40^ BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



They breed in the fissures of the rocky shores of Labrador^ 

 sometimes depositing their eggs where the water can run off 

 without wetting them ; but if there is danger that the water 

 will touch the eggs, they are laid on pebbles, which are 

 heaped by the bird, to l^t the moisture run below. The nests- 

 are very near each other ; it is remarkable, that in the fissures 

 and caverns, they sit flat upon the egg like common birds ; but 

 in places more exposed, keep an upright position, with their 

 faces toward the wind. In these places also they lay but one 

 egg, while in places more sheltered, there are often two. The 

 eggs are considered a great luxury ; the flesh is said to be good 

 to the taste, though dark and uninviting to the eye. 



The following should have been inserted on the 289th page : 



The Hudson Bay Titmouse, Parus Hudsonicus, which has 

 been hitherto unknown in Massachusetts, has been found by 

 S. Eliot Greene, Esq. near his house in Brookline. 



In the foregoing list of our water birds, I have given the 

 names, with a short account of the habits of all which reside 

 with us or visit us, so far as I have been able to ascertain them. 

 Some, which occasionally visit us, may be omitted ; and if not^ 

 succeeding observations will doubtless make a diff"erence in 

 the list ; since the accident of a winter unusually severe, may 

 bring some arctic birds farther south than they have yet been 

 seen ; and a similar cause may make us acquainted with 

 some residents of the south, which have not yet entered our 

 bounds. The range of breeding and migration is thus at 

 times contracted or extended ; but the visits of a stranger, few 

 and far between, are of but little importance, and if our regu- 

 lar visitants and permanent residents are set down and 

 properly described, it is hoped that the purpose of the sur- 

 vey will be answered. 



It is more probable, on the other hand, that some birds which 

 come to us regularly now, finding what sort of welcome awaits 



