346 General Noies. [^^* 



Auk, XIII, Oct., 1896, p. 



The Hudsonian Chickadee ( Pa rtis hudsoiii cus) , Red-breasted Nut- 

 hatch {Sitta canadensis), a.ni Golden-crowned Kinglet {Regulus satrapa) 

 in Plymouth County, Mass., in Sum mer. — While walking through some 

 dense old-growth pine woods {Pinus~strobiis and P. riffida,) on June 5, 

 1896, I was greeted \>y the snarl c/iee-de-e-e-e-e-ak ot a Hudson Bay Tit- 

 mouse. In a few moments the bird, which was apparently alone, alighted 

 within a few feet of me on a dead pine, and spent some time in exploring 

 the cavities of a broken limb, from which he drew several lively white 

 larvas, one of them so large that it was swallowed with seeming ditliculty 

 but evident relish. The characteristic note was frequently uttered while 

 feeding, but was sometimes shortened to dee-e-e-e-yah. The bird then 

 flew to a high pitch pine, and I did not see him again, though I heard him 

 several times. 



The woods in which I saw the Chickadee were only a few rods from a 

 large cedar swamp, said to be a couple of miles wide, which is seldom 

 visited except by lumbermen in winter ; and in many portions the original 

 growth of huge white cedars {Cupressus (kyoides) and hemlock {Abies 

 canadensis) has never been cut. In this old timber one seems to be in 

 northern Maine or New Hampshire, instead of in Massachusetts ;— the 

 subdued half twilight of the damp cool forest, with its rocks and fallen 

 trees, covered with a rich carpet of green moss and ferns might well tempt 

 this and other northern birds to make it their summer home. 



I saw nothing more of the Chickadee however; but throughout June 

 and July Brown Creepers {Certkia familiaris americana) were quite often 

 seen in the swamp ; the Hairy Woodpecker {Dryobates villosus) outnum- 

 bered the smaller Downy (Z>. fubescens) ; and at least two pairs of 

 Golden-crowned Kinglets {Regulus satrafa) spent the summer, newly 

 fledged young being noted during the first week in August. One, and I 

 think several, pairs of Red-breasted Nuthatches {SUta canadensis) evi- 

 dently nested here also, though I failed to find the nest; and fresh 'peck- 

 holes', as well as the local lumbermen, testified to the presence of the 

 Pileated Woodpecker {Ceophlceus pileatus) during the past year'.— Arthur 

 P. Chadbourne, M. D., Boston, Mass. 



' In Massachusetts, the Hudsonian Cliicliadee has been recorded only dur- 

 ing the winter and early spring. 



Although the Brown Creeper, "has been twice found nesting in eastern 

 Massachusetts and once at Springfield, its nfcrmal summer range is limited very 

 strictly to the Canadian fauna. It breeds regularly on Mt. Craylock in western 

 Massachusetts" (Brewster, in Minot's Birds of New England, second edition, 

 1895, p. 66). 



Jiegnlus satrapa has been found breeding " in the higher portions of Berk- 

 shire and Worcester Counties, Massachusetts. A single weh-authenticated 

 nest has been taken at Lynn, Massachusetts " (Brewster, loc. cit., p. 52). 



Sitta canadensis, like the Kinglet, breeds in " Berkshire and Worcester 

 Counties, Mass." (Brewster, loc. cit., p. 64). 



The Pileated Woodpecker is now so unusual in eastern Massachusetts as to 

 be almost a straggler. 



Hudsonian Chickadee about Boston, Mass. — Mr. M. C. Blake and I 

 have four records of the Hudsonian Chickadee [Parus hudsonicus) in the 

 vicinity of Boston in November, 1904, namely: Middlesex Fells, Virginia 

 Wood, November 4 ; Ipswich, Castle Hill, November 12; Belmont, No- 

 vember 25 ; and Waverley, Beaver Brook Reservation, November 25. In 

 each instance a single Hudsonian has been in the company of a flock of 

 Blackcaps in evergreen growth. In the case of the Ipswich bird he was 

 in closely growing young spruces and hardly above the level of the eye 

 and was very finely seen while he gave a sweet warbling song. The Bel- 

 mont bird was also well seen and gave a few notes of the warbling song. 

 In another flock of P. atricapilhis the distinctive calls of a second hicd- 

 sonicus were heard, and when we reached Waverley upon the same after- 

 noon a third kudsonictts was giving calls among a flock of atricapillus. 

 As it has not been my good fortune in previous autumns and winters to 

 meet with this species, it would appear that at least it is in more evidence 

 this season in the vicinity of Boston than for the last five years.— 



HORACE W. WRtOHX,^^... ieo5. p. ^7 



