THE OOLOGIST 



279 



down, cotton or rootlets. 



For the last four years a pair has 

 nested in a certain persimmon tree 

 in a Red-wing colony near Houston, 

 and it would be of interest to know 

 whether this is the same pair of birds 

 each year, or the offspring of the pre- 

 ceding pair. 



The eggs are either three or four 

 in this number, some of the eggs be- 

 ing identical with those of the Scis- 

 sor-tailed Flycatcher. The smallest 

 eggs are those from a set of three 

 taken June 21, 1911, from a nest in a 

 hui sache five feet from the ground. 

 They measure: .86 x .70, .90 x .69, and 

 .87 X .70 inches. On the other hand 

 the largest set of eggs measures: 

 1.04 X. 70, 1.02 X. 70, 1.03 x .70, and 1.04 

 X .70 in. This set was taken May 27, 

 1912, about seven miles south of Hous- 

 ton. Other sets from this region 

 yield the following measurements: 

 ,91x.64, .94X.64, .92 x .66, and .-94 x 

 ,67; .90X.64, .96 x .68, .86 x .69, and .87 

 x.64; .92X.65, .92 x .68, .94 x .67, .87 x 

 .70; .91X.70, .87 x .71, .90x.72; and 

 another set of three.91 x .68, .94 x .68, 

 .92 X .67 inches. 



Unusual Wintering of tlie Catbird at 

 Pittsburg, Pa. 

 Thomas D. Burleigh. 

 On the 10th of November, while out 

 on a tramp, I was surprised to see a 

 ■• Catbird fly out from a thicket of grape 

 vines, the first I had seen for over a 

 month. It appeared in good condi- 

 tion, but was entirely silent for the 

 few minutes that I observed it. I was 

 very much surprised at seeing it at 

 this late date, but I was more sur- 

 prised when several weeks later, on 

 the 23d of November, I saw another 

 of these birds. The first one was 

 seen near Harmarville, some eight 

 miles from where the second one was 

 seen, at Pittsburg, and so whether 

 they were the same bird or not, I do 

 not know. 



Like the first, the second was seen 

 in a thicket of grape vines and was 

 also entirely silent, making no sound 

 at all. I visited this place the next 

 day but found the bird gone, and I 

 had no idea of seeing any more of 

 tliese birds until the following Spring, 

 but was surprised a month or so later 

 to find it still around, although again 

 in a different place. 



With Henry S. Frank I was, on the 

 4th of January, 1913, exploring Mc- 

 Kinley Park, a small park on the out- 

 skirts of Pittsburg, near Mt. Oliver, 

 when I heard a Catbird calling (or 

 mewing) and soon saw it in a dense 

 thicket of bushes. The weather on 

 that day was fairly cold and very 

 windy, temperature 32 degrees, with 

 several inches of snow on the ground, 

 but the Catbird seemed contented and 

 appeared well fed. 



A week later, on the 12th, I was at 

 this place again and had the satis- 

 faction of finding the bird in the same 

 place, in as good spirits apparently, 

 as on a warm day in June. From 

 that date on, I have been at the park 

 once a week and have always, except 

 once, on the 18th of January, found it 

 at the same place, up to the present 

 date (February 16th.) 



I fully expect that it will remain 

 there the remainder of the Winter, 

 and I intend to continue my visits 

 until the other Catbirds arrive, as I 

 wish to make my record as complete 

 as possible. Why, however, a bird 

 like the Catbird, one of the last to 

 arrive in the Spring and one of the 

 first to leave in the Fall, should re- 

 main here during the winter, I am 

 unable to understand. I would al- 

 most as soon have expected to see a 

 Nighthawk or a Barn Swallow, for I 

 have never before heard or read of a 

 Catbird wintering anywhere except in 

 the extreme southern parts of the 

 United States. Thomas D. Burleigh, 

 Pittsburg, Pa, 



