8 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. iS-No. I 



Qn the afternoon of May 3otli I visited 

 the Srst nest spoken of. It contained five 

 eggs of the Warbler that were cold,whicIi 

 led me \d believe the female would have 

 laid at least one more ; but as the nest was 

 placed in a\unch of grass and the cows 

 had been traniping very close to it, I was 

 afraid to leave i^^nother day, and thinking 

 a bird in hand waSv worth two in the bush 

 I packed the eggs V my box and started 

 for my home feeling w^ll paid for my trip, 

 bringing home one set d{, seven, one of six, 

 one of five, and receiving the other three 

 sets of five in good conditiofi when the sets 

 were completed. \ 



On Sunday, June 1 3th, myself and friend 

 went over the same ground and ibund the 

 second nest of the pair from whic'fa I took 

 the seven eggs. It was placed in a\)unch 

 of tall grass about 200 feet from the site of 

 the first one and contained four eggs ; 'in- 

 cubation commenced. About 300 yards^ 

 from this nest we found one containing four 

 eggs that we overlooked on the 29th of 

 May ; incubation was far advanced. OiV 

 our homeward trip we found the secot^d 

 nest of the last pair we found on the 2,^th 

 about 50 feet from the old site, contaiihing 

 four eggs ; incubation commenced. ,/l do 

 not believe in robbing a pair of b^rds of 

 their eggs the second time; my ,£)bject in 

 going after them this time was |b find out 

 what their second clutch would'consist of. 

 I did it once before and never found but 

 four eggs, and by this I am ^ed to believe 

 that they rarely, if ever, lay/more. I hope 

 to spend several more plAsant days look- 

 ing after them the coming season. 



I would be pleased ^rto have other col- 

 lectors give their experience with this spe- 

 cies. To my mind, it is one of the most 

 interesting of the Warbler family. 



p, ., , , , • * ^ei-f. 

 Philadelphia. 



R. H. Carr reported a Scarlet Tanager 

 taken at Brockton, Mass., on November 

 II, 1S92. 



A Comparison of the Nesting l4ab- 

 its of the Long-billed and ^hort- 

 billed Marsh Wren. / 



The Short-billed Marsh W/en ( C/sM- 

 horus stellaris) seems to ^ confined to 

 certain sections for the nesting season. I 

 know of but two places ^here they are to 

 be found in numbers, aftd as these places 

 are somewhat under thirty miles from my 

 present residence, afid, so far as I know, 

 but one other oologist besides my brother 

 and myself know/about them, the birds are 

 disturbed very/ittle and consequently con- 

 gregate in considerable numbers every 

 year. The/Long-bills ( C. faltistris') are 

 common j^fmost anywhere. 



The ^lort-billed usually has the first 

 nest conhpleted and eggs laid by the last of 

 May And the Long-bills about a week 

 latei/; as at that time of the year the grass 

 is Slot very long, the nest is often built so 

 tat it almost touches the hummock from 

 ■hich the supporting grass grows, but I 

 have never seen them actually on or in the 

 humfnock. As a rule it is built some dis- 

 tance n^pm the ground, and one, containing 

 seven eggs, was built in the top of the 

 bunch of tihe grass — the tops of the live 

 grass beingN^oven in and forming part of 

 the nest. 



I have noticed that while both species 

 build in wet meadows (in this case fresh- 

 water meadows) the Long-bills invariably 

 build in the tall ranlk grass and near some 

 river or brook, whilfei the Short-bills are 

 equally particular in \hoosing a shorter 

 and much less rank kina\,of grass. When 

 the first set is laid, the gi^ss all over the 

 meadows is rather shortXand not very 

 rank, so that the nests mayXbe anywhere 

 and it is nothing but pure ludk; when one 

 is found ; but later in the season, when 

 most of the grass is long and Vank, the 

 Long-bills stay wherever they hstppen to 

 be, while those of the other specie^ come 

 from all parts of the meadows, and, con- 



S 



ORNITI-; 



On the afternoon of May 30tb I visited 

 the first nest spoken of. It contained five 

 eggs of the Warbler that were cold, which 

 led me to believe the female would have . 

 laid at least one more ; but as the nest was 

 placed in a bunch of grass and the cows 

 had been tramping very close to it, I was 

 afraid to leave it another day, and thinking 

 a. bird in hand was worth two in the bush 

 I packed the eggs in my box and started 

 for my home feeling well paid for my trip, 

 bringing home one set of seven, one of six, 

 one of five, and receiving the other three 

 sets of five in good condition when the sets 

 were completed. 



On Sunday, June 12th, myself and friend 

 went over the same ground and found the 

 second nest of the pair from which I took 

 the seven eggs. It was placed in a bunch 

 of tall grass about 200 feet from the site of 

 the first one and contained four eggs ; in- 

 cubation commenced. About 300 yards! 

 from this nest we found one containing four 

 eggs that we overlooked on the 29th of' 

 May; incubation was far advanced. On j 

 our homeward trip we found the second ■. 

 nest of the last pair we found on the 38th , 

 about cjo feet from the old site, containing 

 four eggs ; incubation commenced. I do 

 not believe in robbing a pair of birds of 

 their eggs the second time; my object in 

 going after them this time was to find out 

 what their second clutch would consist of. 

 I did it once before and never found but 

 four eggs, and by this I am led to believe 

 that they rarely, if ever, lay more. I hope 

 to spend several more pleasant days look- 

 ing after them the coming season. | 



I would be pleased to have other col- 

 lectors give their experience with this spe- 

 cies. To ray mind it is one of the most 

 interesting of the Warbler family. 



Isaac S. Reif. 

 Phil^Qle^ ^ay^^ a ^ jaxx.l o>^3 p.e-sj 



