The Worm-eating Warbler in Ontario On the morning of May 28, 1908, I took a male Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorus) in a maple woods with a chestnut ridge, about three miles west of London, Ont. My attention was attracted by what seemed to be the notes-of-a Chipping Sparrow, delivered very rapidly but with a tone a trifle more musical than is the case with the sparrow. After some search we found him sitting still about fifty feet up, and with a glass I could see a warbler’s bill and could tell that it was flesh-colored, although the light was too poor to show anything more. A lucky shot brought him down and I had the pleasure of picking up the first Worm-eating Warbler recorded for Canada. In thinking the matter over 1 remembered having heard a similar, ‘but not identical, song about a week before, ten miles further west, but was unable even to see the author of the note, and since then I have been told that this warbler was accurately described by a boy living not far from where mine was taken, so that it is possible more than one have been about, Three or four years ago Prairie Warblers were reported and taken in several places throughout the Province where they had not been seen before, and it is possible that this year may see an occurrence of Worm-eating Warblers which will parallel that of the other species.— | W.E. Saunpers, London, Ont. Auk 25.July-1908 De 3/7 j CAPTURE OF THE WoRM-EATING WARBLER IN MASSACHUSETTS.—On September 19, 1881, I shot in some low moist woods in Cambridge, a fine female Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitherus vermivorus). This is the first capture of this bird in Massachusetts. The only previous note of its occurrence in this State on record is that of Mr. W. A. Stearns, who says he saw one at Easthampton, Mass. (see New England Bird Life, p. 111).—Henry M. SPELMAN, Cambridse, Mass. Bull. N.0.0, 6,Oct, 1881, p, <4G vie wait \U wren = mi: apuremsls of STs fod ully pwcimn woe ve the codiuts/ Me are ae : a el Some Birds of Rare or Accidental Oc- curfence in New Hngland. H. A. Purdie 2.. Helmitherus vermivorus. Worm-raTing WARBLER. — Mr, Shores shot a male at Suffield (Hartford County), Conn., August 22, 1874. This is, I think, its most northerly record in the heleitie States yet noted. Bull, N.O.0, 2, Jan., 1877. p. 21 Tar WormM-EaATInG WARBLER (Helmintherus vermivorus) BREEDING in SouTHERN Connecticur. — June 10, 1879, Mr. W. R. Nichols found a nest of this species on the side of a ridge sloping toward the east. into Lake Saltonstall, near New Haven. The nest resembled those already described, and contained four young and one egg. It was identified by the capture of the sitting bird. This is, I believe, the first known instance of its nesting in Connecticut, While collecting with Mr. Nichols, June 16, 1879, in the same section of country, we saw a pair of these birds which must have nested there, although we were unable to find the nest. — Grorce Wootsry, New Haven, Conn. Bull, N,O.0, 5,April, 1880, p, //6 . Nesting of the Worm-eating Warbler (Helminthotherus vermivorus) in Southern Connecticut.— One of our most trustworthy collectors, Mr. Harry W. Flint, formerly of Deep River, but now of New Haven, Conn., took a nest of this rare species at New Haven, June 7, 1885, containing five eggs. He writes that ‘‘the nest was on the ground, and composed almost wholly of leaves, and lined with red rootlets; it was not roofed over, but the leaves of the Kalmia, near the roots of which it was placed, almost hid it from sight. Indeed, it was so clearly hidden that when I took my eyes off it to follow the bird, it required fully a minute to find the nest again, although I had not moved.” It was on a hill-side, in a very secluded and dark spot in deep woods. The nesting of this species at New Haven was noticed by Mr. George Woolsey in‘ Bulletin N. O. C.,’ Vol. V, p. 116. —JNo- H. Sacre, Portland, Conn. Ank, 2; July, 1 1886, yn GOS Feneral Netos ene N pda ae atin grancorgis Pe tae ce, \edpeteetl, boris: The’ Worm- eating VO is a regular summer resident; I have found them in about every swampy or partly inundated wood, especially if with arank growth of skunk cabbage. Twenty-five miles inland in the valleys I have also found them rather common, and breeding in the same situa- tions and in kalmia thickets, generally not far from a brook or standing water. Auk X, Jan, 1893. ».90. ORE: sug Seth on Gn CCL eL wer, WARS Ae eo ee pet Lalso found a single male Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitherus vermivoyus) singing in the same locality on So 23, and Helmitherus verminopus) secured him on the 24th. Repurert Heber [fete pete eS , Oct., 1900, p 334, fucinecs Q Carolan Firsn tx racks om Valley. £0 Buchu . : AA ‘Riverdale, where, unless otherwise stated, the following observations were taken, the Carolinian Fauna is well represented by the regular occurrence of such characteristic species as Helmitherus vermivorus, Bull. N.O.0, 3,July,1878, pI FF: Eeclacer, 7 Carbirn. Famna o Maton Valley, fim PO Oy a Pur acke at Mweadlade 4. f - ES £2 che rr Helmitherus vermivorus. Worm-sAtiInag WARBLER. This species is not uncommon during the summer, usually arriving the second week in May (May 2, this year) ; and, in 1876, I knew of at least five pairs that reared their broods in the immediate vicinity. In the previous year I secured a nest with complement of five eggs, partially incubated on June 13, and have’ found young birds able to fly on the 27th of the same month. In very young birds, scarcely able to fly, the olive of the adult “is only apparent on the remiges, the remainder of the plumage being of a general brownish and deep buffy suffusion, very similar to the color of dead leaves, especially on the breast, and rendering their detection when among the leaves of their favorite haunts very difficult. Does not this adaptation of color to environment in the case of these helpless young appear to be an instance of protective mimicry ? Bull, N.0,0, 3,July, 1878, p./29 730. ie Arrivais of Mig’y Birds, Spring-1886, Central Park, N. ¥.City.A.G. Paine, Jr. May 13, Helmitherus vermivorus, (689). Worm- eating Warbler. 0.&0, XI, Aug.1 Dutcher, Rare Long Island Birds, Helmitherus vermivorus. Worm-EATING WARBLER.—Two specimens are in the collection, one presented by Mr. C. H. Baxter who secured it at Newtown, Long Island, and the other by Col. Pike who shot it in the Valley Grove Woods, now part of Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Mr. Akhburst states that during his active collecting he secured several of these Warblers from Kings and Queens Counties. Col. Pike states that he has not seen this bird for many years and always considered it rare on Long Island. Auk X,Juiy, 1898 p 276-7. Auk, XIV, Jan., 1897, p. /00. Reenels of law Bats rare on ows Vilas th Helmitherus vermivorus.— This Warbler is nota lover of Long Island’s woods. Reaching the northern line of his breeding range at about this latitude, and evidently following regularly a route which does not cross Long Island, his occurrence here is doubtless an exception. A specimen of the Worm-eating Warbler of the year was secured within the present limits of Brooklyn on Sept. 16. 1896. This bird was feeding in company with other Warblers in a low shrubby growth within the borders of a wood. — WILLIAM C. BRAISLIN, Brooklyn, N. Y. Descriptions of First Plumage of Cer- tain North Am, Bbs. Wm. Brewster, 23. Helmitherus vermivorus, " “First plumage. Remiges, rectrices, primary coverts, and alule as in the'adult. Rest of the plumage, including the whole back, lesser, mid- dle, and greater wing-coverts, buff, deeper below, more brownish on the back and base of the wing-coverts. Pileum with two badly defined stripes of grayish-brown, and a narrow streak of the same behind the eye. From | a specimen in Mr. Henshaw’s collection obtained near Washington in July, eS R. R. Bull, N.O,0, 3,Jan,,1878.p, £9. The Singing of Birds. E.P. Bicknell. Helminthotherus vermivorus. WorMm-EATING WARBLER. Commonly remains in song after its arrival until the second week of July. Sometimes singing ceases a little earlier than this ; _ again, in other years, songs are to be heard into the third week of the month. The second song-period of this Warbler I can speak of only from one season’s experience. On July 10, 1881, several of these birds were silently inhabiting a small tract of woodland, their first season of song having passed ; here, on August 14, and again on the 21st, they were found in fine plumage and in full song. _ The songs of no other three birds known to me are more alike | than those of the Worm-eating Warbler, the Chipping Sparrow, | and the Slate-colored Snowbird. Auk, I, July, 1884, p. 2/0, 110 ORNITHOLOGIST | Vol. 12-No. 7 Nesting of the Worm-eating Warbler. BY SAMUEL B, LA DD, WEST CHESTER, PENN. After having devoted all my spare time the past season to my favorite Helininthotherus vermi- vorus, Worm-eating Warbler, and having been even more successful than I had anticipated, I shall be glad and feel recompensed, if, in