Gefieral JVotes. l8l 



may be reallj a "survival," it is still a most useful habit. When a hole 

 or space is so filled the nest proper is generally built on the side of the 

 mass of rubbish opposite to the entrance and as far as possible from it. 

 Manifestly there is a clear purpose in this — viz : that of protection from 

 any enemy seeking an entrance. I have observed many nests, in large 

 cigar boxes, and in the majority find this state of things to exist. The 

 interior space will be filled with sticks, leaving a little passage way over 

 the top, through which the bird can reach the nest on the back side of the 

 rubbish. It seems to me that this is clearly a defensive habit, necessary 

 at this time. When they build a nest in the skull of a horse or ox, it will 

 be found that they follow the same rule, and that it will be very difficult to 

 get at the nests. 



But their practices are sometimes varied. If a box is not too large, and 

 the hole is only large enough to admit of the passage of the birds, they 

 will often carry in only just enough material to build the nest, leaving 

 the space all open above. I have often known them to pursue this 

 course in building in a cigar box where a small hole had been made at the 

 middle of one of the sides. But if the box is a large one with a large 

 hole cut through the end near the top, as it is suspended on a tree or the 

 side of a building, then they will carry in "fully a peck of rubbish." 

 and build the soft nest down on the side opposite the entrance. — Charles 

 Aldrich. Wchsfer City. /mvu. 



Remarkable Plumage of the Orchard Oriole. — There is in 

 the collection here a very curiously marked specimen of the Orchard 

 Oriole {Icfencs spurius) from Coluinbia. Pa. It is evidently a male bird 

 in the transition stage of plumage from young to that of the adult. 

 Young males of this species usually exhibit "confused characters of both 

 sexes." but in this case the male plumage is confined to the right side of 

 the bird, and the female plumage to the left side, the two colorations 

 uniting on median lines above and below. So distinctly is this peculiar- 

 ity marked, that a bilateral section of the bird would divide the phases 

 about equall^•. The left side, however, shows very slight traces of black 

 and chestnut, yet not so distinct as to lessen the general yellowish-olive 

 appearance of the female. There is more of the white on tlie coverts of 

 the left wing than usual. — Charles H. Towxsexd. Acad. A"at. Science, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



The Nest .\nd E(;gs of Perisoreus canadensis. — The nest upon 

 which the following description is based was found by Mr. P. S. Glasier 

 on April 7th. 1881, twenty-three miles from Grand Falls. New Brunswick. 

 It was built in a small fir tree with few branches, about ten feet from the 

 ground. The tree was in "mixed land" beside a brook, on the south side 

 of a hill and near a lumber camp. From the men in the camp it was 

 learned that the bird built the nest about the middle of March, and had 

 been sitting for ten days. The parent bird was found on the nest, shot, 

 and forwarded to me, so that there can be no doubt of identity. 



