34 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



By Harry E,. Caldwell, China. 



A person who has paid special attention to bird life in the temperate 

 portion of the middle and southern States, upon arriving at the barge 

 port of Foochow, China, and looking out upon a climate always breezy 

 and balmy would naturally think he would soon meet a great number 

 of friends among members of the feathered tribe. He soon begins to 

 recognize a great many very marked inconsistencies however, for 

 though he stands in the midst of one vast flower garden of nature, he 

 does not see any variety of the little Humming-bird so common to a 

 spot like this in the homeland. This is one of the first facts which the 

 observer meets, and here begins a long series of just such disappoint- 

 ments. During the almost three years of my stay in China I have seen 

 but few, if any, of the Warbler family. This is quite as surprising as 

 the above, for the climate and surroundings seem especially adapted to 

 such birds. During the Spring and early summer the Flycatchers 

 seem to predominate, but these too, with the exception of possibly two 

 or three varieties remove to other quarters as the nesting season draws 

 nigh. One very beautiful variety of this family is the Paradise Fly- 

 catcher. This bird arrives from winter quarters just as the trees are 

 fresh and green with their Easter attire. Its beautiful rich brown 

 color blends nicely with its surroundings as it dashes and whirls amid 

 the foliage and flowers in quest of its food. The male bird has a very 

 glossy black head and neck, belly and underparts silvery gray, and en- 

 tire upper surface a very deep shade of brown. The two central tail 

 quills are prolonged to nearly twice the length of the bird. This addi- 

 tion of tail seems to come with age however, for I have seen many 

 male birds which were deprived of such ornament. The nest of the 

 Paradise Flycatcher is well in keeping with the grace and beauty of the 

 bird. It is a structure of green moss, lichens and webs on the outer 

 surface, deeply cupped and lined with fine rootlets and palm fiber. 

 The nest is generally placed in a vertical fork from ten to forty feet 

 from the ground. One interesting feature of this otherwise very inter- 

 esting specie, is that the male bird willingly takes his turn in incubat- 

 ing. It is a rather interesting spectacle to see this bird nearly fifteen 

 inches in length incubating on a nest not larger than the ordinary 

 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher's nest. 



One has not arrived long in the port of Foochow when he hears the 

 familiar note of the Chickadee from some of the overhanging boughs of 

 the ever green olive trees. To all appearances of sight and sound he 

 has now met his little friend Parus atricapillus, but here too, he meets 

 a surprise as well as a disappointment. I had carefully observed sev- 