giv- ing my fellow collectors a few points, I can assist them in taking their eggs in the future. First, I found it a great help in tramping last fall over localities where these birds would be likely to breed, and noting places where old nests were found; the lining of the nests ren- dering their identity, as the birds when not dis- turbed would probably return to the same ground. Then I began looking for and watch- ing them this spring, (about May Ist, is early enough) and when I found them apparently satisfied with their position, and not moving | about uneasily in the tree tops, 1 was almost invariably right in my conjectures. ‘The pe- culiar trill of the male is of little assistance, but the chirp of the female often will be, after their full complement is laid, and lead you to their home. I have found eighteen nests con- taining eggs and six nests with young this sea- son, from May 24th to June 15th, inclusive. I have observed that these birds are not con- fined nevessarily to hill-sides, as was heretofore supposed, as I have taken three sets on level ground and in rather open places, with little | shade. ‘The experience of Mr. Thomas H. Jack- son of this place, who has taken ten nests this year, corroborates this fact. I have found that without exception their nests are lined with Polyirichian or hair-moss. Sometimes tine grass and horse-hair are used as part of the lining. ‘The body or outside of the nests are composed of leaves only, and they were placed at the foot of either a sapling or small bush on the ground. The eggs make a beautiful series, owing to their variation in markings, size and shape; some being very faintly marked with light red- dish spots, mostly around the larger end, while some are very heavily blotched with lavender orarich chestnut. he size ranges from .75 to .62 in length by .58 to .50 of an inch in width. Their shape yaries from equal ended to quite pointed. ‘lhe most remarkable set I have taken was on June llth. After a hard and unsuccess- ful day’s tramp, I heard a female Worm-eater chirping in an unusual place, and merely walked that way from habit, as I did not ex- shelter. However, after sitting on a stump near the bird for some time, and not caring to haye her wake the neighborhood with her cries, as she did not seem to be inclined to lead me to her nest, I hunted the ground pretty thorough- ly, and soon found the nest in an open space where one would scarcely think it worth the time to look. It contained a young Cowbird nearly full fledged, also a Cowbird’s egg, which contained a partly formed but decaying embryo, with five eggs of the Worm-eating Warbler, which might well be called a dwarf set. hey are perfect in their shape and in their colora- tion and size of markings; in fact, perfect, ex- cept that they contained no yolk. Their meas- urements were respectively, .46x .36; .46 x .36; pect to find their nest in a spot with so little A5x 37; 42x .36, and 42x36. One wanld naturglhy wandou he--- = & . * Brief Notes. ie, Nustinc or THE WorM-EATING WARBLER, (Helininthotherus vermivorus,) IN Cumster Co, Pa.—Though by no means a common resident with us, the Worm-eating Warbler is frequently met with in favorable localities. It frequents the most solitary parts of the woods, making but little | noise that would attract the attention of passers by, and might easily be overlooked. In such localities the nest may be looked for. Three of them found by the writer, two several years since and one on June 9th the present Sum- mer (1885), were all located almost precisely alike, and all within a radius of a quarter of a mile. They were situated on steep, wooded hillsides, sunk into the ground, and so overhung and con- cealed by dry leaves as to make it impossible to detect them without the birds betraying the pres- ence of the nest. The nest found the present season contained five eggs of the Warbler, and one Cowbird's, all well advanced in incubation. The birds evinced great uneasiness at my presence, coming to with- in a few fect, and offering a good opportunity for identification without my being compelled to shoot them. The nest outwardly is constructed of dry leaves, noticeably those of the Beech, very loosely put together, then fine rootlets and stems, and finally the inside lining is made of the fine flower stalks of the Hair Moss—Polytrichium. This last peculiarity existed in all three of the nests, and would, I think, alone be sufficient to identify the species. I would like to know the experience of other collectors with regard to this circumstance. The eggs, five in number, are of a clear glossy white ground, spotted more abundantly toward the greater end with varying shades of brown, similar in size and shape to those of the Pro- thonotary Warbler, (Protonotaria citrea).— Thomas H. Jackson, West Chester, Pa. 0.80, X,Nov.1885.p. 17 110 ORNITHOLOGIST j Vol. 12-No. 7 - Nesting of the Worm-eating Warbler. BY SAMUEL B. LADD, WEST CHE: PER, PENN. After having devoted all my spare time the past season to my favorite Helminthotherus vermi- vorus, Worm-eating Warbler, and haying been even more successful than I had anticipated, I shall be glad and feel recompensed, if, in giv- ing my fellow collectors a few points, I can assist them in taking their eggs in the future. First, I found it a great help in tramping last fall over localities where these birds would be likely to breed, and noting places where old nests were found; the lining of the nests ren- dering their identity, as the birds when not dis- turbed would probably retarn to the same ground. Then I began looking for and watch- ing them this spring, (about May Ist, is early enough) and when I found them apparently Satisfied with their position, and not moving about uneasily in the tree tops, 1 was almost invariably right in my conjectures. The pe- culiar trill of the male is of little assistance, but the chirp of the female often will be, after their full complement is laid, and lead you to their home. I have found eighteen nests con- taining eggs and six nests with young this sea- son, from May 24th to June 15th, inclusive. J have observed that these birds are not con- fined necessarily to hill-sides, as was heretofore supposed, as I have taken three sets on level ground and in rather open places, with little shelter. Ilowever, after sitting on a stump near the bird for some time, and not caring to have her wake the neighborhood with her cries, as she did not seem to be inclined to lead me to her nest, I hunted the ground pretty thorough- ly, and soon found the nest in an open space where one would scarcely think it worth the time to look. It contained a young Cowbird nearly full fledged, also a Cowbird’s egg, which contained a partly formed but decaying embryo, with five eggs of the Worm-eating Warbler, which might well be called a dwarf set. They are perfect in their shape and in their colora- tion and size of markings; in fact, perfect, ex- cept that they contained no yolk. Their meas- urements were respectively, .46x 36; 46 x 3635 45x37; 42x .36, and 42x36. One would naturally wonder how so large a Cowbird could stay in this nest without break- ing these eggs, but their shells were as thick as the average Worm-eater. ‘The skin of the young Cowbird is now before me; it measures in Jength 5 3-4in. Extent 6 1-in. It was remarkable how tenaciously this little female fought in defense of the miserable young Cowhbird. She would actually light on my back, flap her wings and snap her beak while I was taking possession of her little fosterling and nest of curios. Regarding the number of eggs laid by the Worm-eating Warbler, my 1887 series reads as follows: three sets of six each, ten sets of five each, and five sets of four each. O.&0, XTi. Juolyige7y7 p. //o shade. ‘The experience of Mr. Thomas H. Jack- | b son of this place, who has taken ten nests this year, corroborates this fact. I have found that without exception their nests are lined with Polytrichian or Nhair-moss. Sometimes fine grass and horse-hair are used as part of the lining. ‘The body or outside of the nests are composed of leaves only, and they were placed at the foot of either a sapling or small bush on the ground. The eggs make a beautiful series, owing to their variation in markings, size and shape; some being very faintly marked with light red- dish spots, mostly around the larger end, while some are very heavily blotched with lavender or arich chestnut. ‘he size ranges from .75 to .62 in length by .58 to .50 of an inch in width. Their shape varies from equal ended to quite pointed. ‘lhe most remarkable set [have taken was on June llth. After a hard and unsuccess- ful day’s tramp, I heard a female Worm-eater chirping in an unusual place, and merely walked that way from habit, as I did not ex- pect to find their nest in a spot with so little qurod ovo mo1y SUIAOU puL ‘sn YJIM SuToJUrM syooy Av1Zs osoq} 0} SurAo ‘poxywuel orojaq oAvy OM sv ‘YSNOUITY ‘a10 AJUTA OP 98094) PTAA JO Syooy May V9vY} AJUIGII09 BO} OpnjoUOD ABUL OM SULOY] JOT -9]ddus p[noo aA YOTYA YIM SJ9yJO PUB SjOVy Vsoy] WAT “Apuny Jo Avg oy} wo asojo ‘AjUNOD 8,ouTy JaAO passed AJayW} FO YooTy @ “PSSl ‘eT ‘OOM 8B ozv] SU ‘UIRSy ‘“IOqIvY 9} 0} voURIZUO dy} Loy Burz99}s ‘Ajo xvsTLy] 19A0 passed asooH PILM JO YoU ve ‘avd A[LLoYJAOU FIs B YA fo19zZ MOTO oGT OF [oJ AoJoULOUL -1dY] oy} Woy ‘Aup JUoME[OUT Jsour B ‘gggT ‘eZ *oaq UO doORTd YOO} ‘1O}UTMA Ul Atay a800H PLM Jo oouvsvoedde oy} spied -a1 SB “IOAOMOY ‘OOUAIINIDO 9IqVYAVUA ysour ay, “A}JUNOD XBJYVIT ‘OGAVET afoD PUB UMOJOOUOIMVT WoOAJoq JSvOd OY} pojuonbodry AyUaM4 Jo Yoo e ‘6ST ‘Arvnave UT ‘UTesYy *UAOF 0} JySno1q pwe joys ouo puv ‘Ayunoo xvjyVy ‘toqavy diyg APISINO poAIOsqo SBA Yoo [[vurs v ‘Trey ‘Arwnaqay yo javd Ajavo oy} ur = *Aj1va os AouInol wey OU MEY} Uo oinjuaA 0} SIOJUTAA JV SuLinp ofqvytwUtor sea YOTYAd ‘oouoIMe eS PHU ATO PET es seye Aes Go Aree cies sate cme co antl nests, and would, I think, alone be sufficient to identify the species. I would like to know the experience of other collectors with regard to this circumstance. The eggs, five in number, are of a clear glossy white ground, spotted more abundantly toward the greater end with varying shades of brown, similar in size and shape to those of the Pro- thonotary Warbler, (Protonotaria eltrea),— Thomas IL, Jackson, West Chester, Pa. 0.