31 8 General Notes. ae 
beech trees; .... most of the nests contained two young each. We 
found three nests in different years that contained only one bird each, but 
never found the eggs until this year.” 
During the past winter Goshawks have occurred in unusual numbers 
in southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where they are generally very 
rare. — WITMER STONE, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Peculiar Nest of the Great Horned Owl.— While returning from a 
short walk in the woods during a recent afternoon (March 14), 1 found 
anest of Bubo virgindanus which was quite remarkable. I had left the 
woodland and was crossing a meadow; in this there stood perhaps a half 
dozen elms and maples, none of them over six or eight inches in diameter 
at the base, the nearest timberland being three hundred yards away, 
across acreek. In one of the largest maples there was an old nest of the 
Crow, only twenty-four feet from the ground; this was occupied by a pair 
of Owls and one of the parent birds was upon the nest. Repeated heavy 
blows upon the trunk did not effect her flight; she remained until I shook 
a sapling which brushed the nest with its tips. Ascending, I found three 
eggs; in and about the nest were sixteen field mice, a hind leg of a rabbit 
and a wing of a Downy Woodpecker. There was also in atree at no great 
distance the half-eaten body of a Pinnated Grouse. Upon preparation 
of the eggs I found them addled; incubation, which was equal in all, had 
advanced for three or five days, when the process had stopped, probably 
_ through the eggs becoming chilled. Evidently the bird had continued 
to set upon the eggs for a week thereafter.— FRANK H. SHOEMAKER, 
Hampton, Iowa. 
Disgorgement among Song birds. — Here in the cultivated parts of 
Southern California, there have been planted very extensively for shade 
and ornament, the beautiful ever-green pepper-trees. ‘These trees bear a 
red berry in pendant clusters which mature on the trees throughout the 
whole year. Large flocks of western Robins and Cedar-birds are attracted 
into town during the winter months, and feed largely on these pepper- 
berries. The trees are constantly full of the birds, the habits of which I 
have had ample opportunity of observing. 
The pepper-berries are somewhat smaller than sweet-pea seeds, and of a 
spherical shape. They are composed of three parts; a thin dry paper-like 
outer hull; a solid central part, and on the outside of the latter but not 
touching the external husk, a sticky viscid coating. The central kernel 
is very hard, and moreover when chewed has a most penetrating disagree- 
able taste which does not leave the mouth for a long time. When held in 
the mouth without being touched by the teeth, however, the viscid coat is 
dissolved in the saliva, and proves to be very sweet and agreeable to the 
taste. This sweet portion is the nutritive part of the fruit which is 
sought by the birds. 
The birds rapidly swallow these berries in large numbers, including the 
hulls, which are easily crushed, until the stomach is crammed. They 
