THE OOLOGIST 3H (*^^ i \^V7 



165 



A large number of birds are referred 

 to in which one of these reports and 

 to read tlie report would give the or- 

 dinary orinthologist a serious attacii 

 of the wonderlist, and it is no wonder 

 that the average collector would like 

 to visit the territory of the Wedge 

 Tail Eagle, Scarlet Breasted, Flame- 

 breasted and Dusky Robin, Gray-tail 

 Whistler, Whistling Shrike Thrush, 

 Blue Wren and Honey eaters, etc. 

 Our friends in Tasmania are certainly 

 to be congratulated upon the getting 

 up of these reports as well as upon 

 the contents and upon the opportuni- 

 ties afforded by such objects. 



ij: ^ ^ 



Frank L. Burns favors us with a 

 Miss Lawson's recollections of Orni- 

 thology published in the Auk XXXIV 

 Number 3 which we had already read 

 with more than ordinary pleasure. 

 Anything that comes from the pen of 

 Mr. Burns is worthy of perusal by 

 any bird student. 



Early Nesting of the Solitary Vireo 

 In Pennsylvania. 



On May 24th, 1913, Mr. Samuel 

 Dickey and the writer were working 

 down a steep ravine in Hundington 

 County looking for nests of the Hood- 

 ed Warbler when I heard a note which 

 instantly brought back Pike County 

 associations of this bird. Lookini^ 

 about, I came upon a nest placed 

 seven feet up in a deciduous bush 

 near a log road, and which held 

 at this date four full fledged young. 

 Both birds sang about the nest and 

 fed the young with absolute uncon- 

 cern at our presence. The average 

 time for fresh sets of this species is 

 about May 28th, though it is an irreg- 

 ular breeder, as I have found nests 

 with eggs as late as July 15th, but 

 this pair beats by a full month, all my 

 previous records. 



The average Vireo period of incu- 



bation is twelve days, while the young 

 were probably ten days old at the 

 least, so that the set must have been 

 completed by May 2d, and the nest 

 must have been started by April 25th. 

 This year I hope to look into the 

 matter still further, and take a few 

 specimens from this locality for it is 

 a question in my mind as to whether 

 these birds from the southern mount- 

 ains of Pennsylvania may not tend 

 toward the southern form of the Soli- 

 tary Vireo, — the Mountain Solitary. 

 Richard C. Harlow, 

 State College, Pa. 



New Hampshire Notes. 



This year more northern birds 

 stayed with us than usual. Juncos, 

 always abundant on the higher ele- 

 vations, have been common on the 

 lower lands. Until this year I never 

 chanced to find a Junco's nest. This 

 year, however, I stumbled on four, 

 three of which were still in the course 

 of construction when discovered. One 

 was discovered by seeing a large gar- 

 ter snake just finishing devouring the 

 half-grown young. White-throated 

 Sparrows have also stayed with us in 

 a larger number than usual. One pair 

 of Tree Sparrows stayed here to 

 breed. 



Several pairs of Black Ducks raised 

 their young near the Contoocook 

 River. One female layed seven eggs, 

 and then deserted her nest. I hatched 

 one egg under a hen and raised the 

 duckling to maturity. 



Spotted Sandpipers have bred in 

 larger numbers than in recent years. 



The pair of Northern Pileted Wood- 

 peckers mentioned in the February 

 number raised a nestful of young to 

 maturity in a tree about two miles 

 distant from their former nesting tree, 

 which was blown over. 



Stuart T, Danforth, 

 East Jaffrey, N. H. 