& 0. KX, Nov.1885.p. /7¢ Oct. 1886.] AND OO 157 moss, entirely concealing the sticks used in build- ing. Eggs taken out of nest with small bag tied to the end of my fishing pole. Both birds show- ing fight.” Idid not wonder at the kites showing when I tried to blow the egg, as incubation was so far advanced that the young birds were nearly dry in the egg.. They would have hatched in the next three days. I-drilled a one-eighth inch hole in the eggs, and putting them in a box, hole downwards, I set the box on a bed of the “Texas Cutting Ant” and they finished the cleaning pro- cess during the next twenty-four hours. I have saved many sets of egos of hawks and owls in this manner, The set, as is usual, contained two eggs, meas- uring 1.85x1.47 and 1.79x1.43. Ground color was dirty white (probably stained,) and irregular- ly marked with spots and blotches of dull brown —in the smaller egg tending to form a ring around the smaller end. I have heard of a set of three being taken in the Colorado River bottoms, but can get no particulars. I have a record of thirteen nests having been found containing eggs or young, and in only one instance—a nest with three young—was there more than two eggs or young in the nest. Can it be that Audubon de- pended upon hearsay in stating that four to six was the number of eggs in a set? Very often the boys whom I employ to collect tell me that they have found nests of the Red-bellied Hawk with four or five eggs; those of the Turkey Buzzard with three to four eggs; and Swallow-tailed Kite with five eggs; but I notice when I require them to authenticate the sets taken for me, those large sets fail to appear. I have been making in quiries in other portions of the State about this species, and in a letter lately received from Mr. E. T. Dumble, Secretary of the Texas State Geo- logical and Scientific Society, he says: ‘ The Swallow-tailed Kite arrives here early in the spring, leaving late in the fall. Vo nest has been observed with more than two eggs.” The italics are mine, The Swallow-tailed Kite is an abundant sum- mer resident in Mr. Dumble’s locality, Houston, Texas, and everywhere else along the timbered portions of the coast country, consequently he can be accepted as an authority. I have made arrangements with collectors in three counties to collect the eggs of this Kite, and we will see what another year will bring forth, [The above paper is of far more than ordinary interest and value. It gives the experiences of a practical collector who has given much time and thought to the subject, and who speaks from his own experience. ere taken in this county the present r. S. B. Ladd, of West Chester, and his cabinct. The set of four has a glossy ground thickly spotted with a brown, so profusely laid on as to al- le the wh ite, They are very large, liar shape, being nearly of the same ends. They measure .58x.72 ; 9x i: .60x,71. The set of five are con- maller—giving the following dimen- 166; .55x.67; .52x.68; .52x.67; 53x.67, exquisitely marked—the greater end ickly covered with a rich brown as to reath, and ‘end with iey exceed | ever saw, ‘ed hillside heretofor' e foregoir together } notice, wi jabits of tl ways nest} Iside, in th ream of w e a desiral nest is i ks of the usual nest; Jin fis article on | vermivoru AND OOLO the last y usual nes) read: “the! It shoul ments of every insti | wil the coloring also extends to Nesting of the Worm-Eating War- bler near Leighton, Ala. 4 On the 29th of April this year I was fortu- nate enough to find a nest of the above species containing five fresh eggs, and seeing but little in our ological papers concerning the nest- ing of this Warbler (ITeliitherus vermivorus) I thought an account of it would be interest- ing to the readers of the O. & O, Twas on La Grange mountain looking for nests of the Black and Turkey Vultures, and having walked along the bluff some two miles was becoming rather discouraged at finding nothing, when happening to glance down I saw a small bird running along the ground with its wings outspread as if wounded, I knew ata glance that it had a nest, and therefore com- menced looking for it; and seemingly examined nest could I find. So I walked off a short dis- )tanee and sat down, determined to wait until the bird returned, and by degrees coming nearer. and watched their every movement. for some half hour or so, as it was about that length of time before the bird summoned up sufficient courage to alight on her nest. I walked quickly to the spot and there was the nest | deeply imbedded in the dead leaves with which the ground was covered. It was at the foot of a small bush on the hill- sides and could only be seen through one small opening from below. It was composed chiefly of dead leaves lined with fine orasses, and contained five fresh eges thickly marked over the entire surface, but more heavily on the larger end, with two shades of brownish- red and obscure lilac on a pure white ground. The Worm-eating Warbler is a very rare breeder in this locality, and indeed the above pair are the only ones I haye seen here in the spring. Last year the fall migration of this species here was as follows: First one, a g ap- | peared in the swamp July 19th; next one seen on August 5th, a gradual increase from this date until the 10th; from 10th to 15th, height of | season, decreasing innumbers from this date; | last one seen on September 9th. I. W. M, Leighton, Ala. a O&O, 280 p, / 25. every inch of ground for yards around but no 49 “8 Inafew minutes its distant a as chip, chip, was heard, and goon both birds ~ were seen anxiously flitting from tree to tree 2° I sat very still © OLOGIST [Vol. 11-No. 10 Nesting of the Worm-eating Warbler BY THOMAS H. JACKSON, WEST CHESTER, PA. Although having repeatedly found the nest of the Worm-eating Warbler, (Helininthotherus ver- mivorus,) never until the present season have I been able to place in my cabinet perfect sets of eps of this species. Eyery collector knows how discouraging it is to find the nest of some rare bird containing a flourishing brood of young, or but little better, a get of eggs so far advanced in incubation as to make their preservation a matter of great diffi- culty. And yet from such specimens we are able to fix the time of nesting, approximately, and profit thereby another season. Such was my intention the present year, and accordingly on the 2ist of May, 1886, I visited a large tract of wood land adjacent to West Ches- ter, Pa., that I knew was a favorite habitat of the Wornreating Warbler. The timber growth con- sisted of Beech, Oak and Chestnut; the former predominating, and the trees were of small size. A running stream with numerous swampy places, overgrown with briar tangles and alder bushes, pounded the foot of the hill, which rapidly as- cended from sixty to one hundred yards, From the tableland above the leaves had been swept by the wind over the brow of the hill, and lodged in heavy masses wherever a projecting rock or other obstruction intervened. Entering the wood land I commenced to work up the hillside, care- fully examining every spot likely to offer a fa- yorable shelter, and in a short time was rewarded by finding a nest. It was neatly imbedded in the ground under a bunch of leaves that had lodged against a hickory sapling, and which formed a sheltering arch over the nest. No eggs were in it, but it was evidently finished, as its beautiful lining of flower stalks of the Polytrichium had been added in readiness for them. Leaving the place I went round a spur of the hill not a hun- dred yards distant, to a steep bank facing the east, and in a position almost precisely similar, found another nest, also completed, but without eggs, The two nests were so much alike in every respect that a single description suffices for the history of both. Hight days later on the 29th of May Tagain | visited them both. Creeping quietly up to No. 1 T lay down within six feet of the nest. The fe- male still sat upon it without apparent alarm, and only left it when I was almost near enough to touch her with my hand. She then flew to the ground, tumbling and fluttering in great distress, in her endeavors to lead me away from Oct. 1886.] AND OOLOGIST. 