Oct. 1887.] 



A^D OOLOGIST. 



169 



sis), Maryland Yellow-throat (Geothlypis tri- 

 chas) aucl many others, Ave egj^s were found, 

 while the last year or two has been very dry 

 and it has been difficult to secure even common 

 sets. 



The nest complement varies also with the 

 time of year. One would hardly expect as 

 large a set of the earlier breeders in July as in 

 April or Ma}'. \ 



Thus it appears that a work which should be 

 the standard for the whole field, must be com- 

 prehensive enough to include in its sweep the 

 utmost frontiers of oology. Such works I trust 

 will not be long wanting. 



Hybrid Ducks. 



BV \VM. U. SMITH, LOVELAND, COLO. 



I have killed two hybrid Ducks this last 

 spring, one a beautiful male bird. Colors and 

 size about equally divided between a Gadwall, 

 (Chatdelasnuis streperus) and the Baldpate, 

 (Mareca americana). Also a male specimen of 

 Teal ; the whole body color of Cinnamon Teal, 

 (Querquedula cyaiwjUera) with the head the 

 color and showing the white cheek marks dis- 

 tinctly of the Blue-wing, (Querqucdnla discors). 

 I also killed two specimens of Gadwall with a 

 distinct black ring around the neck. Thej^ were 

 male and female and were together. It may be 

 that they carry such plumage some portion of 

 the year, but of the hundreds that I have killed 

 I never saw them in that dress before. I have 

 the male, which with the hybrids I will freely 

 loan to any scientific association that would 

 like to examine them. 



I have also killed recently a very fine Albino 

 Mallard drake, a light cream color throughout. 



Our ducks appear to be getting badly mixed 

 up, but then we are not far from Salt Lake 

 City, where wonders never cease. 



Nesting of the Yellow-Throated 

 W^arbler. 



UY ARTHUR T. WAYNE, CHARLESTON, S. C. 



This beautiful Warbler (Dendroica dominica) 

 is one of my earliest bird acquaintances, being 

 found near Charleston the whole year. It is a 

 permanent resident, and I have seen them when 

 the thermometer only marked 10"^ above zero. 

 They inhabit mixed woods, where there is an 

 abundance of moss (Tillandsia usneoides). In 



fact, where the moss is wanting you will rarely 

 see them. I should not call them Svvan\p 

 Warblers, but have time and again shot them 

 in very dense swamps. 



I have long known that this Warbler was a 

 very early breeder, as I have taken the young 

 flying about as early as April '1'1\\{\, but was 

 unable to find their eggs until last Spring 

 (]S87). I knew that they nested in the hanging 

 moss, but one may as well hunt for a " needle 

 in a haystack," as to hunt for the nest of this 

 bird in moss hanging down from live oak trees 

 six to ten feet, and from two to three feet 

 through. I determined to spend a montli, 

 however, if necessary, to find the nest of this 

 bird, and concluded that the best way would 

 be to watch the birds. After many days of 

 following the birds, I was so fortunate as to 

 find the first nest. 



On April 10th I was watching a pair of the 

 birds in question. About mid-day the male 

 was singing with great fervor, and his mate 

 was very busy feeding, flying from one piece of 

 moss to another. I knew she had come direi;tiy 

 from the nest, as she was very restless. I 

 therefore watched her very attentively. She 

 kept on feeding for about five minutes, and I 

 then saw lier fly to a large mass of moss (^usiwa) 

 and I hastened to the spot to see if she was still 

 feeding, or if it was her nest. Upon reaching 

 the spot, I could not see her, so I resolved 

 immediately to climb the tree, and such a 

 climb ! When I reached the spot wliere I saw her 

 fly to, I looked carefully for the nest, and shook 

 the limb, but she did not come from hei- charge. 

 I was about to come down the tree, when I 

 thought I would take a last look. Upon ex- 

 amining the moss, she flew out — quite to my 

 surprise — and began to chirp. The nest was 

 built in the moss, and was completely hidden 

 under a large limb, about thirty feet from the 

 ground, and in a live oak tree. The nest was 

 made of the flowery part of the moss, with fine 

 pieces of grass, and lined profusely with 

 feathers. The nest is very symmetrical— with 

 well defined sides, and was built in the moss, 

 resting on a bed of the same. The eggs were 

 five in number, three were on the point of 

 hatching, and the other two were addled. The 

 ground color is a dirty, or bluish white, spotted 

 and blotched with lilac, pale brown, and neutral 

 tints, gathering at the larger end in a wreath, 

 with confluent blotches, leaving the smaller 

 end spotted with minute specks. Unfortunately 

 one of the eggs was broken in blowing, as the 

 young were very large. I shot the female, 

 thus rendering identification absolute. These 



