

 in a nest is usually four, and the nest is placed in a small sapling or tree, 

 anywhere from four to twenty feet from the ground. 



99. Merula migratoria. American Robin. — Common. Begins nest- 

 ing about the middle of April. 



100. Sialia sialis. Bluebird. — Common. 



FEEDING HABITS OF PELECANUS ERTTHRO- 

 RHl'NCHOS. 



BY N. S. GOSS. 



Naturalists that have not seen the White Pelicans upon their 

 feeding grounds, have without doubt read Audubon's interesting 

 description of the manner in which the birds unite and drive the 

 fishes into shallow water, where they can catch them, which they 

 cannot well do in deep water, as their skins are honeycombed 

 with air cells that buoy them up like a cork, and prevent their 

 diving, * and they do not plunge for their food when upon the 

 wing, like their cousins, the brown Pelicans, and therefore have 

 to adopt fishing habits suited to shallow waters. I have often 

 noticed the birds in flocks, in pairs, or alone, swimming on the 



*The statement in ' North American Birds — Water Birds,' Vol. II, page 137, that this 

 species "dives with great celerity " must be an error. 



