88 
THE NIDOLOOIST 
nesting so many times I have never had 
knowledge which are yet not considered 
rare, because their presence is so abund- 
_antly manifested by their open habits and 
familiar notes; and yet this bird with all 
its retiring habits, closely concealed nesting 
methods, and, as far as my knowledge and 
experience extends, total absence of song 
or call notes, has been detected nesting 
within a limited extent of territory near 
the mouth of the Connecticut River and the 
adjacent Sound shores on these five diffe- 
rent occasions withina brief period of years. 
I am led to the conclusion that the bird’s 
actual presence among their favorite haunts 
in the salt grass meadows is not an event 
of such exceeding rarity as has been gener- 
ally supposed. Arriving late in summer, 
and retiring early, affecting places so 
secluded from ordinary observation and far 
from the foot-steps of any but the casual 
observer, most of them and possibly many 
of them may spend their brief summer and 
rear their broods unnoticed and almost un- 
known. 
Saybrook, Conn. 
-~ fe -<-+ 
To Protect Farallone Birds 
The movement to protect bird life on the 
Farallone Islands has apparently proven 
successtul. Mr. William Dutcher writes 
us: “You may be interested to know that 
the Light House Board, at Washington, 
D. C., under date of November 6, 1896, 
issued the following order: ‘‘The Board 
directs that allegg and bird business on 
the Farallone Islands be prohibited in any 
form and by any persons. This order 
will be carried out by the Inspector of the 
12th Lighthouse District, San Francisco, 
Cal., and by the keepers on the Farallones.’’ 
- fe + 
Brunnichs’ Murre—On the 31st of Decem- 
ber I found one of these birds frozen stiff 
upon the ice in the middle of the river. It 
was apparently uninjured and had evid- 
ently alighted in an exhausted state and 
frozen to death. Its appearance indicated 
that it had not been there long. As we had 
no storms at that time to drive the bird 
inland, its occurrence is the more unusual. 
For the positive identification of the speci- 
men I am indebted to Mr. Knight of 
Bangor. 
C. H. MorreEtt. 
Pittsfield, Maine, February 1897. 
Minor Nesting Notes from North Dakota. 
BY EUGENE S. ROLFE. 
HE sober- hued little Clay-colored Spar- 
row (Sfzzella pallida) is an humble, 
unobtrusive resident here; silent even 
in the breeding season, except for a plain- 
tive chimp that, together with similar struc- 
ture, plumage and eggs, proves its close 
relationship to the familiar chipping spar- 
row. 
It keeps to the prairies strictly, building 
from eight inches to two and a half feet 
from the ground in some cluster of badger 
or greasewood bush, generally preferring 
the former, of a growth of one to two feet 
in height. Somewhere in my reading I 
have observed the statement that this 
species nests On the ground, but in some 
thirteen nests observed, I have not met 
with a case of the kind. The nest is in its 
foundation very loosely constructed of fine 
dried weed stalks very insecurely stayed 
in place, while the lining of fine dried 
grasses and horse hair shows skill and care. 
This common use. of horse hair lining is 
another trait this species has in common 
with domestica. ~The earliest nesting record 
I have is June ro and the latest July 20. 
In the first case the set consisted of three 
fresh eggs and was accompanied by an egg 
of the Cow Blackbird (which has a special 
fondness for the nest of this species), and 
in the last of four eggs also fresh. 
In July, 1895, I spent several days on — 
one of our farms some miles out, attending 
to some needed repairs, and on the 12th 
caught sight of a Clay-colored Sparrow car- 
rying nesting material to a small cluster of 
badger brush a dozen yards from the well. 
Investigation showed but the slightest be- 
ginning made, only two or three fine dried 
weed stalks being then adjusted in the 
nucleus of a foundation. During the next 
three days I frequently observed this single 
bird working briskly at her task; at no 
time do I recall rigns of a mate in the 
vicinity. On the 17th I was amazed to see 
her resting quietly upon a completed nest 
containing one egg. On July 20, eight 
days from the time of her initial work on 
the nest, the full set of four had been de- 
posited and the bird was sitting! It is true 
the nest was exceptionally flimsy in con- 
struction, and though holding together 
well, was so poorly stayed in place that 
inverting the bush caused it to drop out 
