22 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 3. 



The Scarlet Tanager, Pyranga rubra, 

 arrives here the first week in May, and 

 rears but one brood, and leaves at the 

 close of Summer. His nest is consequent- 

 ly adapted only for summer weather. It 

 is composed of small sticks and dried 

 grass, so thinly woven that the eggs may 

 be seen through it. In every case I have 

 found it on the horizontal limb of a hickory. 

 The eggs, three or four in number, are of a 

 dull blue, with lines and blotches of brown 

 and purple, thickly clustered about the 

 large end. 



The Indigo Bird, {Cyanospisa Cyanea,) 

 seems to be a special favorite with them, 

 but in one instance within my notice the 

 little "bunting" had outwitted his oppress- 

 or. The cow-bird had apparently deposi- 

 ted an egg in their nest before it was quite 

 finished, whereupon the owner built a new 

 bottom so as to leave the obtruded egg 

 enclosed between the two and proceeded 

 to lay its own eggs on top. 



The Sparrow Hawk of whose nesting in- 

 quiry is made. I have met with their 

 nests quite frequently, in all insta'^^ces in a 

 hollow tree in the deserted hole of the 

 wood-pecker. The eggs 5 in number of a 

 beautiful fawn color spotted with brown. 

 We are much indebted to this, the most 

 beautiful of all the American Hawks, for 

 the destruction of field mice, which would 

 otherwise prove a great nuisance to the 

 farmers. W. T. Allen, Gaylord, Va. 



Notes from Michigan. 



Tufted Titmouse, {Lophophanes bicolor.) 

 A specimen of the above was taken at 

 Locke, Michigan, April 12th, 1881. I saw 

 a pair of these birds on April 30th, 1871, 

 but failed to secure them, being as usual 

 in such cases, without my gun, but near 

 enough to distinguish their peculiar mark- 

 ings to a certainty. 



Canada Jay, {Perisoreus canadensis.) 

 A. B. Covert oi' Ann Arbor, in this state, 

 found a nest of the Canada Jay containing 

 five eggs May 27th, 1872. It was fifteen 

 miles northeast of that city. It is the only 

 case recorded as far as I know in southern 



Michigan. In the Northern Peninsula it is 

 a common resident. I have seen but one 

 specimen of this bird in our woods and that 

 was on May 17th, 1876. It came quite near 

 me, so there was no difficulty in identifying 

 it ; unfortunately I did not have my gun. 



Baltimore Oriole, {Icterus galbula.) In 

 our State this bird frequents the tops of 

 elm and maple trees, have never known it 

 to nest in an orchard or near a house. 



H. A. Atkins, M. D., Locke, Michigan. 



[In this State the Baltimore Oriole nests 

 on elms, and mostly near dwellings, occa 

 sionally in orchards, but very rarely in the 

 fields or woods. We never found but one 

 in the woods and that was never finished. 

 Their nests seem to be made entirely of 

 materials furnished by civilization. Will 

 our correspondent furnish us a nest the 

 the coming season that has been built in 

 the forests of Michigan ? — Ed.] 



"Catching a Tartar." Noticing in the 

 April number of the Ornithologist and 

 OoLOGiST an article by Fred. T. Jencks, Esq. 

 of Providence, R. I., entitled "Catching a 

 Tartar," I was reminded of a Tartar of the 

 same genus caught by a Florida Gallinule 

 on Seneca River N. Y., in the year 1875. 

 My uncle while enjoying a day's sport de- 

 coying ducks, observed, a short distance 

 from where he was stationed, a strange act- 

 ing bird swimming about in a pool of water 

 surrounded by flags. Noticing an enor- 

 mous bill for the size of the bird and think- 

 ing it might be a "rara avis," he shot it and 

 presented it to me for preservation. It 

 proved to be an adult female Florida Gal- 

 linule — an abundant species in this locality. 

 Like the duck spoken of by Mr. Jencks, it 

 had caught a mussel and had been caught 

 by it, and in a manner quite as aggravating. 

 The mussel had closed about midway over 

 the lower mandible, and by its vise-like 

 grip was surely cutting it off. When I re- 

 ceived it, this useful member was nearly 

 severed. No food was found in the stom- 

 ach on dissection, and the bird was very 

 much emaciated. 



Frank S. Wright, Aubuni, N. Y. 



