68 Bulletin of the 



in texture and require careful handling. Average size of egg .1^ x .58 inches. 



I dug two square feet of soil with the nest and as the accompanying 

 veg'etation was carefully preserved the group will probably be a most beau- 

 tiful one. 



This is the type set of eggs and with the nest, surrounding vegetation, 

 and both birds, is now in the grand collection of John Lewis Childs, of 

 Floral Park, N. Y. 



Battle Creek, Mich. 



NOTES FROM THE FIELD AND MUSEUM. 



CORY'S LEAST BITTERN AT THE ST. CLAIR FLATS. 



An adult male Cory's Least Bittern {Ardetta ueoxcna), (see frontis- 

 piece) was taken at the St. Clair Flats, St. Clair County, Michigan, on May 

 14th, 1904. The bird was shot by my brother, Ernest Craven, and given to 

 me in the flesh. It is now in my collection. 



Detroit, Mich. Jesse T. Craven. 



This makes the second bird of this species taken in this State, and one 

 of the few known to science. The first Michigan bird was captured by L. 

 Whitney Watkins near Manchester on August 8th, 1894. — Editor. 



CURIOUS DEATH OF SOME TREE SWALLOWS. 



While rowing along the Clinton River on May 18, 1 noticed a small 

 hole in the post of a fence which ran down to the water's edge. As I did 

 not intend that anything should slip my notice, I stopped to investigate. A 

 glance into the hole revealed the glossy-green back of a^Tree Swallow. A 

 slight rap on the post failed to dislodge the bird, while more violent pound- 

 ing met with the same result. So, deciding to use force, I inserted my fingers 

 and to my surprise, drew out a dead bird. The bird appeared to have been 

 dead about one week, as it had just started to decompose. 



My curiosity led me to again look into the hole, thinking that perhaps 

 the bird died laying an egg. But instead of eggs, I saw a sight similar to 

 the first, and drew out another dead Tree Swallow. This bird had been 

 dead longer than the first and had reached a high state of decay. 



The.se operations were repeated until I had withdrawn three more 

 birds, making a total of five dead Tree Swallows taken from the hole. Each 

 bird appeared to have been dead longer than the preceding one. w-hile the 

 last one was merely a dried skeleton with feathers adhering to the back. 

 The only reason I can assign for this curious circumstance is that the birds 

 sought shelter in the hole from the severe cold snaps which we had this 

 spring. However, if this be the case, they must have taken refuge there at 

 diflFerent intervals which would account for the various stages of decay. 



Detroit, Mich. J. Wilrur Kav. 



