98 PUTNAM, NOTES ON THE 



A pair of Yellow-breasted Chats (Icteria viridis BonapJ 

 are breeding here the present season. Noticed another 

 pair in Ludlow, Mass., about June 3d, which were probably 

 also breeding. Have seen a specimen taken in Berkshire 

 county, in the breeding season. Only straggling pairs 

 of this species, however, reach Massachusetts. 



The following species of Hawks, though extremely 

 rare in winter, should probably be properly included in 

 the above list of " Resident Species :" Hypotriorclds col- 

 umbarius Gr., Accipiter Cooperii Bon., A.fuscus Bon., Bu- 

 teo lineatus Jard., and B. pennsylvanicus Bon. 



July, 1864. 



V. Notes on the Habits of some species of Humble Bees. 

 BY F. W. PUTNAM. 



(Communicated October 22, 1863.) 



During the summer of 1862, while in Warwick, Mass., 

 my attention was called to the Humble Bees by finding 

 three nests of Bombus fervidus Fabr. and B. vagans Smith. 

 These nests were formed of the deserted nests of mice, 

 one under a barn in an old stump of a tree, the other two 

 under piles of stones in a field. One of the nests of B. 

 fervidus I kept in a box for some time, and watched the 

 actions of the bees, but as I then neglected to make full 

 notes, and as my first observations were confirmed by 

 later ones, I allude to them here only to introduce an inci- 

 dent which has relation to the duration of life of the 

 various kinds which always compose the communities of 

 the Humble Bees. Upon feaving Warwick I left my valise, 

 in which was a nest of bees, at the depot. Two months 

 afterwards, in November, it was brought to me, when upon 

 examining the nest several large queen bees were found 

 in a lively condition, while the males, small females and 

 workers were all dead. When the valise was left at the 

 depot there was but one queen in the nest. This incident 

 proves that the queens are not only late in leaving the 

 cells, but that they are capable of enduring cold which is 



