July, 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



89 



the roadside. This bird is but little larger than a Sparrow ; 

 the upper parts are dusky brown, lower faint yellowish 

 brown, breast spotted with black. It always walks or runs 

 but never hops. This is but a Spring passenger through 

 this district to the far north. 



Mat 12. My observations to-day included that elegant 

 and rare bird, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, {Zamelodia lu- 

 doviciana). Several days since I suspected seeing this bird 

 but only to-day was enabled to satisfy myself as to its iden- 

 tity. Met with two or three males and a female, all in a 

 small timbered and watered ravine. For a full hour I spent 

 in this locality, one of these birds never ceased to pour out 

 its voice in melody, only pausing long enough to fly from 

 one tree-top to another, often taking up its position in a 

 tree standing out in the open field. I was specially pleased 

 with its song, and if this be a specimen singer, do not hesi- 

 tate to rank this bird among the most delightful and accom- 

 plished songsters in all our woods. The whole head and 

 upper parts are black, save a white spot on the rump and 

 another on the wing ; the lower parts are white : a patch 

 of beautiful rose color on the breast is a prominent charac- 

 teristic. It is but a few years since these birds first made 

 their appearance in this district, but every year seem to be 

 growing more numerous. 



Discovered the nests of the Brown Thrasher and the 

 Cardinal Grosbeak. The former was located in a thorn- 

 bush on the steep hill-side of a pasture field near to a 

 wood. It was an extremely homely piece of bird fabric, 

 consisting for the most part of course dead sticks of a uni- 

 form sooty-black color, with a few dried grasses for a lin- 

 ing. It contained three speckled eggs. The female seemed 

 to be brooding, and only left the nest when witbin arm's 

 reach. 



The nest of the Cardinal was built in a crab-apple tree, 

 in a sheltered hollow, sis feet from the ground, and was 

 composed of dried weed stalks and grasses— fine fibres of 

 the latter forming the lining— the whole rather loosely put 

 together. It contained two freshly laid eggs, one of which 

 I suspected of being the Cow bird's. 



May 16. An hour's shooting at sunrising resulted in the 

 capture of the following: A Red-eyed Vireo (the victim of 

 mistaken identity), a Golden-crowned Thrush, (Siurus auri- 

 capillus,) a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, (Empidonax Jlaviven- 

 tris,) a Chestnut-sided Warbler, {hendrwea pennsylvanica,) 

 and two Black-throated Blue Warblers, (Dendrceca ccerules- 

 ccns,)—n male and a female. 



The Golden-crown Thrush was perched on a small sap- 

 ling, about ten feet from the ground, uttering a series of 

 annimated and monotonous chirps which may be repre- 

 sented by the sylables, chippy, chippy, chippy, &c. This 

 bird is credited with remarkable capabilities as a songster, 

 but its song is about as rare as the flower of the century 

 plant. In a hundred years, so far as I can understand, it 

 has been given to but one man to hear it. The following 

 will serve to identify it : In size it is no larger than the av- 

 erage sparrow ; the whole upper parts are a beautiful olive- 

 green ; the lower parts are snow white ; the breast is 

 thickly spotted with black ; the head on the top is marked 

 by two black stripes, between which is a bed of golden 

 yellow. It builds an oven-shaped nest on the ground, 

 hence the name of Oven-bird, which is sometimes given it. 



The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher I shot in a thicket of crab- 

 apple trees and thorn bushes. This bird is olive-green 

 above and pure yellow below, with two yellow wing bars. 

 The uniform clear yellow under parts, and the more con- 

 spicuous wing-bars will distinguish the species from several 

 others of nearly the same size and markings. 



The Chestnut-sided Warbler wears a motley-colored 

 dress ; the upper parts are marked with black, yellow and 

 gray; below the wing is a line of chestnut, and. the rest of 



the under parts are white ; there is a patch of yellow on 

 the top of the head. This bird I secured in a crab-apple 

 thicket. 



The two Black-throated Blue Warblers I shot in different 

 localities in high woodland. The male is a handsome bird 

 of a uniform slaty-blue above, and pure white below; the 

 sides of the bead and the whole throat are jet black. I had 

 no little difficulty in identifying the female of this species, 

 so strangely different from the male in coloring and mark- 

 ings. The white spot on the wing at the base of the prima- 

 ries, common to both sexes, was the one clue to lead me 

 to its full recognition. 



Started up a Whip-poor-will, (Antrostomw vociferua,) al- 

 most at my feet, and without trouble found its pair of eggs 

 on which it was brooding. This was a "rare find "—one 

 which but rarely happens, even to the most industrious 

 nest-hunters, and those eggs would fill a "long felt want " 

 in my cabinet. It is well known that this bird makes no 

 nest, but lays its eggs on the ground in woodland ; in this 

 instance they were placed on a broad leaf with the least 

 perceptible depression towards the centre— enough to hold 

 them in place. 



Mat 17. My apple orchard this morning seemed to be a 

 general rendezvous of the Warblers. At no time and no 

 where have I seen them so numerous and in such variety 

 in the same bounds. Among others identified the Nash- 

 ville, the Black and yellow, the Chestnut-side, the Yellow- 

 wing and the Green Black-capped Warbler, ( W ilsonia pu- 

 silla). Took a beautiful specimen of the latter. Wilson 

 says this bird has no song; others pass it over. Let jus- 

 tice be done. This, as well as the Chestnut-side, with which 

 it seems to be associated during the morning, has 1 each its 

 own strain of song as characteristic and well defined, and, 

 at least, as sharp and energetic as that of the Summer Yel- 

 low-bird, so familiar to all, that of the Black-cap being 

 more prolonged than either of the others. Had the oppor- 

 tunity of hearing the musical performances of different in- 

 dividuals of each of the above species. During the hour or 

 two they remained they kept up a continual twittering and 

 chattering and warbling, their united voices forming a most 

 interesting and, to my ear, most pleasing medley of bird- 

 song. The Black-cap is another n Yellow-bird" but may 

 be readily distinguished by its uniform Yellowish dress 

 (tinged with green above) and the glossy black patch cov- 

 ering the whole top of the head. 



Brief Notes. 



Questions Answered. Nest to ee Identified. Hell 

 Divek.— The solution to Albert H. Hawley's question in 

 the O. and 0. for June is easily given. If the measure- 

 ments of the egg had been noted the exact bird might have 

 been told, but as it is, there is little doubt of its being an 

 owl's egg. All owls lay white eggs, nearly ova], varying in 

 size according to the bird. Several of our nocturnal Rapa- 

 ciae nest in old Crow's or Hawk's nests. This is very com- 

 monly the case with the Great-homed Owl, {Buho virgin- 

 ianus,) the Long-eared Owl, (Otus vulgaris,) and occasion- 

 ally the Barred Owl, (Syrnium nebulosum). In the find of 

 Mr. Hawley, the owl laid an egg, and before returning to 

 deposit the second egg, a pair of squirrels appropriated the 

 nest to raise their young, and arched it over with sticks 

 and leaves, thus excluding the former occupant. Squirrels 

 very commpnly roof over old nests which affords a protec- 

 tion for their young from cold, storms, and from being de- 

 voured by birds of prey. If the egg found by Mr. H. is 

 considerably oblong, there is a possibility of its belonging 

 to a Hawk. I have a clutch of four eggs of the Red-shoul- 

 dered Hawk, (Buteo lineatus,) in which are two white, or 

 rather cream-colored eggs, and two blotched ones. 