157 the nest. The male also appeared on the scene at the first chirp of alarm, and both birds re- mained near by until I left, The nest contained five eggs—two of which showed considerable sign of incubation, although all of them had been laid within seven days. The ground color of this set is a dull white, thickly spotted at the greater end, and more sparingly over the body of the egg, with varying shades of rich brown, ap- proaching in one egg a delicate shade of lilac, sprinkled in fine spots. The measurements of the set are as follows: .52x.68; 54x.68 ; .52x.65; 51x67; .52x,65. Nest number two at this time contained but three eggs, and the parent pirds did not appear in the vicinity, so I did not disturb them, but again vis- ited the nest on June 2d, and found the set of five completed with the female sitting. This set was perfectly fresh, both parents were around and showed the same signs of alarm as those at the first nest. Set No, 2 differ from No, 1 conspicu- ously in having a bright glossy surface and being much heavier in appearance. The spotting is similar, though more on the lilac shade, They measure .55x,65; .56x.65; .54x.68 ; 56x.68; .53x 64, My third nest was found in a somewhat differ- ent situation from the last two. A road running through the edge of a wood, had from disuse be- come overgrown with small trees. The timber adjacent had been cut away, but a fringe of sap- lings had been left on the bank sloping up ten feet from the road. Deeply imbedded in this pank, under an overhanging Dogwood tree, the nest had a sheltered location, A few yards below adense thicket of briar and alder overhung a clear stream of spring water, and from its dark recesses the notes of the White-eyed Vireo and Cardinal were constantly heard from their almost unpenetrable refuge, This nest also contained five eggs—slightly incubated. The markings on this set were lighter, and more generally diffused our the entire surface in fine points, and dots of a uniform light chestnut or brown. This set, meas- ures .57x.68; .57x.67; .57x.67; .56x.70 ; 55x68. Set No. 4 was taken June ist, in the adjacent county of Delaware, At this date they were al- | most ready to hatch. This set of eggs was much plainer than any of the others—incubation probably dimming the colors somewhat, The — nest was located on a steep hillside near the sum- mit, covered with a heavy forest growth. The fifth and last nest of the season was found on a steep east lying hillside, and contained a single young bird a few days old, on the 6th of June, Two other sets of eggs of four and five re- spectively were taken in this county the present season by Mr. §. B. Ladd, of West Chester, and are now in his cabinet. The set of four has a clear, white glossy ground thickly spotted with a rich reddish brown, so profusely laid on as to al- most obscure the white. They are very large, and of peculiar shape, being nearly of the same size at both ends, They measure 58x.72 ; 59x .69; .58x.70+ .60x.71. The set of five are con- siderably smaller—giving the following dimen- sions: .51x.66; .55x.67; .52x.68 ; 52x.67; .58x.67, They are exquisitely marked—the greater end being so thickly covered with a rich brown as to form a wreath, and the coloring also extends to the smaller end with Nesting of the Worm-Eating War- shade. They exceed eheeec : = Warblers I ever saw) ear Leighton, Ala. steep, rugged hillside /7 On the 29th of April this year ras fortu- with those heretofor| nate enough to eats nest Be he Be te From the foregoit containing five fresh eves, and sabine te ane this bird, together 1 in ow odlogical papers Lnadetacine saan under my notice, WI ing of this Warbler (ITelmitherus Recahedens acteristic habits of t! 1 thouelt an account of it would fits sia 1. It always nest} ing to the readers of the O. & O, ai ie a steep hillside, in th | was on La Grange mountain looking for 9 revs vhice 7 2, Az es Sind of a nests of the Black and Turkey Vultures, and | 5 0 be siral jiaving w: F ; seems to be a desifah jiaving walked along the bluff some two miles | 3. The nest is 1 was becoming rather discouraged at finding rt .. 3 flower stalks of the nothing, when happening to glance down I saw a and small bird ranning along the ground with its | 4. Theusual nest wings outspread as if wounded. I knew ata Re olanee that i “iy <2 elance thatit had a nest, and therefore eom- menced looking for it; : seeming i A i M.| cvony ¢ : es for ib and seemingly examined ; Mele y inch of ground for yards around but no 6 vermivoru Hest could L find. So LT walked off a short dis- anv Od1o) tanee and sat down, determined to wait until Se 6 Vo “SS the last 1| the bird returned. usual nes) read: “the It shoul eetemae and by degrees coming nearer, I sat yery still — every inst| @d watched their every movement for ‘some half hour or so, as it was about that length of time before the bird summoned up sufficient courage to alight on her nest. I walked | duickly to the spot and there was the nest deeply imbedded in the dead leaves with which the ground was covered. ‘ It was atthe foot of a small bush on the hill- sides and could only be seen through one small opening from below. It was composed chiefly of dead leaves lined with fine grasses ind contained five fresh eggs thickly marked over the entire surface, but more heavily on the larger end, with two shades of brownish- red and obscure lilac on a pure white ground, The Worm-eating Warbler is a very rare breeder in this locality, and indeed the ‘above pair are the only ones T have seen here in the spring. Last year the fall migration of this | Species here was as follows: First one, a ¢ ap- peared in the swamp July 19th; next one seen on August 5th, a gradual inerease from this } date until the 10th; from 10th to 15th, height of f season, decreasing in numbers from this date; last one seen on September 9th. FF. W. M. Leighton, Ala. = | QO, kegeet dees, p, 125. Inafew minutes its distant > chip, chip, was heard, and soon both birds ™~ ~ were seen anxiously flitting from tree to tree 2% Oct. 1886.] AND OO 157 moss, entirely concealing the sticks used in build- ing. Eggs taken out of nest with small bag tied to the end of my fishing pole. Both birds show- ing fight.” Idid not wonder at the kites showing when I tried to blow the egg, as incubation was so far advanced that the young birds were nearly dry in the egg. They would have hatched in the next three days. I-drilled a one-eighth inch hole in the eggs, and putting them in a box, hole downwards, I set the box on a bed of the “Texas Cutting Ant” and they finished the cleaning pro- cess during the next twenty-four hours. I have saved many sets of eggs of hawks and owls in this manner. The set, as is usual, contained two eggs, meas- uring 1.85x1.47 and 1.79x1.48. Ground color was dirty white (probably stained,) and irregular- ly marked with spots and blotches of dull brown —in the smaller egg tending to form a ring around the smaller end, I have heard of a set of three being taken in the Colorado River bottoms, but can get no particulars. I have a record of thirteen nests having been found containing eggs or young, and in only one instance—a nest with three young—was there more than two eggs or young in the nest. Can it be that Audubon de- pended upon hearsay in stating that four to six was the number of eggs ina set? Very often the boys whom I employ to collect tell me that they have found nests of the Red-bellied Hawk with four or five eggs; those of the Turkey Buzzard with three to four eggs; and Swallow-tailed Kite with five eggs; but I notice when I require them to authenticate the sets taken for me, those large sets fail to appear. I have been making in quiries in other portions of the State about this — species, and in a letter lately received from Mr. HK. T. Dumble, Secretary of the Texas State Geo- logical and Scientific Society, he says: ‘ The Swallow-tailed Kite arrives here early in the spring, leaving late in the fall. Wo nest has been observed with more than two eggs.” The italics are mine. The Swallow-tailed Kite is an abundant sum- mer resident in Mr. Dumble’s locality, Houston, Texas, and everywhere else along the timbered portions of the coast country, consequently he can be accepted as an authority. I have made arrangements with collectors in three counties to collect the eggs of this Kite, and we will see what another year will bring forth. [The above paper is of far more than ordinary interest and value. It gives the experiences of a practical collector who has given much time and thought to the subject, and who speaks from his own experience. ere taken in this county the present r. §. B. Ladd, of West Chester, and his cabinct, The set of four has a glossy ground thickly spotted with a brown, so profusely laid on as to al- le the white. They are very large, liar shape, being nearly of the same h ends. They measure 58x.72; .59x . 