General Notes 91 



Flicca (Stone, Bird Migration Records of William Bartram, Auk, 

 XXX, 1913, 341). 



Flying Auger, Martha's Vineyard, Mass. (McAtee, Local Names 

 of Water Fowl and Other Birds, p. 19). 



Golden-Headed Woodpecker or Yellowhammer (Hurst's New Nut- 

 tail's Dictionary, Suppli., p. 871). Citation by Miller, Oologist, 

 xxxi, p. 10. A book name that I was inclined to reject as a typo- 

 graphical error, but after all, it is no more ridiculous than some 

 other names in current use. 



Graywacker, Eastern Shore of Maryland (Oberholser), (McAtee, 

 IMd.). 



Looping Bird, Church's Island, N. C. (McAtee, Ibid.). 



Rampike, Newfoundland (Montreal Family Herald and Weekly 

 Star, Oct. 18, 1911). For which I am under obligations to Mr. 

 McAtee. F. L. Burns. 



Berwyn, Pa. 



THE NEST LIFE OF THE WESTERN HOUSE WREN. 

 (Abstract.) 

 Read before Wilson Ornithological Club, third annual meeting, 

 Columbus, Ohio, 1915. 



BY ALTHEA R. SHERMAN. 



Studies of the behavior outside of the nest of Troglodytes aedon 

 parkniani were made for the most part from birds nesting in boxes 

 in various places in the yard, and the inner activities of its home 

 were studied through peepholes that commanded views of the in- 

 side of nests, situated in a barn. From these vantage points was 

 watched the progress of the nests from their building, until they 

 were deserted by the young. The duration of the nest period, as 

 is the case with other species, is subject to considerable variation, 

 the average time for nest occupation, counting from the depositing 

 of the first egg, has been found to be thirty-two days. 



There has existed among ornithologists a general misconception 

 relating to the amount of light the nest receives through the hole. 

 A mere glance into the boxes provided with peep-holes is sufficient 

 to convince any one that the illumination of the nest is ample, and 

 differs little in intensity from the lighting of most of our living- 

 rooms. 



To feed and care for all the nestlings alike is the normal conduct 

 of a bird, and the abnormal happens, when a portion of a brood 

 thrives vigorously, while others die from starvation. Deaths from 

 starving in the nest of the Western House Wren were noted to re- 

 sult from causes very different from those that brought death to 

 the young of the Northern Flicker. 



