Auk, XIV, Oct. ,1897. p;3-v«S-f. 
Peculiar Nesting of the Maryland Yellow-throat. — While collecting 
in a large slough in Jackson County, Minnesota, on June 9, 1S97, amid 
the green rushes where Long- and Short-billed Marsh Wrens were breed- 
ing, I ran across a pair of Yellow-throats ( Geothlypis trichas) in some 
high rushes in about four feet of water, and upon investigating I found 
the nest placed almost level with the water in a thick clump of cat-tails, 
over fifty feet from shore, and right in the midst of a colony of Marsh 
Wrens. The nest was constructed of the usual materials — leaves, bark, 
and grasses — lined with grape-vine bark and hair, and contained two 
fresh eggs. This is, I believe, the first recorded instance of the Yellow- 
throat breeding over water, and is indeed surprising, as the nests are 
usually to be found in dense woods far from water. — Walton I. White- 
hill, St. Paul, Minn. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Auk, XV, Jan., 1898, p./X 
Habits of the Maryland Yellow-throat. 
Elitors of ‘The Auk’: — 
Dear Sirs: — If the correspondence pages of ‘The Auk’ are open to 
minor matters of this kind, I should like to ask if the note on 1 Peculiar 
Nesting of the Maryland Yellow-throat’ by Mr. Walton I. Whitehill 1 in 
the October issue of 1897 makes a correct statement in regard to the 
Maryland Yellow-throats of Minnesota when it says “the nests are usually 
to be found in dense woods far front water.” This is certainly diametri- 
cally opposite to the habits of this bird in the eastern part of its range, 
for here in New England I am sure that all observers will bear me out in 
saying that Geothlypis trichas is very rarely and perhaps never found 
breeding at any distance from w'ater. 
Yours very truly, 
Francis H. Allen. 
W r est R ox bury, Mass. 
Odd Nesting of Maryland Yellow-throat. — On June 15 of the 
present year a friend of mine sent for me to come to his house and 
look at a nest which was built in a shoe, and also to identify the birds. 
Upon arriving there I was surprised to see Geothlypis trichas nesting 
in a shoe. The locality chosen was near a back entrance to a house 
situated on the main street of our town. A pair of shoes, which were 
the property of my friend, were placed outside of the door on the under 
pinning which projected out from the side of the house about two feet. 
One day he had occasion to wear them and went out and brought 
them into the house; as he was about to put them on, he discovered 
something in one of them, and upon examination found it to be a nest. 
The other shoe contained a few dry grasses and other fine material, 
but for some reason the bird gave up the idea of building in that, and 
took up housekeeping in shoe No. 2. My friend immediately put the 
pair of shoes back, thinking that she would return, and upon glancing 
into the shoe the next day was surprised to see that it contained an egg. 
She continued laying until she had deposited five. The next day after 
the fifth egg was laid a dog came around near the back door and caught 
sight of the bird in the shoe and made a dash for her, the bird escap- 
ing, but breaking three of the eggs. 
The shoe, nest, and two eggs are in my collection. The nest was com- 
posed of dry grasses and fine moss and lined with horse hair. — Arthur 
William Brockway, Old Lyme, C 0 »»Auk, XVI, Oct., 1899, pjo . 36 />-/. 
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