78 
ORNITHOLOGIST [Yol. 6-No. 10. 
Worm-eating Warbler. 
The first H£lniinthotherus vermivorus ob¬ 
served this spring was at Wheatland, In¬ 
diana, April 24th. It was in company with 
a Blue-winged Yellow, both deliberately 
searching the bushes near the ground. 
Being out for a stroll, without a gun, I 
watched them quite a time. This species 
is not gaudy, yet, like the Cedar-bird, the 
delicacy and the blending of its colors 
rank it high as a beautiful warbler. During 
the week I secured three, and saw no more 
until I visited Mount Carmel, about a 
month later. I not unfrequently heard its 
song while in heavily-wooded, rolling coun¬ 
try. This is similar to that of a Chipping 
Sparrow, but not so continued. They in¬ 
variably became quiet before I could see 
them, and I was unable to catch them in 
the act. On account of their scarcity I al¬ 
most despaired of finding a nest, but on 
asking a friend to show me a nest he had 
discovered the day before, said it was at the 
top of a ravine; he didn’t know exactly 
where. I had walked but a few steps after 
reaching the top when from beneath my feet 
went the bird. I recognized it immediately 
and watched it to the bushes, and then 
looked to see what was in store for me. 
The nest was nicely placed in a nook of 
quite a steep bank, and made of old black¬ 
ish, partly rotten leaves, apparently as poor 
as the bird could find, and very sparingly 
lined with grass and a few hairs. Consid¬ 
ering the material the nest was not bulky, 
though large for the bird inside. The two 
eggs were slightly incubated and in appear¬ 
ance about like minimum Golden-crowned 
Thrush’s, but marked with a darker shade 
of brown, rather more profuse at the larger 
end. — Fred. T. Jencks, Fraiddence, R. I. 
Rough-winged Swai.i.ow. — In the 
spring of 1879 I found a Rough-winged 
.Swallow’s nest not far from heie which con¬ 
tained eleven eggs, all of which had evi¬ 
dently been lately laid. I have never 
known this bird to lay over six eggs except 
in this one instance.— IVm. R. IV/iarton. 
Native Birds in Confinement. 
• 
I have during the last few years made * 
some experiments with our native birds, and 
have caged and kept in captivity the follow- 
ing; all have done well and some have be 
come very tame and fearless. The snow 
bird {J^unco hyemalis) lives and thrives even 
through the long hot summer. My snow 
bunting {Plectrophanes nivalis) sickened 
when the July heat came and soon died, 
but he lived happily with me from Novem¬ 
ber to July. 
Catbird, Robin, Bobolink, Common 
Redpoll {Aegiothus linaria). Cedar-bird, 
Snosv-bird, Snow Bunting, Brown Thrash¬ 
er, Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bird, Purple 
Finch, Crow Blackbird, Cow Blackbird. 
Bluebird, Balt Oriole, Fox Sparrow, Swamp 
Sparrow, (’nipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, 
White-throated Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, 
Field Sparrow, Savanna Sparrow, Goldfinch 
and Shore Lark. 
The last named bird has been in my 
aviary but a few weeks.— Annie Trumbull 
Slosson, Hartford, Conn. 
Red-headed Woodpeckers. 
In the November number of your valua¬ 
ble journal is a notice from J. N. Clark, of 
Saybrook, respecting the Red-headed 
Woodpecker {Afelanerfes eryihrocepltalus.) 
Forty years ago they were about as common 
as the Yellow hammer {Colaptes auratus) in 
this part of the State. They entirely dis¬ 
appeared in 1847, and I did not see another 
specimen until i860. I was at that time 
visiting a patient in an adjoining town, and 
recognized the jieculiar note of this bird. I 
remarked that this was the first time in thir¬ 
teen years that I had heard the Red-he.aded 
Woodpecker. My jiatient informed me 
that this bird had nested in a decayed tree 
in his neighbor’s door-yard for three years. 
On my returning I discovered the bird and 
the hole in the maple. I called at the house 
and requested jiermission to secure the 
eggs, but could not get consent. I knew it 
was the habit of the bird to continue occu¬ 
pying the same nest after a part or nil of 
