442 
BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
Oaleoscoptes carolinensis. Catbird (305). There are always to be found over¬ 
staying catbirds in the valley of the Delaware. Am inclined to think the number 
of winter catbirds is increasing. Certainly it is not a mere freak and of no scientific 
import. 
dTarporhynchus ru/us. Brown Thrush (305, 306). Yearly a few “pioneer” 
thrushes are seen in March in the neighborhood of Bristol. 
SECTION 3. 
Western Pennsylvania Field Notes. 
From Observations in Beaver, Butler, Armstrong and Allegheny 
Counties. 
[The following extracts are taken from manuscript “Notes on the avifauna of 
Beaver, Butler and Armstrong counties,” prepared for use of the author, by Mr. W. 
E. Clyde Todd, Beaver, Beaver county, Penna. Numbers after common names 
refer to other pages in this book where additional information concerning the bird 
is given. ] 
Phalaropus lobatus. Northern Phalarope (76). Secured a bird of this species on 
“the 26th of September, 1890,” in Beaver county. 
Empidonax minimus. Least Flycatcher (197). “This bird is a tolerably com¬ 
mon breeder in Beaver, Butler and Armstrong counties. Its favorite nesting resorts 
are orchards of young trees, more rarely the margins of woods. A nest now before 
me, taken in an orchard in the town of Beaver on June 6, 1890, I note to be made of 
grasses, weed-stalks, other vegetable fibers, horsehair and bits of cloth, lined with 
horsehair and feathers. The structure was quite neat, and was saddled on a hori¬ 
zontal branch of an apple tree, abouttwelve feet Irom the ground. Eggs, four, white 
and unspotted, with just the lightest possible yellowish tint.” 
Octocoris alpestris praticola. Horned Lark (197, 198). June 10, 1889, I saw a 
pair of these birds in Butler, where doubtless they had bred or were breeding. 
Dolichonyx oryzivorus. Bobolink (205-208). A common breeder in Beaver, But¬ 
ler and Armstrong counties, nesting in meadows in June. 
Habia ludoviciana. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (246, 247). Common summer resi¬ 
dent in Beaver, Butler and Armstrong counties. “The nests are readily found, 
as the male, when not incubating, is always sure to be singing in the immediate 
vicinity. In Beaver county they nest to a great extent in orchards and other places 
near the habitations of men, but in Butler and Armstrong counties, where the 
country is wilder, they prefer to build in thick woodland, in which case a crotch of a 
slender sapling is generally chosen, making the nest usually difficult to secure. A 
large series of nests differ very little in their style and make-up, being composed 
merely of broken weed stalks lined with finer material of the same sort, and with a 
bottom often so thin that the eggs were easily counted from below. These are three 
or four in number, very rarely five, and vary much in character, even in the same 
set, what may be considered a typical egg, being of a rather light green color, 
spotted over with brownish-red, especially about the larger end. The ground color 
may vary either way, as may also the abundance and definite character of the 
markings.” 
Helmitherus vermivorus. Worm-eating Warbler (274, 275). “Three specimens 
were seen near Beaver, August 16, 1888, of which two were secured. No more were 
noticed in the county until May 28, 1890, when a nest was found in a patch of woods 
locally known as ‘Pine Grove.’ This nest was a rather flimsy affair, built on the 
