180 



General Notes. 



A letter by tlio writer of tlie above to a friend continues the history as 

 follows : — 



"I have postponed my visit to for a few days; and for a 



reason which perhaps no one but an ornithologist would be likely to ap- 

 preciate. 1 am detained by a Robin, and though its visits are paid at a 

 neighbor's window, still 1 am fascinated. Its first three dayx' vi^it is de- 

 scribed as accurately as my mother tongue would tnable me to do in the 

 enclosed paragraph published in our dady of yesterday. It still persists. 

 The shade was left up last night, and when I awoke this moriiing, soon 

 after daybreak, it was knocking loudly at the chosen window. Our home 

 is quite near, and when my window, which is nearly opposite, is open, I 

 hear it very plainly. ]t continued with but slight interruptions until about 

 eight o'clock, when the lady of the house opened the window. ]t then 

 tlew down, but even now it is hopping about in the grass near by as though 

 watching for the window to close. 1 have never made ornithology a study, 

 but this seems to me a very uncommon proceeding. ]f you know any 

 ornithologist to whom you think it woidd be interesting, please impart." 

 Later information stati-s that the same proceedings continued until the 

 writer of the above left town, — nine days in all ; but that on the ninth 

 day the tappings were more feeble, and were not continued later than 

 7 A. M., after which time the bird was not seen that day. 



As tliese sheets are passing through the press, a male Yellow Warbler 

 (Dendroeca centira) is behaving in a quite similar manner at my own house. 

 For several weeks the bird has been in the habit of frequently visiting a 

 grape-vine trellis in front of a window of the dining-room, from which he 

 has been accustomed to sing, wholly undisturbed by the people or the 

 proceedings within the room. Although the trellis has been a favorite 

 resort for the bird, his behavior was not especially noteworthy till June 7, 

 when he began to persistently fly against the window-panes, often striking 

 them with oonsidt- rable violence. 



The trellis stands about eighteen inches from the window, and the 

 portion immtdiately in front of it is nearly bare, and consists of two hori- 

 zontal bars, about three feet ajjart. These form his perch, from which he 

 usually makes his dive at the window. Immediately in front of the win- 

 dow is an open field with a group of five large apple-trees, all within 

 twenty to fifty feet of the house. These, with the trellis and portions of 

 the grape-vine it supports are vividly mirrored in the window, as well as 

 the general landscape, and of course the bird himself whenever he visits 

 the trellis. But his own reflection does not seem to be the point of 

 attraction, as he usually strikes the pane two or three feet above the point 

 opposite his perch, but sometimes dives down from the upper bar of the 

 trellis to the lower panes of the window. Occasionally he flies directly 

 from the apple-trees against the window, but generally first alights on the 

 bars of the treUis. For several days his visits have begun with early day- 

 break, and have been continued throughout the day till after sunset, he 



General Notes. 



181 



rarely leaving the window for more than a few minutes at a time. He 

 sinas almost" constantly. I have seen him strike the window-panes as 

 many as ten times in a minute, barely pausing on the trellis between 

 each plunge long enough to utter with much energy his shrill little song. 

 These proTCedings he will sometimes repeat for several minutes, then fly 

 to the trees and return again a minute or two later, usually with a canker- 

 worm in his beak obtained from the apple-trees. This he usually bruises 

 on the trellis-bar and swallows at once before diving at the window, but 

 not unfrequently makes several plunges at the wiudow with the worm^ in 

 his beak. „ He strikes the window-pane with such force that the clicking 

 of his bill an<l feet against the glass may be heard to a considerable dis- 

 tance. He usually strikes the large pane a foot or two from the top, 

 fluttering upward to the top, when he returns to his perch. The upper 

 panes receive the chief part of his attention, but he not unfrequently 

 descends to the lower ones, which he follows upvvar.l in the same manner 

 to the top of the lower sash. He takes little notice of people standing 

 quietly before the window, and will often strike the pane within six 

 inches of the observer's face. , 



If the upper sash be lowered a few inches he will often, after flying 

 ao-ainst the glass, perch on the top of the open window, peer into the room, 

 utter his sono-. hop to the trellis, and immediately repeat the operation. 1 

 once drew the upper sash half-way down, so as to give him free access to 

 the room. At first he would strike the glass as usual, and then perch on 

 the sash. I left the room for an hour, and on returning found him a 

 prisoner between the sashes, he having evidently in the mean time entered 

 the room, and in trying to make his exit had fluttered down between the 

 sashes, where he had obviously been struggling for some minutes. I freed 

 him, and presumed that this experience would serve to cure him of his 

 strange infatuation for the window. This was on the evening of the first 

 day, but he returned early the next morning to the window, flying against 

 it with unabated persistency. This has continued for three days, and 

 the window seems to have lost none of its charm for him. 



In other respects he seems a perfectly sane bird ; he has a mate and a 

 nest in one of the neighboring apple-trees, and when it is approached he 

 leaves the window and flies about the intruder with manifestations of ex- 

 treme solicitude. He is also quite vigilant in driving away other small 

 birds that venture too near his home. Whether he m-stakes his own 

 reflection in the window for a rival, or what the charm is, is not obvious, 

 as his behavior in all other respects is apparently entirely natural. As al- 

 ready stated, he almost invariably strikes the window-pane at a point 

 either considerably above or below his perch on the trellis, so that evi- 

 dently he does not aim at his own reflection in the window. — J. A. 

 Alles, Camhridge, Ma^s. 



P. S. — His visits to the window became less frequent on the fourth day, 

 but were continued wifh considerable frequency for about ten or twelve 



