<U TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VOL. III. 



Goldfinches from a flock of four, the male had begun to acquire the 

 yellow plumage. — J. A. VARI.EY. 



Ampelis cedrorum. — On February 22, I saw several Cedar Wax- 

 wings, in the Queen's Park. — HUBERT H. BROWN. 



Lanius borealis- — Observed a specimen of the Northern Shrike, at 

 Georgetown, also Crows feeding on seeds of Sumach. — W. METCALFE. 



(Forty-first Meeting, February 24, 1891). 



Nesting of the Winter Wren {Troglodytes hiemalis) — As I usually 

 do in the early part of May, I took a ramble to some woods southwards 

 of the town, where I saw some newly made nests of this species, in their 

 usual nesting places, i.e., the roots of newly-fallen trees, from which I 

 hoped to secure some sets of eggs, but revisiting them on the 24th of 

 May, I was returning disappointed, when I concluded to make a short 

 nest-hunting ramble, in a piece of scattered wood to the right of my way. 

 Near the western outskirt of this tract, the newly turned up root of a 

 medium sized hemlock tree caught my notice, and to it I directed my 

 steps. This tree in its fall had caught on another stub, so that its top 

 was still high off the ground, and the upper part of the "root" slanted 

 like the roof of a hut, the top of which would be about seven feet from 

 the ground ; and under this was a well-sheltered nook. Looking into 

 this natural wigwam, the nest of a Winter Wren at once caught my eye, 

 for it was directly in front, and towards the top of the roof, and some of 

 the vegetable fibres used in its construction hung downwards ; altogether 

 it was less compactly formed, and more exposed to view than the nests 

 of this species generally are, and more grass and other vegetable fibres 

 and small brambles were employed in the formation of this particular 

 nest, than this bird usually makes use of. The greater part, however, of 

 this ball-shaped structure was composed of the common moss that grows 

 on old logs, and the sides of certain trees in low places, while the inside 

 was lined with fine dry grass, some small feathers and a little hair from 

 the tails of cattle or horses ; around the entrance were variously arranged 

 the dry stems of hemlock leaves, a species of material always used by 

 this bird for this purpose, when it can procure them in the vicinity of its 

 nesting place. The entrance into this nest, as indeed the whole structure, 

 was so much like that made by a mouse, that a person not acquainted 

 with the subject, might easily mistake it for a nest of that little animal. 



