FIELD 
NOTES. 
MIGRATORY NOTES. 
From my notebook I take the following 
notes on migration for the fall season of ’96. 
The first arrivals noted were several species 
of Warblers August 3. ‘They arrived in 
large flocks, and are still plentiful, the 
black and white being the most Common. 
Noted on August 25 many Barn Swallows; 
they were especially plentiful after a rain. 
Noted on September 6 Rose-breasted Gros- 
beak; three birds, two females and one 
male. On September 24 I noted two 
American Redstarts, and have seen but one 
since. Noted on October 20 several Wil- 
son’s Snipe, and they were rather plentiful 
by November 25. On October 24 I saw a 
large flock of Killdeer Plover, and saw on 
October 15 a flock of Wild Geese. Ducks, 
Blue-winged Teal, Mallard and others ar- 
rived about October 5. The Robin was 
first noted on November 4; several large 
flocks seen November 23. P 
GinMAN J. WINTHROP. 
Tallahassee, Fla. 
* 
* * 
CHIMNEY SWIFT NOTES. 
I noticed in an article by C. W. and J. 
H. Bowles in the August NrIpoLocistT this 
statement: ‘‘In some places reports come 
from time to time of nesting in chimneys.’’ 
Now at Chili, Monrve county, New York, 
where [ spent most of my collecting sea- 
sons, nearly all the nests I found person- 
ally, or that were brought to me, were 
taken from the inside of barn gables. This 
was not confined to one or two pairs of 
birds, but seemed general all over that 
section. I never took but one set from a 
chimney. 
Was this a local condition? My nests 
were usually made of elm twigs, but I have 
seen the birds break off cherry and apple 
twigs. I always considered any feathers 
found as accidental, but that might not 
hold good on close investigation. Certainly 
the majority of my nests showed no feath- 
THE NIDOLOGIST 49 
ers; in fact there was seldom anything but 
the twigs and saliva or glue. The birds 
usually started a number of nests before 
selecting one to complete. Let us hear 
from other localities as to nesting sites. 
EkNEST H. SHORT. 
Albion, N. Y. 
* 
* * 
USURPED A WAXWING’S NEST. 
Mr. Butter’s article, ‘‘The Robin as a 
Freak, ’’in the Nip., for October, brings to’ 
mind a similar experience of my own. 
June 15, 1896, i found a nest of the 
Cedar Waxwing containing five eggs, on a 
horizontal branch of a maple and far out 
from the body of the tree. 
July 24 I founda nest of the American 
Goldfinch in the same tree, but higher up. 
When I started to climb the tree a Robin 
flew from it and commenced to make a 
great fuss, so when I had examined the 
Goldfinch’s nest, and could see no Robin's 
nest in the tree, I concluded to look in the 
Waxwing’s, andfound that it had been 
added to by the Robin, she having made 
the walls higher by using mud and grass so 
that it looked like a typical Robin’s nest. 
It contained a newly hatched Robin and an 
egg just ready to hatch. 
VERDI BURTCH. 
Penn Yan, N. Y. 
* 
* * 
A ROBIN IN THE COLD. 
December 14, during a snow storm, and 
the thermometer at 20, a Robin made its 
appearance, and remained about the house 
for some time. That night the themometer 
registered six degrees below zero. 
W. S. JOHNSON. 
Boonville, N. Y. 
* 
* * 
A COWARDLY SCHEME. 
Those who have searched for the nests 
of Aegialites vocifera know what a deceiving 
creature the bird is. The nests are diffi- 
cult to find, unless you run onto one by 
mere chance. 
In the summer of 1891, a pair had its 
nest in a stump patch in an old pasture on 
my father’s farm. The stumps thickly 
covered about half an acre of ground, in 
places well grown over with weeds. Here 
I had searched many times for a nest which 
I was sure was located there, but my 
search was always attended with failure. I 