60x.71. The set of five are con- maller—giving the following dimen- 166; .55x.67; .52x.68 ; 52x.67; 58x. 67. exquisitely marked—the greater end ickly covered with a rich brown as to reath, and the coloring also extends to ‘end with some fainter marks of a lilac iey exceed in beauty the eggs of any ‘ever saw. Both nests were taken on ed hillsides, and the nests correspond heretofore described. ; e foregoing instances of the nesting of together with others that have come hotice, we may fix a few of the char- iabits of this interesting Warbler. ways nests on the ground, generally on iside, in the woods. ream of water, or an adjacent swamp, e a desirable condition. nest is invariably lined with the red iiks of the Hair Moss, (Polytrichium), aa rer usual nest complement is four eggs. 0, X10 ct.15 ». /SO@-/37. In Mr. Thomas H. Jackson’s interesting and valuable “ article on the Worm-eating Warbler, (Helminthotherus ' vermivorus,) in the October number of THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND ObLOGIST, a vexatious typographical error occurred in the last line of his paper; where he is made to say “the usual nest complement is fowr eggs,” whereas it should read: “the usual nest complement is five eggs.” Tt should also be stated that in recording the measure- ments of this species Mr. Jackson gave the width first in every insti i A Series of Eggs of the Worm- Eating Warbler. a, No where else has the Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitherus vermivorus) been found breeding so abundantly as in Chester County, Pennsyl- yania; and singularly enough all the eggs of this bird which have been found there have been taken by Messrs. Thomas H. Jackson and Samuel B. Ladd; and it is to the labors of these very proficient and indefatigable collec- tors that odlogists have become well ac- quainted with eggs that were formerly exceedingly rare. Mr. H. K. Jamison found two or three sets of eggs of this Warbler in the neighborhood of Manayunk, Pennsylvania; and Mr. Isaac 8. 2eiff has found a like number of sets in Bucks County, Pennsylvania; but with the exception of these all the recorded eggs of HT. vermivorus that have been taken in that State were col- lected by Messrs. Jackson and Ladd. It is not claimed that the series now before me, and deseribed below, contains all their types of coloration and sizes, but it exhibits all but the rarest phases. Set I. June7, 1889. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B, Ladd. Nest made of dry leaves, and lined with hair moss, under a small bush. Four eggs, incubation begun. Light creamy white, profusely speckled with cinnamon-rufous and a few markings of pearl gray. Near the larger ends the specks are much heavier and closer together: .68 x .56; .67 x 56; .66 x 525 .63 x .55. Set Il. June 8, 1889. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest made of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on ground at foot of beech tree. Four eggs, in- cubation advaneed. Light creamy white, pro- fusely speckled with cinnamon-rufous and At the larger ends the mark- closer together: .68x .54; This set contains lavender-gray. ings are much .69 x .53; .70x.55; .69 x .d4. a Cowbird’s egg. Set Ill. June 1888. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Thomas H. Jackson. Nest of dry leaves lined with hair moss, near the summit of a steep hillside, in thick, heavy timber, in a dark and secluded ravine, with stream of water flowing at base of hill. Mr. Jackson says: ‘The bird sat very close, and I could have caught her onthe nest. The latter was entirely concealed, excepting in front, by asmall laurel bush. The nest was bedded in a hollow scratched by the bird. A thick mass of dry leaves lay around, of which the nest seemed to be a part until it was taken out.’’ Five eggs, incubation commenced. White, speckled and spotted with chestnut and a few specks of lavender-gray. On four of the eggs the markings are very much heavier at the larger ends, but on the fifth the markings are much lighter: .68%.55; .68x.55; .69x .54; 68x 53; 68x54. Set IV. June 27, 1889. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on ground, under low bush. Three eggs, incubation slight. White, speckled with chestnut and a few markings of lavender-gray, the markings being heavier near the larger ends: .70x .55; .73.x.56; .73x.55. Two Cowbird’s eggs were found with this set. Set V. June 1889. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves lined with hair moss, on ground, under a broken limb. Six eggs, incubation begun. White, speckled uniformly with hazel: 67 x.54; .68 x .535 .68 4.535 .65 x .58; .70 x .535 69 x .53. Set VI. June 6, 18¢7. Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss. On _ level ground, at top of a hill. Five eggs, incubation begun. White, spotted with hazel all over the surface, buta little more heavily near the larger ends: .(0ce.o£: ailksbor of ps Tle 56: -13 X 56. Set VII. June 9, 1888. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, under fallen limb where leaves had drifted. Five eggs, incubation far advanced. White, speckled, more heavily at the larger ends, with hazel: 69x .49: .T0x .51; .68x 50; .69x 50; .68 x .50. Set VIII. June 7, 1889, Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on ground under a poplar sprout. Five eggs, incubation commenced. White, speckled and spotted with hazel. At the larger ends the markings are heavier: .69x.49; .65x.48; .68 x .50. .65 x .49; .65 x 48. Set IX. June 7, 1889, Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, under a blackberry bush, in a slight cavity in the ground, Six eggs, incubation begun. White, uniformly spotted all over the surface with Inagel:- <(3o0 Die pigaxs Olin sl coe Wipes coli Siisko-wareat, arabe kaye Set X. June 5, 1889. Collected by Thomas H. Jackson. 2 Dp, Chester County. Chester County, Penn. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on a steep hillside sloping to a creek, beneath a tuft of laurel which overhung and partially concealed it. Mr. Jackson says: ‘‘The female was very tame, and allowed me to approach within two feet of the nest before leaving it, and then fluttered on the ground at my feet. The nest was situated on the side of a thickly- wooded ravine, with a thick growth of laurel and other undergrowth,’’ Five eggs, incubation begun. Light creamy white, profusely speckled with chestnut, and a few specks of lavender-gray. Near the larger ends the mazkings are much heavier: .69x.54; .70x.54; .71x.55; .69x.54; -68 Xx 58. Set XI. June 27, 1889. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on ground under a small bush. Four eggs, incubation begun. White, uniformly spotted all over the surface with hazel: .69 x .54; .66 x.54; .78 x .54; (O03 oe Set XII. June 30, 1889. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on ground Four eggs, incubation White, thickly spotted and speckled with chestnut and a few markings of lavender- eray. Near the larger ends the markings are much heavier, and on one of the eggs they form an indistinet wreath: .66x.50; .67 x .51; 66x 51; .69% 52. Set XIII. May 10, 1889. North Carolina. Laughlin, moss, on ground on a steep hillside. under a small bush. begun. Iredell County, Collected by R. B. Mce- Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair This set is interesting on account of coming from North Carolina, and also as showing that the birds choose exactly the same materials for their nest in that State that they doin Pennsylvania. Four eggs, incubation begun. White, heavily speckled, principally at the larger ends, with chestnut, and afew markings of lavender-gray. On one of the eggs the markings are so close together at the larger end that they almost become confluent: .65x.51; .65x.52; .65 x .54: .65 x52. Set XIV. May 30, 1888. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Thomas H. Jackson. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, sunk into ground, on steep hillside, under a bunch, of laurel. Four eggs, fresh. White, thickly speckled and spotted with hazel, and a few markings of lavender-gray. Near the larger ends the markings form wreaths on three of the eggs: .67x.51; .66 x.54; .66x.51; .67x.51. Set XV. June 3, 18%9. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on ground under a bush. Five eggs, incubation com- menced. light creamy white, profusely speckled with hazel and a few markings of lavender-gray. Near the larger ends the markings are much heavier: .68 x .56; .70 x .56; .67%.55; .64x.52; 65x54, Set XVI. May 30, 1888. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Thos. H. Jackson. