108 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 9 



The Cliff Swallow is not known to breed 

 in the southern portion of its United 

 States range. Nests south of the par- 

 allel of 38° are very rare. The following 

 note from Waverly, Miss., 33 34 , is therefore 

 the more interesting : On April 10, a pair 

 of these Swallows appeared and soon 

 commenced house building. Two broods 

 were raised and the nest, which was a 

 great curiosity in that country, is still pre- 

 served. Had one seen the thousands and 

 thousands of these Swallows, which one 

 evening in the last of July were nesting 

 on a marsh near Red Rock, Indian Terri- 

 tory, he would have been tempted to be- 

 lieve that Prof. Aughey's two thousand 

 nests had emptied their entire contents on 

 this particular place. 



Notesfrom DuBois, Pa., July 24, 1884. 



The spring migration in this locality was 

 exceedingly unsatisfactory, chiefly owing 

 to the cold and windy weather which pre- 

 vailed almost without intermission at the 

 height of the migrating season. This im- 

 mediate neighborhood is covered with 

 dense pine and hemlock forests, and even 

 in the most favorable weather it is no easy 

 matter to identify the rarer species of War- 

 blers and other small birds at an elevation 

 of from thirty to seventy-five feet, and 

 when seen against a leaden sky with an 

 accompaniment of moaning wind and creak 

 ing branches that effectually drown their 

 characteristic notes, it becomes impossible 

 to collect the more desirable birds without 

 a great slaughter of the common species. 

 O wing to the meagre results of my collect- 

 ing trips I have but little of interest to 

 present. There seemed an unusual abun- 

 dance of Scarlet Tanagers in the imperfect 

 or mottled plumage, caused no doubt by 

 retarded moulting on account of the late 

 spring. One male specimen taken May 20 

 is of a light orange color and was mistaken 

 for an Oriole on an inrperfect view. It 

 showed marks of age, and is probably 

 several seasons old. The backward season 



accounts for the great number of northern 

 species which seem to be breeding here. 

 The Snowbird, (Junco hyemalis), "Winter 

 Wren, (Troglodytes. hyemalis), Red Cross- 

 bills, (TjOxia curoirostra), can now be seen 

 and heard daily, and such Warblers as the 

 Blue Yellow-back, Black and White Creeper, 

 Chestnut-sided, Blackburnian, Black- 

 throated Green, Black-throated Blue, 

 Canadian Flycatcher, (Myiodioctes cana- 

 densis), and Black and Yellow Warbler 

 seem to be much more numerous than I 

 have ever observed them before, at this 

 writing. An experienced otilogist would 

 undoubtedly find a rich reward for a season 

 spent here. I have observed the females 

 of many of the above species show unmis- 

 takably by their manner and appearance 

 that they were nesting, but I have never 

 had the time or inclination to search for 

 their nests. DuBois is about 1500 feet 

 above the sea level, is nearly surrounded by 

 primitive forests. The summers are short 

 and cool and often interspersed by frosts. 

 It is therefore a congenial summer home 

 to none but the most boreal birds. During 

 a drive about a week ago in the vicinity of 

 Watsontown, Northumberland Co., (a much 

 warmer place) I saw a pair of Shrikes, pre- 

 sumably, (Lanius borealis), flitting about a 

 wheat field and capturing grasshoppers. I 

 have never found Shrikes before in this 

 State except in winter. — W. V. F. 



Notes from Taftsville, Vt. 



June 21st, I found a nest of the White- 

 throated Sparrow, (Zonotrichia albicollis), 

 containing four fresh eggs, and July 3d, 

 another containing three. Both nests were 

 constructed of dried leaves, weeds and 

 grasses, lined with finer grass, and both 

 were placed on the ground in slight de 

 pressions. They are a little larger than the 

 nests of the Song Sparrow, (Melospiea 

 fasciata), but closely resemble some of the 

 latter. The eggs are greyish white 

 marked with confluent blotches and spots of 

 different shades of brown and lilac. The 



