BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
449 
When breeding the old birds are easily approached, and can, according to the ex¬ 
perience of Mr. Pierce, sometimes be caught by hand when incubating, but soon as 
the young are able to fly and take care of themselves, these thrushes, both old and 
young, become so shy that the writer experienced much difficulty in approaching 
within gun-shot of them. The nest is composed externally of dried grasses, bits of 
moss and bark fibers, internally it is lined with fine rootlets and hair moss. The 
eggs, three or four in number, and a trifle smaller than those of the catbird, are a 
pale greenish-blue color, spotted, particularly about the larger end, with different 
shades of rusty brown. , 
Wood Ibis ( Tantalus loculator). 53.—“ In July, 1885, a flock of about half a dozen 
of these birds was observed near Uniontown, Fayette county, some seventy miles 
east of Pittsburgh. The event caused no little commotion among the local sports¬ 
men there, with the result of three being captured. They were brought to me to be 
mounted.”— William Shaw, Allegheny City. Mr. William J. Sherratt, of Philadel¬ 
phia, informs me that in the summer of 1888 he saw two of these birds, killed near 
Lewisburg, Union county, in the hands of a taxidermist, to whom they had been 
shipped in the flesh to be mounted. 
Double-crested Cormorant ( Phalacroeorax dilophus) . 28, 29.—A fine adult male 
of this species was captured in the latter part of November, 1890, in Lackawanna 
county, by Mr. Geo. P. Friant, of Scranton. In relation to another specimen of the 
same species, Mr. William Shaw, of Allegheny City, furnishes the following note: 
“In August, 1874, a fisherman brought me an adult male Cormorant, which he had 
shot, thinking it was a wild turkey. I recollect him saying ‘there were two of them 
sitting on a big rotten stump close by the river, and every few minutes one would 
make a dive down towards the water. I thought it queer for turkeys to act like 
that, so I went for my gun and got one.’ They were seen at a place called McKee’s 
Rocks, about three miles down the Ohio river from Pittsburgh. As far as I can 
learn they are the only birds of this species ever known to have visited this neigh¬ 
borhood.” 
Savanna Sparrow ( Ammodramus sandivichensis savanna) . 234.—Adults, both 
sexes of this species, were taken by Prof. August Koch and the author during the 
past summer (1891) near the city of Williamsport, Lycoming county. Prof. Koch 
assures me this bird is a regular yet not common summer resident in the fertile 
fields about Williamsport. Mr. S. Edward Paschall, of Doylestown, is quite certain 
tfiat the Savanna Sparrow is a regular breeder in Bucks county. 
Pine Warbler (Dendroica vigorsii). 291. 292.—Prof. A. Koch and myself found 
this warbler to be quite common throughout the past summer (1891) in the hemlock 
and pine trees on Bald Eagle mountains, south of Williamsport. The species breeds 
also in McKean county, near Kane. 
During the winter of 1890-1 Snowy Owls ( Nyctea nyctea ) were much more numer¬ 
ous than they usually are in Pennsylvania. From November the 15th to March 
10th, inclusive, thirty-two of these birds were, from reports received by the writer, 
taken in the state. Some naturalists assert that the Snowy Owl is a skillful fisher¬ 
man. The remains of a large sucker and a catfish were found in the stomach of a 
female Snowy Owl taken in December, 1890, in Dauphin county. 
Bewick’s W T ren (Thryothorus bewickii ). 309.—July 23, 1891, Prof. August 
Koch killed five of these birds, two adults and three young, the latter undoubtedly 
had been raised in the immediate neighborhood of Williamsport where they were 
captured. This wren has been observed in the eastern, northern and central por¬ 
tions of Pennsylvania as a rare and irregular summer sojourner, but in some of the 
southwestern counties of the state it occurs, according to reports received from dif¬ 
ferent observers, as a regular but not common summer resident. 
Prairie Horned Lark ( Otocoris alpestris pralicola). 198.—In the early part 
of June, 1891, Prof. August Koch and the writer captured several of these larks, 
adults and young, one of the latter but a few days old, in acorn patch and wheatfield 
near the city Williamsport, Lycoming county. Dr. L. W. Hartman, of Pittston, 
29 Birds. 