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on ground, under a small dogwood tree, growing on a hillside. In a very dark, rocky part of the woods, near a stream. Five eggs, incubation advanced. White, very heavily speckled, but principally at the larger ends, with chestnut and a few markings of lavender-gray. The markings are so close together that they are almost confluent: .77x.55; .74x.56; .72x.55; .72% 56; .73 x .56. Set XVII. May 31, 1886. Chester County, Penn. Collected by Thomas H. Jackson. Nest of dry leaves, lined with hair moss. Mr. Jackson says: ‘‘The nest was situated on a steep hillside, in woods, at the root of a small hickory tree about a hundred feet from a stream. The birds were very tame and showed great alarm at my presence.’’ Six eges, incubation begun. White, profusely speckled with chestnut and lilac-gray. Near the larger ends the markings are so heavy that they partially obscure the surface: ; .65%.55; .65x.555 .66%.563 .64x.53; | Nesting of the Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitherus vermivorus) in | Virginia.—Although of late years the nest of the Worm-eating Warbler has been met with sufficiently often to dispel the obscurity which previous to 1869 rested upon the breeding habits of this bird, its discovery, espec- ially in localities where it is not known to have been already found, is still a matter of considerable interest. While walking along an unfrequented road through the woods near Cobham, Albemarle County, Virginia, on May 19, 1884, my attention was attracted by the notes of a bird evidently in anxiety, and on looking for their source I found that they proceeded from one of these Warblers, which are not very rare in that vicinity in the spring. I remained quite still, and the bird, which came very close to me, finally betrayed the position of its nest by flying towards it. This was situated about fifteen feet from the road; placed as.usual on the ground, which was covered with dead leaves. It was embedded in a slight depression, and was partially concealed by a diminutive plant which grew alongside. It was neatly but not elaborately constructed of dry leaves and catkins, and was lined inside with the small, flexible, red- dish brown stalks of a small plant, its dimensions being approximately as follows: external width, 34 inches; internal width, 2} inches; external depth, 24 inches; internal depth tZinches. It contained four freshly laid eggs, the appearance of which corresponded to the descriptions of other observers, their color being white, dotted with spots of various shades of light reddish-brown, running together at the larger end, and intermingled with a few spots of lilac. They measured respectively .66 X -54, 68 X .54; .67 X .54, and .67 .§4 inches. As far as I have ascertained, the nest of this species has not before been definitely reported from any point south of the neighbourhood of Washington.—Wi1114M C. Rives, JR., M.D Newport, R.I. Auk, 2, Jan., 1886, p /OS-J/O*#- Runt Eggs and Their Cause. BY J. P.N. Eggs of a smaller size than those usually laid by the species in question, are, if the difference is very marked, known as “‘runts.” They usu- ally occur in small numbers and are quite rare. Tt is seldom that more than one runt is found in one set of eggs, though a very notable ex- ception to this rule will be referred to below. Their cause seems to be twofold — either they result from exhaustion of the bird from laying an unusually large number of eggs, or they are the product of young females. A set of eggs of Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) found near Milton, Mass., on May | 26, 1883, has two of the eggs much larger than | usual, measuring 1.13 x .94 and 1.09 x .82, while pares fottolaa, (2. Worm Hating Warbler, (Helminthotherus ver- mivorus), June 19th, while going through a high open part of the woods on Wissahickon Creck, I discovered a nest of this bird situated on the ground at the foot of a small laurel bush, and mid-way on the side of the hill. The bird sat on the nest until I was within three feet of it, when it fluttered along on the ground just out of my reach. The nest contained two eggs partly in- cubated. It was composed of pine needles, lined with thin narrow strips of grape-vine bark, and was very pretty. There was no attempt what- ever at its concealment, as I had a very good look at the bird there can be no mistake. These birds can be seen during the coldest day in Winter | the other two measure ouly .87 x .63, and .88 x .63, und are runts of the most pronounced type. A set of eggs of Downy Woodpecker ( Picus pubescens) collected near Nazareth, Penn., on June 8, 1882, has five eggs, four of which are normal size, while the fifth only measures .66x hopping around the lower limbs of trees, and are | oe hen niamwckeawle At an , not shy, In wil alow of gr¥ eppNE san. 1686.9.) PS cel Sree tiel | the Worm-eating Warbler (Helminthotherus ver- mivorus).found by Mr. Samuel B. Ladd near West Chester, Penn., on June 11, 1887, and de- | scribed in THb ORNITHOLOGIST AND OGLOGIST for July, 1887 (Vol. XIL., p. 110). The average size of the egg of this species is about .68 x 54, but Mr. Ladd’s wonderful set measure -46 x .36; | 46x86: .45x 37; 42x.36 and 42x,36. In shape and colorings they are perfect miniatures of the full-sized eggs of this Warbler. As they were the seventeenth set which Mr. Ladd took in the same locality they were probably the last effort of a female who had laid two previ- ous sets, which she had been deprived of. A runt egg of the Yellow Warbler (Dendraca estiva) measures .45 x .35 and is perfect in its shape and coloration, OO. XII, Dec. 1887 p. 203. | | H | = 343: T. Jencks. a v eating Warbler. aN Vel 150 ORNITHOLOGIST [ Vol. 12-No. 9 ings very similar to the last. Measurements 12x 054, .70x 53, .72%.55, .71 x 53, .72 x .5D. Sixth set, May 28th. Nest situated like the last. Six eggs, marked similarly to first set. Measurements .67 x .55, .67x .55, .66x.51, .64x 58, 64.52, .70x .55. Seventh set, May 29th. Steep hill-side under small bush. Five eggs, markings similar. Measurements .68 x .52, .68x.51, .68x.51, .68x 51, .67 x .50. Eighth set, same date. At foot of chestnut sprout. Five eggs, markings similar. Meas- urements .71x.53, .71x.54, .69x.52, .69x .53, 74x 58. Ninth set, May 30th. Four eggs, marked chiefly around the larger end with reddish brown spots. Measurements, .65 x 50, .67x 52, .66x.52, .66 x .53. ‘Tenth set, May 31st. Six eggs, and one egy of the Cowbird. A glossy white, with a wreath of dark brown and lavender spots, globular. Measurements .64 x .53, 64x .54, .66x.63, .68 x 54, 66x .54, .66 x .54. Eleventh set, June 6th. Five eggs, marked similar to fourth set. Measurements .71 x .55, 69x .55, .68 x .53, .68 x .56, .69 x .51. Twelfth set, June 6th, placed on level ground at top of hill. Five eggs, marked with bold blotches of lavender and reddish brown over the entire surface. Measurements .71 x OT, «72 x .58, .71x.58, .76x.57, .77x.55. This set is now in the cabinet of Mr. J. Parker Norris. Thirteenth set, June 7th. Four eggs and one egg of the Cowbird; lightly marked with red- dish brown mostly around the large end. Measurements .67 x 538, .68 x 52, .68x 52, .68 x 52. ‘This set is now in the possession of Mr. Josiah Hoopes, of West Chester, Pa. Fourteenth set, June 8th. Position of nest not peculiar. Five eg¢s marked chiefiy around the large end, spots larger than common, and ot a darker brown. Measurements -69 x .57, “71X57, .71 x 56, .71 x 58, .71 x .57. Fifteenth set, June 10th. Six eggs, similar to first set. Measurements .70x .55, nC OLX. Os 70 x 54, .68 x 54, .66 x .55, .70 x .54. Sixteenth set, same date. Placed under a low bush on level ground. Eggs like last set. Measurements .66 x .53, .75 x .56, 74x .56, .72x 55, .70 x .56. Seventeenth set (dwarfs) described in the July number of the O. AND O. These eggs are smaller than those of the Humming-bird. Highteenth set, July 15th. Eggs four; in their markings‘tvery similar to those of the Rock Wren, (Salpinctes obsoletus). Measure- ments .72x.56, .73 x .55, .75 x .56, .71 x 54. Worm-eating Warbler | Helminthotherus vermtvorus|. By Fred. Tbid., V1, p- 78. 