I 20 General Notes. 



a marked emphasis on the second syllable, and a still more marked one 

 on the last. Part of the time this utterance was somewhat varied, a few 

 notes being sometimes added, and again a few being dropped. My cu- 

 riosity was greatly excited, for I had supposed myself familiar with the 

 voices of all the birds in the neighborhood ; but it became too dark to 

 identify the bird. For nearh' a week I went to that spot every day, always 

 hearing the song, but never being able to get a clear sight of the bird. 

 It seemed exceedingly shy. In vain did 1 crawl on hands and knees among 

 the undergrowth to get near to it; for just as I would seem about to gain 

 a good view of it the song would cease at the point under observation 

 and come from one more distant. Just as I was about to give the matter 

 up one evening, down came the singer, stage by stage through the thick 

 foliage, and alighting within a few feet of me and in clear sight, gave the 

 full effect of his whistling song. I have since heard the same song a 

 number of times and in different places from the Hooded Warbler. So 

 I conclude that in the case of this species there are, occasionally at least, 

 two distinct and altogether different songs. 



The Hooded Warbler is one of those which make their home on or 

 near the ground. Here it keeps itself for the most part well concealed 

 among the foliage of the thick undergrowth, having a rather slow and 

 dignified movement for a bird of its kind. 



It builds its nest from a foot to eighteen inches from the ground, 

 generally in the upright or somewhat leaning fork of a little bush. I once 

 found it on a beech limb, lying on the ground, but still retaining the dry 

 leaves. It is somewhat bulky, but quite neat, the lower part being of dry 

 or skeleton leaves, the upper part, especially the high and well-defined 

 rim, of long fibrous bark, as that of the grape-vine, ash, basswood, or 

 elm, laid almost as nicely as coiled cords, the whole structure being bound 

 too-ether by a webby material, and lined with fine grasses, bark-fibres, 

 and horse-hair. In location, material, and structui-e, it is quite unique, 

 and, like most other birds' nests, is a much more certain means of identi- 

 fication than the eggs themselves. These, two to four in number, varying 

 from .63X.52 to .75X.50, are clear white, delicately specked and spotted, 

 sometimes even blotched, with reddish, brown, and lilac. In form and 

 coloration the eggs are very variable. Thej' may be found fresh from the 

 last week in May till the middle of June. A second set may be found in 

 July. The male aids in incubation. 



Confined to the eastern part of the United States, and barely entering 

 the southern part of New England, Western New York, and Central New 

 York where il is quite common, must be about the northern limit of this 

 species. — ^J. H. Langille, K)iovjlesville. Orleans Co.. N. T. 



Breeding of the Pine Grosbeak {Pinicola ejiucleator) in Lower 

 Canada. — Last summer I had the rare good fortune to accompany,* as 

 his guest, the Hon. Judge H. E. Taschereau (Chief Justice Supreme 

 Court of Canada) on his annual salmon fishing excursion to the Godbout 

 River, which empties into the St. Lawrence from the- north, about six 

 miles from the Pointe des Monts where the river widens into the Gulf. 



