176 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 11 



The numbers of Geese which pass over Nova Scotia vary 

 greatly, in some seasons not a tithe of the usual quantity 

 being observed. May not this be attributed to the Geese 

 sometimes preferring to malie their journey north a few de- 

 grees to the westward to escape the storms of the Atlantic 

 coast which are occasionally very severe and continuous 

 about the time of their migration? It is very rarely indeed 

 that the Geese pass over this province on their migration 

 south in Autumn, and we have only recorded a few instances 

 of stray floclis being observed to do so. 



How far beyond the latitude of Hudson's Bay this species 

 proceeds in Spring to breed is difficult to ascertain from 

 jiublished reports; but it is very probable they tenant all 

 the waters of the Churchill and Mackenzie districts to the 

 borders of the Arctic Sea, if not still further north. Ac- 

 cording to Barnston it is plentiful during the whole Winter 

 in mild seasons on the Pacific coast of British America. 



Brief Notes. 



Nesting of tite Worm-e.\ting Waubler, 

 (ndminthnthenist fermivorus,) in Chester Co., 

 Pa. — Tlinugh liy no means a common resident 

 with us, the Woimeatiug Warbler is frequently 

 met with in favorable localities. It frequents the 

 most solitary parts of the woods, making but little 

 noi.se that would attract the attention of jiassers 

 by. and might easily be overlooked. 



In such localities the nest may be looked for. 

 Three of them found by the writer, two .several 

 years since and one on June 9th the present Sum- 

 mer (188.5), were all located almost precisely alike, 

 .and all within a radius of a quarter of a mile. 

 They were situated on sleep, wooded hillsides, 

 sunk into the ground, and so overhung and con- 

 cealed by dry leaves as to make it impossible to 

 detect them without the birds betraying the pres- 

 ence of the nest. 



The nest found the present season contained 

 five eggs of the Warbler, and one Cowbird's, all 

 well advanced in incubation. The birds evinced 

 great uneasiness at my presence, coming to with- 

 in a few feet, and offering a good opportunity for 

 identification without my being compelled to 

 shoot them. The nest outwardly is con.structed 

 of dry leaves, noticeably those of the Beech, very 

 hjosely put together, then fine rootlets and stems, 

 and finally the inside lining is made of the fine 

 flower stalks of the Hair Moss — Polytiirhiiim. 



This last peculiarity existed i:i all three of the 

 nests, and would, I think, alone bo sufticicnt to 

 identify the species. I would like to know the 

 experience of other collectors with regard to this 

 circumstance. 



The eggs, five in numlicr, are of a clear glossy 

 white ground, spotted more abundantly toward 

 the greater end with varying shades of brown, 

 similar in size .and shape to those of the Pro- 

 thonotary Warbler, (Prolonoturin e/tfea). — Tlioinim 

 U. Jacknon, We^t Chester, Pa. 



Virginia Rati, Nesting in California. — I 



am able to place on record the first instance 

 (to my knowledge) of the nesting of the Virginia 

 Rail on the Pacific coast. On April 3, 188.5, I 

 found a nest containing seven eggs, partly incu- 

 bated. The nest was placed in a lot of wild par- 

 ■snip, burdock and water grass, about sixteen 

 inches from the water, in a small swamp fed by 

 springs rising from the bottom, not .500 yards 

 from the window where I am now writing. The 

 nest was neatly woven of water grass around the 

 weed stalks. On first appearance it looked like 

 a nest of the Red-shouldered Blackbird, as tbey 

 breed in the swamp. I should not have taken 

 any notice of it it the little Rail had not made 

 herself known by sharp, cackling notes on leav- 

 ing the nest. It measures across the top 7J.^xO 

 ins ; depth inside ^% ; height over all i% inches. 

 The eggs do not differ in color or form from tlie 

 Atlantic coast .specimens in my collection. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Mr. Emerson writea ns that a small Grey Owl was caugbt 

 on the steamer from San Francisco to the Sandwich Is- 

 lands when two days out from the former place. lie asks 

 whether any other record exists of Owls being seen so far 

 at sea. 



M. M , Baldwinville, Mass.— It is our opinion the Fox is 

 what is known as Cross Fox. Wholesale value of skin, 

 tanned, about $3. Mounted Foxes such as are shot in your 

 State, are worth from $S to fl2. 



The Crown of the Kingbird, 



In connection with the current discussion in your natural 

 history columns in regard to the use of the coronal decora- 

 tion of the Kingbird and other species, permit me to quote 

 from a paper written by me in January, 1883, and published 

 in the July number (of that year) of the "Journal of the 

 Cincinnati Society of Natural History," viz.: "A List of the 

 Birds of Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky." 



"107'. Tyrannus caroUnensis (L.) Temm.— Kingbird ; 

 Bee Martin. An abundant Summer resident; arrives April 

 20th. Several years ago, in May, I saw one of these birds 

 occupying an exposed perch on a Pear tree in bloom, about 

 which many bees were darting. Several times I observed 

 that he caught the insects without leaving his perch, by quick- 

 ly turning his head and grabbing them. My attention being 

 thoroughly aroused, I noticed that many of them seemed to 

 fly directly toward the bird, the majority appearing to 'shy 

 off' a short distance from him and change their eonrses, 

 but very few escaped him. Did the thrifty Uymenopterfe 

 mistake the fully displayed crimson crown for a flower? 

 Once since I have observed the same phenomenon." 



In a recent edition of this paper, entirely rewritten, how- 

 ever, published during September by the Kentucky Geo- 

 logical Survey (a copy of which I forward to you), the fol- 

 lowing additional remarks are added, page 33 : 



"Mr. C. C. Nutting, who has spent considerable time 

 studying the birds of Costa Rica and Nicaragua in their 

 native haunts, states that he has seen Muscivora mexicana 

 perched upon a twig and waving its curious and brilliant 

 fan-shaped crest after the manner of a flower swayed by a 

 gentle breeze, and thus attracting insects within reach."— 

 C. W. Jjccfcham in ^^Forest ami Stream." 