1066. Der Wurmsdnger, Helmitherus vermivorus Bonap., Worm- 7 3 Nehrling. Jézd., No. 7, pp. 214-215. wiscths Garten, XXVi Nineteenth set, June 19th. Nest on level ground at foot of oak sprout. This I consider my handsomest set. They are heavily marked on the large end only, with blotches of a heavy rich velvety chestnut, completely obscuring their ground color. Measurements .70 x .57, 72.57, 570.58, .72 x58, .73 x .57. Twentieth set, June 19th. Three eggs and one of the Cowbird, marked similar to the first set. The largest eggs yet found of this bird. Measurements .80 x .55, .79 x .56, .78 x .58. ‘Twenty-first set, June 23rd. Nest under a mere drift of leaves with no bushes near it, in sloping woods. Five eggs, markings not pe- culiar. Measurements .65 x .53, .66x.54, .65x 53, 66x .53, 64x .53. T'wenty-second set, same date. Nest under a fallen dead sapling; markings not peculiar. Measurements .66 x .57, .66x .55, .66 x .55, .66 x 55, -66 x .56. Twenty-third set, June 25th. Nesting and markings not peculiar. Four eggs, measuring -76 X .56, .76x 55, .74x .57, 73 x .58. Twenty-fourth set, June 30th. Nest at foot of beech sapling. Four eggs. Excepting the dwarf set this is the smallest, measuring .64 x 49, 64x .50, .65 x .48, .64 x .49. Total number of eggs (barring the dwarf set) one hundred and eight. Average size about .68 x .54. ‘These were all collected within a radius of twelve miles ries ie ate St 1887 p. D, aad Oy’ i. A “ee 199-1580. Two Ontario Records — Brur-wincrp Warsier, Helminthophila pinus. September 2, 1906, I took a juvenile bird of indeterminate sex from a grape vine tangle, near the end of Point Pelee, Ontario, This forms, I believe, the primal record for the species in Canada. The next day another bird, supposed to be the sa e, was shot but could not be found in the thicket, #4 27/7 2/9 06 Fz, Z2F THE BLUE-wInecED YELLOW WARBLER (Helminthophaga pinus) tn Mas- sAcHusETTs. — Although this species has been recorded * as a bird of the State, and the specimen cited is in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History (the specimen was captured in Dedham by Mr. Emanuel Samuels and presented to the society by Dr. Cabot), recent writers on Massachusetts birds have seen fit to exclude it from their lists. I have just examined a fine male specimen of this species which was captured in West Roxbury, Mass., on May 17, 1878, by Mr. C. N. Hammond. It is now in the collection of Mr. John Fottler, Jr., of Boston. This makes the second recorded instance of its capture in the State—Ruruven Duayn, Cambridge, Mass, Sul, N.O.0, 3,Oct., 1878, bp. /5 9 The Blue-winged Warbisn (13D, A598; Peer Eastern Mass- achusetts. —On the afternoon of May 15, 1897, while collecting among some scattered bushes and low trees on the edge of a swampy wood in the section of Boston known as Dorchester, near the West Roxbury and Hyde Park lines, I came across a bird of this species. When first seen the bird was sitting on the outer branch of a small bush about ten yards from me. While I was watching, it suddenly flew directly toward me for about ten or twelve feet after an insect, which it caught while on the wing, poising itself for a moment in the air and then returning to the same bush, imme- diately passing through to the other side where it was lost to view. Although this species has been taken in West Roxbury and also in Dedham, it is a rare bird in Massachusetts and worthy of note. — FosTER H. Brackett, Boston, Mass. K 2262. Blast -amegie Yall Woarb 4) “i is re Pusitem Mm ada PAL W.%. Crm, Pron dee, MY Fi a Blue-winged Warbler (Helminthophila pinus) near Boston, Mass.— In the afternoon of May 29, at Waverley, Mass., I was walking in a meadow through which a brook flowed. The banks of the brook were thickly grown with trees and shrubs. From the border of this growth came the two-note song of this warbler, and it was repeated continuously during the hour or more I spent in the vicinity. I first saw the bird working his way through a tall bush, and while I watched him his preference seemed to be for the smaller trees and border shrubs. He was not shy, so I had excellent opportunity, sometimes from within three or four feet, to observe all his distinctive markings. I think there were two birds there, but I am positive of only one, an adult male.— Guy Emerson, Brookline, Mass. Auk, XIX, July, 1909, p, 29/, Blue-winged Warbler Once More Nesting at South Sudbury, Mass.— On May 24, 1918, in a walk in South Sudbury in the Wayside Inn region, I came upon a Blue-winged Warbler ( Vermivora pinus) singing. The location was within a mile of the nesting in 1909, recorded in ‘ The Auk,’ Vol. XXVI, October, 1909, pp. 337-345. The bird disappeared after several repetitions of his song before I had secured a view of him. But there remained in my mind no uncertainty that I had heard the song of a Blue-wing. This assurance, however, was happily substantiated by Mr. Richard M. Marble, to whom I had mentioned the occurrence, who, visiting the locality on June 19 and again on July 2, both times found the bird singing at the same spot where I had heard him on May 26. Mr. Marble writes me that he regrets that he did not have time to look for the nest. But the fact of a male in song being present from May 24 to July 2, a period of forty days, would indicate with reasonable certainty that once more a pair of Blue-wings had nested in this region. The locality was quite different from that of 1909, being a rather dry extent of second growth in the rear of a sandy woodlot of white pines and a variety of deciduous trees, but well supplied with undergrowth. In this woodlot we have been accustomed to find year by year two or three Blackburnian Warblers (Dendroica fusca) singing throughout the month of May upon theif arrival, and continuing in June on the testimony of other observers, giving assurance that the Blackburnian is a resident bird in this wood. The Blue-headed Vireo (Lanivireo solitarius solitarius) is also found year by year singing there much beyond the time of its migration. Both of these species were represented in song on May 24, June 19, and July 2 of the present year. Thus was had the unusual experience of hearing a Blue- winged Warbler sing with one ear and Blackburnian Warblers with the other, as probable nesting species. If the testimony presented may be accepted as furnishing reasonably reliable evidence of a nesting of Blue- winged Warbler in this locality in 1918, it may go on record as the second authentic occurrence in this region of Massachusetts, South Sudbury having the distinction of possessing both nestings within her borders.— Horace W. Wricut, Boston, Mass. AuRX¥KV. OA IT Jr 492X-493. Connecticut, June, 1898, f a ™ rd Ny Crane Chay Vs harbor fp a nf, PAA IAA, : 4) 0 oe bx lox 3 x Aotie, Durizg the first week in June, W. H. Lucas, at West | Stratford, Conn., found the nest and four eggs of the | Blue-winged Warbler ; leaving it for two days to see if the set was complete, all the eggs but one had disap- peared. The egg measured .69x.48. White, with large | brown and lilac spots. © &@. XIV. Aus. 1889 p. 124 rally com- nford May irt May 10, New Haven omon from s first seen fJune. At ‘st Was seen naining to d, which is ‘tland, May ne SFR Veo eek Sp Notes from Oonnectient. Four Lawrence’s Warblers were within a radius of half a mile, three typical and one with the black obscured and the crown dull yellow-oliye, as seen by Mr. C. K. Averill and myself. As did all the others, it sang precisely like the Blue-winged Warbler; but it was not secured, as we had no gun. One fine fellow frequented the growth on one side of a small piece of woodland until July at least, while on the other side and within a stone’s throw a beautiful Brewster’s Warbler spent the greater part of his time. The latter, after patient watching, revealed his mate, a Blue- winged Warbler, and a nest in course of construction. This was in the edge of a pasture bordering a lane and grove. It was poorly concealed in the dead grass at the base of asmall shrub among scanty briars and the beginning ofa scrub growth, and was plainly visible from any point several feet away. It was constructed as is usual with Helminthophila pinus. When seen again, June 14, it contained four eggs, two of which were Cowbirds,’ which were removed. Those remaining brought forth a pair of birds that, as they left the nest, could not be distinguished from normal young of the female parent, as would be Sees, whatever the color of the male. Auk X, Jan, 1893 3 89-90, Geusral Notes ar G@ ; Hinsimiae Pinus comes to us the first week in ae sh is a reg- ular, but rare, summer resident. While here, it does not wander far from a swampy spot grown up with alders, a few maples and an occasional oak | andelm. A nest with four eggs, and one of Molothrus ater, was taken | May 31, 1887. Auk X, April, 1893. p. 208. Atte, During the first week in June, W. H. Lueas, at West | Stratford, Conn., found the nest and four eggs of the | Blue-winged Warbler; leaving it for two days to see if | the set was complete, all the eggs but one had disap- peared. The egg measured .69x .48. White, with large | brown and lilac spots. 6 &@. XIV. Anz. 1889 p.124 Helminthophila pinus.