THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



61 



Ground color pale chestnut to light brick- 

 clay, with inverted Y-shaped dark blotch- 

 es on the sides. Length of adult two to 

 nearly three feet. 



Crotalus horridus. Common rattle- 

 snake. Above sulphur yellow to dark 

 yellowish brown, with two rows of con- 

 fluent brown lozenge-shaped blotches; 

 tail black ; a light line at the angle of the 

 mouth. Length three to five feet. 



There are at least two other harmless 

 snakes which are probably found within 

 our limits, although the writer has no 

 records of their occurrence, viz: — 



Coluber vulpinus. Fox snake. From 

 four to over five feet in length. Pale 

 brown, with subquadrate dark brown 

 blotches, three or four scales long. The 

 writer has seen specimens labeled "near 

 Baffalo, New York." It may be found 

 in north-western Pennsylvania. 



Virginia Valeria \ Valeria Blaney's 

 snake. Yellowish brown above, with 

 small irregular black dots, sometimes in 

 two rows. A small, slender snake, eight 

 to eleven inches in length. Has been 

 found in Maryland and Virginia, and like- 

 ly inhabits southern New Jehsey. 



A Few Notes on The Oven-bird. 



By A. B. Klugh. 



Sec'y Wellington Field Naturalists' Club, 

 Guelph, Out., Canada. 



Among all the sounds of the bush there 

 none more unique, or which strike the 

 ear more forcibly than the song of Siur- 

 us auricapillus. This remarkable song, 

 like most other bird notes, cannot be ad- 

 equately represented on paper, but more 

 than anything else resembles the syllables 

 ' 'cher-whack — cher-whack — cher- whack' 

 repeated rapidly many times in a rising- 

 scale, growing louder and increasing in 

 emphasis from beginning to end. It has 

 also a ventriloqual quality, and often ap- 

 pears to proceed from a direction oppo- 

 site to its real source. When the singer 

 is located we see a handsome, softly-col- 

 ored bird, about six and one-quarter 

 inches in length, olive green above, white 

 beneath, with the breast spotted with 

 dusky, and if we are enjoying the privi- 

 ege of a close inspection, we notice that 



the crown is golden-brown. The song is 

 usually delivered from the lower branches 

 of a tree, but the singer sometimes mounts 

 to a bough twenty feet from the ground to 

 deliver his emphatic serenade. This bird 

 has the dainty manner of walking charac- 

 teristic of the portron of the Mniotillidce to 

 which it belongs. It arrives here about 

 May 6th and leaves about Sept. 15th. 

 While probably more abundant in the 

 up-land woods than anywhere else, it is 

 to be met with in swamps, and occasion- 

 ally even in sphagnum bogs. 



The bird's common name was given to 

 it, as is* well known, on account of its 

 domed nest, which is supposed to resem- 

 ble an old-fashioned oven. This domi- 

 cile is placed in various situations, as I 

 have found them at the edge of woods, 

 in thickets, in swamps and in bogs, 

 though the favourite site appears to be 

 at the edge of woods composed of decid- 

 uous trees. 



The material used in construction varies 

 with the location, but usually consists of 

 grass, leaves, plant-stems, and a few 

 twigs, while the lining is usually leaves, 

 fine grass and a very little hair. The 

 dome is as a rule composed of fine, wiry 

 grass and a few leaves. One nest which 

 I found was composed almost entirely of 

 pine [P. strobus\ needles, lined with 

 leaves and a few hairs. It was the most 

 compact, strongest and altogether hand- 

 somest nest of the species which I have 

 ever seen. It was placed in a Tamarac 

 swamp, in rather a deep depression, so 

 that the bottom of the inside of the nest 

 was below the level of the carpet of dead 

 Tamarac leaves, and the dome only show- 

 ed slightly above the surface. The nest 

 is built here from about the middle to the 

 end of May. All the eggs which I have 

 taken here average larger than type, 

 which is given as .48X.58; mine average 

 . Sox. 63. In some sets they are very vari- 

 able in size, one of mine ranging from 

 .78 to .85 by .60 to .53. The eggs are 

 creamy white, with a slight gloss, and 

 very variable both as to size, dispositon 

 and tint of markings. These usually con- 

 sist of spots and blotches of various 

 shades of brown, and blotches of pale lav- 

 ender, mostly collected in the form of a 

 wreath on the larger end. The usual 

 number of eggs in a set is five. 



