ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No.7 



maple sprouts, growing- out of the side of 

 the tree, as it leaned against the outside 

 stringer of the bridge almost on a level 

 with the road running on the bridge. After 

 the wren flew out I went up, parted the 

 sprouts and leaves, and found the nest in a 

 kind of hollow formed in the tree. In a very 

 small space were a few skeleton leaves, 

 rootlets and grass, lined with spider's nests, 

 rabbit's fur, a few horse hairs and chicken's 

 feathers, with a piece of gopher snake skin. 

 The whole nest would lie on my hand. I 

 found three eggs in it on the 12th of May, 

 and on going to it on the 20th, took out 

 seven fresh eggs, which are now before me. 

 They are not so heavily marked as the set 

 of four, being much lighter, one hardly at 

 all— merely pin points ; two of them measure 

 0.67x0.52, one 0.67x0.50, two 0.62x50, two 

 0.50x0.40. I have seen full fledged young 

 flying by May 1st. A nest was brought me 

 two years ago that had been built on a 

 cross- sill in a summer kitchen, where the 

 people were at work all day. Unfortu- 

 nately the eggs were all broken before the 

 nest reached me. It was made almost 

 wholly of chicken's feathers and human 

 hair. This jovial little songster is with us 

 all the year round. — W. Otto J5merson, 

 Haywards, Cal. 



Mr. Emerson sends us a very beautiful drawing of the 

 nest first mentioned. — Er>. 



Birds of the " Panhandle," W. Vz 



THE JOURNAL OF REV 



. FROM JANUARY TO JUNE, 



(INCLUSIVE) 1SS3. 



PART V. 



Mat 7. Secured specimens, one of each, of the follow- 

 ing Warblers : Black-throated Green, (Dendrocca Virenn,) 

 Blue Yellow-backed, (Parula Americana,) Yellow-rumped, 

 —my third specimen, a female, and a Nashville, (Hdmiii- 

 thopha<!a rit.fu-apiUa.) 



The Black-throated Green has the back, hind head and 

 crown yellowish green, and the throat black ; the sides of 

 the head are yellow, and the wing is blackish and crossed 

 with two heavy bars of white. 



The Blue Yellow-backed is one of the smallest of this 

 family of small birds and one of the most beautiful. The 

 whole upper parts are a Prussian blue except a spot in the 

 middle of the back which is yellow ; the wings are black 

 and crossed with two bars of white ; the throat and breast 

 are rich yellow and orange with a curved line of black near 



the juguhmi. These two, with the Yellow-rump, I took in 

 high woodland. The Nashville I shot in my orchard. For 

 two or three days past had seen the last named very active 

 little bird gleaning among the apple blossoms without be- 

 ing able to fully identify it. The upper parts are greenish 

 yellow ; the top and sides of the head ash ; crown marked 

 with slight touches of chestnut; the whole under parts yel- 

 low. The superficial observer might readily mistake this 

 bird for the Summer Yellow-bird. All of the above are en 

 route— bo far as known, never stopping here to breed. 



Noted the first Wood Pewitt Flycatcher, (Contopus vi- 

 rens,) of the season. This bird, which much resembles the 

 Phcebe, frequents the wood lands and builds its nest in 

 trees, and may, at least, be recognized by its plaintive, 

 long-drawn-out note of pe-to-wee, with sometimes a rising 

 and sometimes a falling inflection on the last syllable. 



Saw seven or eight Scarlet Tanagers, both male and fe- 

 male, all within limited bounds. One or two of the former 

 repeatedly, as I observed them, warbled out a strain of song, 

 consisting of four or five double slurred notes, not unlike 

 that of the Robin, but not, however, nearly so mellow or 

 musical. The Baltimore Orioles, since their first appear- 

 ance three or four days ago, have become remarkably abun- 

 dant. The Wood Thrushes are very generally dispersed 

 throughout all our woods. 



Mat S. My Warbler game this morning included a fe- 

 male Blackburnian, a Nashville, a Black-and- White Creeper 

 and a Yellow-rump ; no new specimens. Every one of my 

 four little shooting excursions has included the last named 

 species, from which I infer it is among the most numerous 

 of our Warblers, at least during the Spring migrations. My 

 gun, strangely enough, failed to bring down several rare (?) 

 and interesting (?) specimens. 



Wherever there was a brier patch near to the border of a 

 wood I was almost sure to meet with the Maryland Yellow- 

 throat, (Geothlypis tiichas.) This little bird never fails to 

 capture the affections of every one who makes his acquain- 

 tance—being modest in manner, confiding in spirit, tidy in 

 dress and sprightly in song. His olive-green dress, bright 

 yellow throat, and jet black stripe through the eye, reach- 

 ing from one side of the face to the other, are enough to 

 identify him. 



The little Field Sparrow, (Spizel'a agrestis,) which is com- 

 monly with us the first week in April, but whose arrival I 

 unwittingly failed to note, is very liberally distributed 

 throughout all our upland pasture fields, singing his sweet 

 little ditty, so easily distinguished from the song of all the 

 olher Sparrows. This bird's unmarked under parts and 

 whitish wing-bars and redish bill will enable one to separate 

 it from other Sparrows that frequent the fields. 



Started a female Towhee Bunting from her nest almost 

 at my feet. This was near Ihe edge of a wood, among the 

 grass, about ten feet from the foo.t of a tree, and un- 

 marked by stump, stone or shrub. It was sunk below the 

 surface of the ground, and consisted of two layers of 

 different materials, the first or outside being dead leaves, 

 the second or inside dried grasses, and the whole was par- 

 tially covered over with green or dried grass stems. It con- 

 tained four eggs — two of the owner's and two of the Cow- 

 bird's. 



The following species not heretofore named, came under 

 my observation : '1 he Eave's Swallow, (Petrochelidon luni- 

 frons) ; the Red-eyed Vireo, ( Vireo olwaceus) ; the Indigo 

 bird, (Passerina ct/anca,) and the American Titlark, {An- 

 thus ludovicianus.) 



The Indigo-bird is about the size of a Sparrow, and of a 

 general bluish color, with blackish wings and tail. It fre- 

 quents the borders of woods, also the roadside, perching 

 on fences. 

 Of the Titlarks, saw three or four in one company along 



