192 General Notes. 



southern part of the city several years in advance of P. domesticus. In 

 18 7 7 there was no House Sparrow south of the Arsenal ; but all the con- 

 venient nesting-places were already taken by the Field Sparrow. I had 

 put up a dozen boxes, and most of them were occupied. No House 

 Sparrow was to be seen until March, 1878, when one pair settled among 

 the Field Sparrows in my little colony. During summer they lived 

 together in harmony, but when fall came the offsjjring of domesticus took 

 possession of all the boxes, and montana left the premises for good. Now, 

 as I am writing, the Field Sjjarrows are entirely driven out of this neigh- 

 borhood. The nests of these Sparrows are generally very bulky, but not 

 always. Last May, when they prepared for the second brood, I saw a 

 pair of P. domesticux remove nesting material incessantly for several days, 

 and a few days later, on opening the box, not a dozen feathers were left, 

 and the nest was lined with notliing but newly-picked, fragrant hay. 



Another item of sjiecial importance concerns the qualification of our 

 Purple Martin (Progne purpurea) for mud architecture. I did not know 

 Martins could construct anything of mud, until I saw a pair of mine build 

 a solid wall of real mud, two inches hi";h, six inches lou":, weiirhing; eight 

 ounces, placing it obliquely against the entrance of the box, in front of 

 the nest, apparently to guard the latter from the water which might flow 

 into the house from the little front porch. 



Only one more item shall be added. It is the repeated capture of 

 Harelda glacialis in this neighborhood, one on April 1 st, and the other on 

 the 20th of last month ; both are females, and now in the collection of 

 Mr. Hurter. The place of capture in both cases is Cantine Lake, in 

 Madison Co., Illinois, about six miles from the bridge. — Otto Widmann, 

 4024 Carondelet A venue, St. Louis, Mo. 



Destkuction of Birds by Drowning. — In the January Bulletin 

 (Vol. V, p. 44), Mr. Allen, in giving abstracts of ornithological notes 

 which have appeared in " Forest and Stream," quotes an instance of the 

 destruction of birds by drowning in Lake Oneida, N, Y. My friend, Mr. 

 F. T. Jencks, informs me of an incident in this connection which he 

 observed when collecting with Mr. E. W. Nelson at Waukegan, 111., on 

 Lake Michigan. During the latter part of May, after a severe storm, 

 Mr. Nelson went to the lake shore, and in the space of about two miles 

 picked up forty-four recognizable specimens, including twenty-six species, 

 among which were several species of Thrushes, Warblers, and Flycatchers, 

 a Night-Hawk, Carolina Rail, Wilson's Tern, etc. Mr. Jencks says that a 

 few species could not be identified, and that several were seen on the 

 water, which in a few moments were washed upon the shore, and buried 

 in sand. 



It is well known that many of our land birds migrate along the coast, 

 and over our large lakes, from point to point, and in some instances long 

 distances from shore ; and in case of sudden squalls and blows many must 

 be overpowered and beaten to the surface, where they find a watery grave. 

 — Ruthven Deane, Cambridge, Mass. 



