THE YOUNG ORNITHOLOGIST. 



and placed in position all the mater- 

 ial of the nest, bnt her partner seemed 

 to think that he was giving her 

 much assistance by following her to 

 and from the nesting place, and ruu- 

 ing up and around the trees and old 

 logs, where she collected the mater- 

 ials, at the same time warbling his 

 little ditty in a pleasing manner. 

 Rough pieces of cedar bark formed 

 the foundation of the nest, and dry, 

 fibrous, woody matter composed the 

 structure, which was internalh^ lined 

 with hair. Some ten days after I 

 again visited the nesting place, and 

 had some difficulty in reaching it, 

 from the fact that the lower part of 

 the tree was scorched by fire, and the 

 bark peeled of the year before. On 

 getting up to the nest the bird flushed 

 off, and 1 found that it contained 

 six eggs, which I took, and found on 

 preparing, that they were some incub- 

 ated ; one was broken, the other five 

 are in my collection. The ground color 

 is dull white, with a mottling of bay 

 spots towards the large end, and a 

 slight sprinkling of the same hue on 

 other parts of the surface ; in size they 

 are slightly more oblong than those 

 of the Black-cap Chicadee. I might 

 also remark that 1 noticed this species 

 quite active, during the thaw on the 

 the last days of December and the 

 beginning of the present year ; but I 

 did not see or hear the bird again 

 until the Gth of April. 



Wm. L. Kells. 

 Listowel, Canada. 



We heard recently of the Red Cross- 

 bill breeding in Massachusetts ; this 

 is the second instance of the kind 

 we have known of. 



notp:s on some Milwaukee 



BIRDS. 



White-bellied Swallow. 



{Hirvndo bicoJor. ) 



This bird is one of our commonest 

 summer residents. The first arrival 

 for this year was on April 4th, when 

 one bird was seen. The next day 

 three were seen, and after that they 

 were very abundant. They appear 

 to be mated when they arrive, and 

 are soon seen flying about the bird- 

 houses put out for their reception, 

 This year, one month after the first 

 bird was seen, a pair commenced 

 building in a bird-house on our stable. 

 The male bird takes no part in the 

 building, not even bringing material. 

 He sits on the weather-vane or tele- 

 graph wire, guarding his mate, occa- 

 sionally flying about for exercise or 

 food, or to go to the entrance of his 

 home to inspect the work, never ven- 

 turing inside, however ; but if a 

 strange bird ventures too near, he is 

 soon in hot pursuit ; and if they come 

 to blows, or rather pecks, the white- 

 bellied is usually victorious. Last 

 year I saw a fight between two males 

 of this species : one had thrown the 

 other upon its back on the ground, 

 and they were wrestling and fighting- 

 like two school-boys. So intent were 

 they with their fighting that I nearly 

 dropped my hat over them before they 

 flew. The victorious bird then gave 

 his opponent a few sharp pecks, but 

 soon gave up the battle. The defeat- 

 ed bird was probably, an intruder. 



The Purple Makten (Progne 

 sabis) is not so common as the preced- 

 ing. They often breed in boxes in the 



