38 THE SEMI-ANNUAL. 



The eggs are generally four in number, greenish or greyish 

 white, and thinly sprinkled all over with spots of reddish-brown 

 and lilac, thickest at the larger end. Two broods are reared in 

 a season. 



In parts of New England, Wilson found the idea prevalent that 

 the Snowbirds turned to Chipping Sparrows in the Summer, 

 the similarity of their song doubtless aiding the belief. It was 

 often a hard task to convince people of their mistake. This icjea 

 is akin to the old belief that Swallows turned to frogs in Winter 

 and Chimnev Swifts to Snowbunthigs. 



SOME BIRDS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS, PA. 



HARRY K. JAMESON, PHILADELPHIA PA. 



Although it is somewhat of a disappointment to an oologist to 

 encounter a rare nest for the first time and find it occupied by 

 fledgelings, I do not think any of us have wished that we had 

 overlooked such a nest and so avoided the feeling of having lost 

 something of value. 



Of course, the enthusiast cannot but regret that he is too late 

 for a coveted set of eggs ; but to me the disappointment is not 

 great. To note the actions of an unfamiliar species at its nest, 

 the notes it utters there, whether calls to its young or cries of 

 alarm on the approach of an enemy, are all, to me, deeply in- 

 teresting and pleasing. 



On July Fourth 1890, I was toiling up Mt. Minsi, on the side 

 of the Delaware Water Gap ; stopping now and then to take 

 in the actions of a bird, or the grandeur of the scenery. The 

 side of the mountain is thickly covered with deciduous trees and 

 I noticed such birds as the Red-eyed Vireo, Ovenbird, one Black 

 and White Warbler. This last evidently had a nest close by, for 

 I saw it catch a small white moth^and fly oft' with it through the 

 woods. 



After climbing upward for an hour, I had not attained the top 

 of the mountain and feeling too warm and tired to go higher, I 

 began to descend. At a point which I judged to be from eight 

 hundred to a thousand feet above the river, an unfamiliar bird- 



