Kov. 1887.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



185 



a large flock of Bai'ii and White-bellied Swal- 

 lows flew past towards the north, and in a few 

 moments returned, flying south. There were 

 several hundred in the flock and it was com- 

 posed of young and adults. 



Shortly after Mr. Whiting started four Gold- 

 en-winged Woodpeckers out of the beach grass 

 and secured two specimens. A Winter Wren 

 visited him in his blind and hopped along over 

 his gun, and for this apparent unconcern for 

 man he escaped with his life. Mr. Whiting also 

 saw a Fox-colored Sparrow near a marsh while 

 on his way to the boat. 



In the afternoon we made a visit to a small 

 swamp on the middle part of the island. This 

 swamp is composed of a thick growth of beech, 

 plumb, bayberry and other bushes, with wild 

 briers in abundance. It is small, not contain- 

 ing over one-fourth of an acre. 



On our way over the swamp we found Savan- 

 nah and Song Sparows abundant. 



Our tirst capture was an adult male Blue Yel- 

 low-backed Warbler, which I shot from a small 

 bunch of bushes. On arriving at the swamp 

 we saw some six or more Golden-winged Wood- 

 peckers make off", and although I shot several I 

 could not find them, as the bushes were so 

 thick where they fell. After spending several 

 hours in hard, tiiesome work tramping through 

 and around the swamp, as the rents in Mr. W.'s 

 trousers could testify, we started back for the 

 house, deciding that the swamp was "bad med- 

 icine." 



The following is a list of the birds we saw : 



Golden-winged Woodpeckers, six seen. Cedar 

 Waxwings, saw a flot;k of five and two shot; 

 one male adult and one young. Hermit Thrush 

 {tol. com.), keeping close in the thick bushes. 

 Yellow Warbler (tol. com.), all seen and one 

 shot, adult male. Saw and shot one female 

 Eedstart. Several (yg.) Maryland Yellow- 

 throats seen. We also saw several other small 

 birds that we could not identify. 



The next morning, the 18th, we went over to 

 the swamp to see if there was any increase in 

 birds, but didn't notice any. Saw a Pigeon 

 Hawk make a dive down into the swamp after 

 a small bird, which it missed. While returning, 

 started a Short-eared Owl out of the beach 

 grass, and he alighted some distance ahead, 

 down near a sand hole, as I thought. I tramped 

 about the place, but could not flush him, and 

 was just giving up the search when I saw a 

 Sparrow Hawk dart down at something on the 

 sand a short distance ahead of me. At each 

 dart I heard a note that I knew came from the 

 owl, and looking closelj^ saw it directly below 



the hawk. As the owl flew up I gave him the 

 first barrel and turned to give the hawk the 

 second, but he improved the few moments and 

 was out of gun shot. 



The same day Mr. Whiting took a Brown 

 Creeper that was on the roof of the house. 



Eggs of the Western Yellow 

 \A^arbler. 



BY J. p. N. 



In the Bulletin of the Ridcjwaij Ornithological 

 Club for April, 1887, (No. 2) p. 82, there was 

 described a new variety of the Yellow War- 

 bler {Dendroica cetiva.) It was christened the 

 Western Yellow Warbler ; and its scientific 

 name, Dendroica cetiva morconii, was given in 

 honor of Mr. G. Frean Morcom. of Chicago. 

 This new variety has been recognized by Mr. 

 Robert Ridgway in his recently published 

 Manual of North American Birds, where under 

 Dendroica oitiva morcomi, (page 494,) he de- 

 scribes its plumage and habitation as follows : 



" Paler, the adult male with chestnut streaks 

 on breast and sides averaging much narrower 

 and paler (than Dendroica cetiva.) the adult 

 female decidedly paler yellowish. Hab. West- 

 ern North America, east to Rocky Mountains ; 

 in winter, south through western and central 

 Mexico and south at least to Panama." 



Thinking that a description of a series of the 

 eggs of this species would be welcome to the 

 readers of The Ornithologist and Oolo- 

 GIST the following has been prepared. It may 

 be remarked that all their colorings and sizes 

 can be readily picked out of a large series of 

 eggs of Dendroica cetiva. 



Set I. Haywards, California, June 22, 1881. 

 Three eggs, iucubation begun. Grayish white, 

 marked near the larger ends with heavy wreaths 

 of umber brown; .62x.o0; .60x.49; .61 x .49. 



Set II. Haywards, California, June 21, 1881. 

 Three eggs, incubation advanced. Grayish 

 white, marked with umber brown specks, which 

 are much heavier near the greater ends, where 

 they form in distinct wreaths ; .62x.50 ; .63x.49 ; 

 .63X.50. 



Set III. Haywards, California, June 22, 1881. 

 Three eggs, incubation begun. Two of the 

 eggs are grayish white marked with umber 

 brown at larger ends, while the third is of a 

 greenish white marked with darker umber 

 brown; .6.5 x. 47; .66x.47; .69x.46. 



Set IV. Haywards, California, May 15, 1881. 

 Three eggs, fresh. Grayish white spotted with 

 umber brown and lilac gray. The specks are 



