114 
THE NIDOLOGIST 
this vicinity (near Philadelphia) I have 
never considered it a common bird until 
this season when I have seen a great many, 
So far as I know, there is no explanation to 
offer for the present prevalence of this spe- 
cies; their services as scavengers are cer- 
tainly no more in demand, this season than 
they have been during previous seasons. Is 
it possible that the food supply in the inter- 
rior of the state is deficient, and hence the 
distribution of the bird is more general than 
it has been during recent years? Perhaps 
some of the readers of the NrpoLoGIsT are 
in a position to throw light upon this sub- 
ject. 
The Warbling Vireo (Vzreo giluus) is a 
not very abundant summer resident in this 
vicinity. When found, however,it usually 
frequents the valleys of our larger streams 
and rivers. I founda set of four eggs of 
this species along Mill Creek, near Man- 
ayunk, on July 4, 1895. I have never 
found it breeding here before, and do not 
consider it common. Dr. Warren (Birds 
of Pennsylvania) and Mr. Pennock (Lzréds 
of Chester Co., Pa., Oologist, 1887, p. I.) 
meution it as a species breeding in this 
vicinity, but Mr. Stone (Bzrds of Eastern 
Pennsylvama and New Jersey) does not. 
On September 19 I secured a specimen of 
the Tennessee Warbler (Helmznthophila 
peregrina). It is a rare migrant in this 
vicinity, more common in the fall than it 
is during the spring. Several specimens 
have been recorded by different Ornitholog- 
ists in eastern Pennsylvania. 
The readers of the NripoLocist who are 
medically inclined, and I know that there 
are a member of them, know that there are 
several preparations of the juice of the 
poke-berry (Piytolacca decaudra) upon the 
-market which are claimed to be of great 
service in the treatment of obesity. It was 
originally used for this purpose, because it 
was alleged to make the birds which feed 
upon the berries emaciated, and as it was 
supposed to reduce the amount of fatty 
tissue in birds, the natural deduction was 
that it would be of service in reducing the 
superfluous amount of adipose tissue in the 
human subject. Almost a year ago Igath- 
thered some data upon this subject from 
well-known Ornithologists, and their obser- 
vations, as mine had been, were that birds 
which feed upon poke-berries are always 
well nourished and are never in an emac- 
iated condition, at least not from feeding 
upon these berries. This being the case,of 
course, the berries are worthless for the 
purpose for which the Phytolacca prepara- 
tions were intended. The birds thatI have 
recorded as feeding upon poke berries are 
the following: American Robin (Merula 
migratoria), Wood Trush (Zurdus mustel- 
inus ) BrownThrasher(Harporhynchus rufus), 
Catbird ( Galeoscoptes carolinensis), Flicker, 
(Colaptes auratus),Red-headed Woodpecker 
(Welanerpes erythrocephalus), Cedar-bird 
(Ampelis cedrorum), Carolina Chickadee 
(Parus carolimens7s), Myrtle Warbler 
(Dendroica coronata). 
I have examined a number of these 
birds this season that have been feeding 
upon poke-berries, and have always found 
them well nourished and very frequently 
abnormally fat. 
W. E. Rorzeuy, M. D. 
NARBETH, PA. 
Yellow-headed Biackbird in Wisconsin. 
N Mr. P. M. Silloway’s article, ‘‘Amphi- 
| bious Experiences,” in the March num- 
ber, hespeaks of being ‘‘unable posi- 
tively to distinguish their work from that 
of the Red-winged Blackbird.”’ 
In this locality there is a great difference 
between the nest-building of the two 
species. The latter builds its nest in the 
lower rushes and flags, sometimes on a tus- 
sock of grass, and among the straight- 
jointed stalks of the horse-tail before 
they reach their full height. Quite 
a bit of green vegetation also enters into 
the construction of their nests. 
The Yellow-head seems to prefer the 
taller reeds and patcbes of wild rice, that 
grow nearer the open water, in which to 
build. They weave the long dried grasses 
in and out about the rice stalks, thus fast- 
ening them together, and build up a loose, 
bulky nest, trom six to ten inches high, 
about a foot above the water. The edges 
are carried about three inches higher than 
the bottom inside, forming a thick brim. 
Bits of broad, soft grass cover the bottom. 
I have a beautiful specimen of a nest, 
taken May 27, 1891, with a set of four 
fresh eggs, being the most elaborate I have 
ever seen. 
It is attached to thirty or more wild rice 
stalks, beginning about a foot. from the 
water. The broad grasses and sedges are 
loosely woven and intertwined about the 
rice stalks (all dead except four), forming 
a nest fifteen inches long, from top to bot- 
