122 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 7-No. 16 
slightly larger than those of the Black- 
throated Sparrow—about two inches wide 
by three inches deep in the inside, so deep 
in fact that nothing but the tip of the tail 
of the bird is Wsible when setting. 
The first eggs of this species I found 
about June 14, 1872, although I believe 
these birds commence to breed about a 
month earlier, their nests having been jjre- 
viously overlooked by me. The number 
of eggs to a set is from four to five ; they 
are of a very delicate j^ale green color and 
unspotted, often very pointed at the smaller 
end, and the average measurement of 
twenty-six specimens now before me is 
0.76X0..57 inches. The largest egg in 
this lot measures 0.79x0.58 and the small¬ 
est 0.73x0.54 inches. 
The nest ajipears to be one of the most 
favored by the Dwarf Cowbird as the re¬ 
cipient of its eggs, about one-half of the 
nests found containing one or more of the 
parasitic eggs. In a number of instances 
where I found such parasitic eggs with 
those of the rightful owner of the nest 
one or more of the latter’s eggs were found 
to have the shell minutely punctured in 
one or more places. I presume this injury 
would prevent these eggs from hatching, 
and I firmly believe it was done by the 
Cowbirds for this very purpose, as among 
more than fifty of the latter’s eggs taken 
by me during the same season I cannot 
recall or find a single one that was so 
punctured. I believe this to be a fact not 
heretofore noticed by oologists; at any 
rate I cannot find any such record in any 
of the ornithological works at present ac¬ 
cessible to me. 
Its song is according to my estimation 
rather weak and monotonous. During the 
breeding season the male makes frequent 
attempts at singing either while perched on 
the top of a low bush or while hovering a 
few feet in the air, generally in close prox¬ 
imity to the bush'in which'its nest is sit¬ 
uated. Its usual call note is a lisping 
“tzip,” “tzip.” frequently repeated. It 
spends a great deal of its time on the j, 
ground and seems to feed principally on 1( 
various kinds of small seeds. It seems to ji 
be sociable and gregarious at all times. I. 
In the Winter it is found in small flocks ]. 
among the Black-throated and Chipping 
SpaiTows, the various Finches and the 
White-winged Blackbirds. I believe these 
birds rear from two to three broods a year, 
as I have found fresh eggs as late as Sept. 
1, 1872. 
Rare Birds in Nova Scotia. 
The Arctic current flowing from Hud¬ 
sons and Baffins Bays, divided by New¬ 
foundland, part coming do\vn the Straits 
of Belle Isle and part by the eastern coast 
of Newfoundland, but uniting in one 
stream at the south, passes along the 
Nova Scotia shore. The circular storms 
commencing in the Gulf of Mexico or on 
the Florida shores, the circle gradually en¬ 
larging during their progress past the 
southeiTi shores of Nova Scotia on their 
way across the Atlantic. It is owing to 
these two causes that rare birds are found 
in Nova Scotia almost after every storm. 
The Arctic species, strictly pelagic, follow 
their prey along the current till they get 
far south. On meeting the circular storm, 
usually passing on their northeast and east 
circles, they fly west to avoid it, and come 
to this Prorince. Thus, after the storm, 
Oct 4, 1879, (called the Saxby storm, after 
his prediction), a pair of Pomarine Jaegers 
were seen in Digby Basin, one of which 
was shot. The broad band of clay-blue 
below the black leg and knee, mentioned 
by Audubon was very marked. In July, 
1881, Wm. S. Gilpin shot a Shearwater, or 
Puffinits 7na}or. This pelagic species, com¬ 
mon on the banks, had evidently been 
blown in. To these causes I attribute Mr. 
Downs obtaining in the year 1850, three 
specimens of the Labrador Duck, the last 
ones seen here ; nor have I seen any men¬ 
tion in any ])eri()dical of them since, though 
common in Wilson's time and known by 
