Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club. 



47 



the ditch and down to the water's edge. 

 This was kept up for some time, the bird 

 giving occasional notes, and as frequently 

 jerking her tail. I had an excellent oppor- 

 tunity to identify her, for at one time she 

 was less than five feet from me. 



I had, up to this time, believed the birds 

 to be motacilla, but the type was different 

 from any motacilla that I had seen. The 

 rich yellow of the under parts and the 

 heavily marked breast, assured me the 

 bird was noveboracensis. 



The bird having gone up the bank a few 

 feet above from where I stood (probably 

 15 ft.) and not appearing, I walked up to 

 opposite from where I last saw her. I 

 here detected her sitting upon her nest, 

 the head alone being in evidence. The 

 nest was well concealed among the roots 

 growing out from sides of the ditch. It 

 was made of grasses and rootlets, on a 

 foundation of leaves, and was lined with 

 grasses. It contained three eggs of the 

 Thrush and one egg of the Cow bird. One 

 egg of the Thrush had been ejected from 

 the nest, probably the work of the Cow- 

 bird. The eggs were incubated. 



On May 30th the birds had nested again. 

 This nest was built of the same material 

 as the first, and was built from roots 

 extending out from the bank, probably 

 two hundred feet (from memory) down 

 the stream from the former nest. This 

 nest contained six egos. The e^gs were a 

 rich, dark salmon color, with various 

 shades of brown and lilac markings, clust- 

 ered at the large end and almost hiding 

 the ground color. The eggs turn yellowish 

 white upon being blown. 



The woods in which these birds have 

 made their home, are, for the most part, 

 open, with occasional thickets. It is 

 grown up with beech, maple, oak, and a 

 few sycamores. The ground is low, but 

 not marshy, except for several low tracts. 

 In the direct neighborhood of the nests 

 the ground is the highest, but the birds 

 were usually found in the low ground 

 while feeding. The w^oods comprise six 

 or seven acres. 



The Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius 

 parasiticus) in Michigan. 



During November a good specimen of 

 the Parasitic Jaeger w r as added to the bird 

 collection of the Museum of the State 



Agricultural College, and, so far as I have 

 been able to ascertain, this furnishes the 

 first authentic record for the state. The 

 bird was obtained from Mr. Robt. P. 

 Stark, and was killed at Otter Lake, 

 Lapeer County, September 28, 1897. Mr. 

 Stark writes: "It w r as swimming around 

 on the lake, and in the evening flew r up 

 onto a rye stack which stood beside the 

 lake, apparently to roost, so I got a man 

 to go out there with his gun and kill it 

 for me." 



The specimen is a young bird in the 

 dark phase of plumage. 



Walter B. Barrows. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 

 Dec. 14, 1897. 



Nesting of the Savannah Sparrow 

 in Ingham County. 



On June 21, 1897, while strolling over a 

 piece of low, uncultivated ground — a por- 

 tion of that wild region north of our college 

 known as Chandler's Marsh — I flushed a 

 smal 1 sparrow from before me. It fluttered 

 off through the grass feigning lameness and 

 giving me a good opportunity to identify 

 it as the Savannah Sparrow (Ammodramus 

 sandwichensts savanna.) 



On looking beneath a thistle near my 

 feet, I found its nest, which was placed in 

 .a hollow in the ground, w T ith the top of 

 nest just level w T ith the surface of the 

 ground. I was too late for eggs, but 

 found three young birds. 



This species w T as very common on 

 Chandler's Marsh all through the breeding 

 season, from early in May till late in June. 

 Although I found but one nest, I am sure 

 they bred in abundance. 



From what notes I can obtain regarding 

 this species in Michigan, it seem apparent 

 that it does not breed generally in our 

 state, as records of nests being found in 

 Michigan are very rare. However, I have 

 no doubt but that these birds breed in a 

 few localities throughout our state, as 

 they did at Chandler's Marsh this last 

 season. 



T. L. Hankinson. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



Albino Kingbird. 



At the meeting of the M. A. C. Natural 

 History Society Oct. 15, 1897, Prof. W. 



