Jan. 1886.] 

AND OOLOGIST. ri 


Notes from Manayunk, Philadelphia. 

BY ELLWOOD C. ERDIS. 
Carolina Wren, (Thryothorus ludovicianus). 
May 24th, secured a set of four eggs of this species. 
The nest was in the top of a wooden box at the 
end of a bridge. As the bird sat on the nest I 
caught her, when she tried to pick me, and made 
a chipping noise. May 30th, I found a nest with 
one egg of same species in an old house. The 
nest was placed on a shelf, and was merely a few 
sticks. The bird did not finish her complement 
of eggs but deserted her residence immediately. 
August 2d, a friend showed me another nest of 
this bird, on a ledge of rocks, on the side of the 
Wissahickon Park ‘‘drive.” It contained four 
young, and was placed behind a small sapling. 
August 19th, I found a nest in a house. It was 
placed on a shelf in a cupboard and contained 
four fresh eggs. On the shelf above was another 
nest of the same materials, but without the arch. 
I suppose it was used by the male. These birds 
are residents as I have seen them in Mid-winter. 
Robin, (Merula Migratoria). May 27th, took 
a set of six Robin’s eggs, an unusual number. 
Ruby Throated Humming-bird, (7Zrochilus 
colubris). May 30th, this afternoon, as a friend 
and I were tramping through the woods we saw 
ahummer. Itsoon alighted on a limb of a spruce 
tree, and began to work at its nest which was on 
the end of the limb, and about fifteen feet from 
the ground. The nest was not quite completed, 
and the bird took no notice of us. I obtained the 
eggs on June 2d. June 2d, I found another Ruby 
throat’s nest in the same woods about 200 yards 
away. It was on the end of a large spruce limb, 
and about thirty-five feet high. In trying to get 
the eggsthey broke. Twenty yards off was an old 
nest which I suppose had been used the year be- 
fore. June 5th, saw a boy find a nest on aspruce 
limb overhanging a small run, but he broke the 
eggs in trying to get them. July 19th, took a set 
of two eggs from a spruce limb about five feet 
high. The tree was on the side of a hill along 
Wissahickon Creek and about ten feet from it. 

Worm Eating Warbler, (Helminthotherus ver- 
mivorus). June 19th, while going through a high 
open part of the woods on Wissahickon Creek, I 
discovered a nest of this bird situated on the 
ground at the foot of a small laurel bush, and 
mid-way on the side of the hill. The bird sat on 
the nest until I was within three feet of it, when 
it fluttered along on the ground just out of my 
reach. The nest contained two eggs partly in- 
cubated. It was composed of pine needles, lined 
with thin narrow strips of grape-vine bark, and 
was very pretty. There was no attempt what- 
ever at its concealment, as I had a very good look 
at the bird there can be no mistake. These birds 
can be seen during the coldest day in Winter 
hopping around the lower limbs of trees, and are 
not shy, but will allow ofa near approach. 
—_——~. 
Hybridization of the Hooded and 
Carrion Crow. 


[In reference to the interbreeding of the Hood- 
ed and Carrion Crow, we quote from a private 
letter from Mr. Henry Kerr, of Lancashire, Eng- 
land, author of “The Birds of Northumberland 
and Durham.”—Ep. | 

“T notice the remarks on Hybridization in O. 
and O. for July as to the interbreeding of the 
Hooded Crow and Carrion Crow. I may add 
that our most eminent British ornithologists, Mr. 
Yarrell, Mr. Seebohm, Prof. Newton and Mr. J. 
Hancock (our greatest living authority), now con- 
sider that the Hooded or Royston Crow is but the 
northern type, or variety of the Carrion Crow. 
The “ Hoodie” except in rare instances, is but an 
Autumn and Winter visitor in England; but in 
Scotland (central and northern) the ‘‘ Hoodie” is a 
permanent resident, and it freely interbreeds with 
the British Carrion Crow. Mr. John Hancock 
(‘“ Catalogue of the Birds of the Northumberland 
and Durham,” 1874), states that he has (in Scot- 
Jand) examined many nests, where the parent 
birds were, one a black Carrion Crow and the 
other a grey or Hooded Crow. The progeny in 
most instances resembled both parents—that is— 
some of the nestlings were quite black plumaged, 
like the Carrion, and others grey-backed like the 
Hooded ; in other instances the nestlings had a 
‘‘mixed” plumage, partaking of both parents. 
Mr. John Hancock thus sums up his notice of the 
Hooded Crow, ‘ Notwithstanding the apparent 
distinctness of this species, it is probably a mere 
race of the Carrion Crow, as has Leen pointed out 
by several distinguished ornithologists. The two 
forms readily breed together. Mr. Yarrell men- 
tions several instances of their having done so in 
both England and Scotland; but it is in the lat- 
ter country where this intercourse [and where 
both so-called species are stationary] most fre- 
quently takes place: “*" * * ‘* ‘The fact/of 
this extensive interbreeding of the Carrion and 
Hooded Crow is very interesting, and is contrary 
to analogy. Hybridization is not uncommon in 
the animal kingdom as an exceptional occur- 
rence; but I know of no other instance of such a 
constant unhesitating union of two so-called 
species as is here exhibited.’ ” 