—This species was found to be generally com- mon along the coast except at Bridgeport. It arrived at Stamford May 15, and was common until the 17th, one was seen at Bridgeport May 10, another on the r8th, anda pair found breeding June 14, At New Haven the first was seen by Mr. Flint May 14, and the species was common from the 16th through the month, many remaining to breed. It was first seen at Saybrook May 9g, and was tolerably common until the first ofJune. At Seymour, about twelve miles northward of New Haven, the first was seen on May 9, and the species was common by the 14th, many remaining to breed. No birds of this species were observed at East Hartford, which is in the north-central part of the State. One was taken at Portland, May 13, but it is very rare there. Auk, Wl. April, 1889. p. /72, eneral Notes, Notes from Connectient, Four Lawrence’s Warblers were within a radius of half a mile, three typical and one with the black obscured and the crown dull yellow-olive, as seen by Mr.C. K. Averill and myself. As did all the others, it sang precisely like the Blue-winged Warbler; but it was not secured, as we had no gun. One fine fellow frequented the growth on one side of a small piece of woodland until July at least, while on the other side and within a stone’s throw a beautiful Brewster’s Warbler spent the greater part of his time. The latter, after patient watching, revealed his mate, a Blue- winged Warbler, and a nest in course of construction. This was in the edge of a pasture bordering a lane and grove. It was poorly concealed in the dead grass at the base of asmall shrub among scanty briars and the beginning of a scrub growth, and was plainly visible from any point several feet away. It was constructed as is usual with Helminthophila Pinus. When seen again, June 14, it contained four eggs, two of which were Cowbirds,’ which were removed. Those remaining brought forth a pair of birds that, as they left the nest, could not be distinguished from normal young of the female parent, as would be expected, whatever the color of the male. uk X, Jan, 1893 Dp 89-90, A a a : Or : Sites fer Cabland, gg of Detbor ate, Helminthophila pinus comes to us the first week in May, and is a reg- ular, but rare, summer resident. While here, it does not wander far from | 4 Swampy spot grown up with alders, a few maples and an occasional oak | andelm. A nest with four eggs, and one of Molothrus ater, was taken Genusral Notes | May 31, 1887. } Auk X, April, 1883. p, 208. £.172 1Siehe rc. at Kwer dole, ??. Y- | Helminthophaga pinus, AegrColy Ottis. Bull, N.0.0, 3,July, 1878, p./29. fom laut Hage whl pt Me Lula, 77. Y. £17? Aechal. Helminthophaga pinus. Bear cerneuD YELLOW WARBLER. Com- mon during the summer, and regularly breeding. Arrives after the first week in May (May 2, in 1878), and incubation commences by the last of the month. - gh! ‘ Bull. N.O.0. 3,July, 1878, pAIO. Arrivals of Mie’y Birds, Spring-1886, j Central Park, N. ¥.City.A.G@ Paine, Jr. May 17, Helminthophila pinus, (641). Blue- winged Warbler. 0.&0, XI, Aug.1886. p. 125 Notes from Western New York. Maurice C.Blake,Hanover,lN.H. Helminthophila “pinus.— One observed at Canandaigua. fy Mitty Eee ee Antes on May 13, 1906, is the first Ontario County record. Auk, 24,Apr.,1907,D. A2% Englewood, New York. -- we ehi-chi-chi-chi , es nging its summer song: ‘ llection, which I thi- have only an indistinct reco ) ce aie ; : individual sing poth this want to confirm, of hearing the same oe x M. Chapman ws ‘ tse notes. (Letter Fe pica wing 33) . P ? and the rising and falling SS* May 25, 1890) H, pinusis now si oy o Co) rr ecticut, June, bicut, dune, 1893, Lhrek, & Wrvnelviodh, 5 f Oo NAdpeng Lorn, aiid t. he Chas. firth, = iruhK, Anata Guach ‘i Wop Aan ) n i Pe ing bs, > " Ph ery a re The Singing of Birds, H.P. Bicknell, Helminthophila pinus (Z.) Azdgw. Briur-wincep YELLOW WARBLER. My data relating to the ending of the first song-period, in the case of those of our summer birds which earliest become silent, are less complete than I could wish; for experience had to teach me that observation which would discover the time when several species left off singing must begin before the middle of June. The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler is perhaps the first of our summer birds to withdraw from the feathered choir. After its arrival in early May, scarcely a month elapses before singing has begun to wane; and it is not often continued after the middle of June. Absence about this time in several recent years has inter- fered with my observations, but attentive visits to favorite haunts of the species in the last week of several Junes failed to show that it had not then become silent. Sometimes, indeed, it appears to cease singing soon after the end of May; again it may continue intermittently nearly to the end of June, and I have recorded a few isolated dates of song in early July. A supplementary song-period occurs in August, usually about the middle of the month; beginning, according to my records, August 5 to 15, and ending August 18 to 24. Though the true spring song is then recovered, it is largely superseded by a markedly different song, which seenis tw be wspevially vuasen teristic of the later season. I have heard both songs succeed one another from the same bird. Representing the spring-song as Ce-e-e-e—ker-r-r-1-r, the later song would compare somewhat as follows: Ker-r-7r-7r— hik-kik-kik-kik. An approach to this song is sometimes notice- able towards the end of June; and the only songs of the species that I ever heard in July were much like it. In one season its song was not infrequent during the spring. At the time of the resumption of singing in mid-August, before the species has come into possession of its full powers, I have sometimes heard some singular vocalization from it—a series of low, disconnected notes, unrecognizable as being from this species, sometimes, however, ending with the sharp Aik, &k, kik, kik, of the later song. This song sometimes strikingly suggests that of the Nashville Warbler. At the time of this strange vocalism I have found the species completing a renewal of plumage, but with many feathers still in active growth. A little later, when singing is regularly resumed, the bird appears in its new attire, which is of a silken beauty, with even fresher and brighter colors than in the spring. In view of the fact that hybridization seems to be established among certain species of the group to which this Warbler belongs, the above noted variations in song and time of singing may be due to other than merely individual and seasonal causes. Auk, I, July, 1884, p. 240-2 //; the hole; incubation commenced. Tere it was in this large mossy orchard that the Blue Yellow- backed Warbler was found and studied to ad- vantage. We calculated that no less than twenty pairs were in the vicinity, as a number of the birds were constantly heard singing in the or- chard and a cedar growth near, from which the Usnea also hung plentifully. Their nests varied in size and shape; some were deep and nearly concealed in the thick hanging moss, while others were shallow and globular and were much smaller in external ponte ok They were generally fos Ios Apc, [Vere a ‘Beara foe i ee lion ww | placed near the Ses of a limb or branch; the average height from the ground was about fifteen feet though cases have come under our observation of their nesting within three feet. Of seven nests | found June 3d four contained sets of four each, while but one was found holding five, the others | were incomplete sets. June 4th anest was found | fifteen feet from the ground containg four eggs, which were advanced in incubation, while June 6th a fresh set of the same number were obtained in a different locality. There are several mossy | orchards and lone trees where these handsome | Warblers breed in Bristol County, but none that | can compare either in size or richness with the | one in question. Two exceptional cases were noted this season in regard to the nesting habits of this Warbler ; the first occurred June 3d as we were walking along a wood road bordered on the one side by an Oak grove and on the other by a young growth of scrub. My friend’s quick eye espied a tiny smoothly woven nest of this bird in an Oak sappling about fifteen feet from the gound and close to the trunk, which contained two fresh eggs. There was no moss whatever on the tree with the exception of the cup shaped nest. This _ confirmed the belief which I had previously had | that they bred apart from the trees or tree which | contained the long flowing moss, but in eight years collecting this is the first case that has come under my observation. The second one was still more remarkable, for the bird forsook her usual re- tirement altogether and placed her nest not far from a house on the dead limb of an Elm tree, about twenty feet above the well traveled road, and four feet from the trunk. The dead limb was well covered with lichens and wood mosses, which en- tered largely into the composition of the nest. The lower part of the nest was all that contained | any of the Usnea, a little being woven in with fine | but dry stiff grass and horsehair. The opening | was nearly concealed by the stiff wood moss, | which was twice as thick at the top of the nest. _ This very curious nest contained but one fresh | egg Juue 6th. Bive-wincep YELLow WarBier in New Exgranp.— Our knowl- i» edge of the nests and eggs of Helminthophaga pinus is limited to a very few i _examples, and although its presence in New England has been several ” times noted, and it has been affirmed to breed (see Am. Nat., VII, 629; this Bull. I, 78; Zbid., Il, 16; Merriam’s Rev. Bds. Conn., p. 14), no mention has been made, that 1am aware, of its nest and eggs having been actually taken.* The presence of here and there an individual in the breeding season has rendered it a probable occurrence, and the present season has made this a certainty. My friend, Mr. Harry Merrill, of Ban- gor, Me., writes me that Mr. N, A. Eddy of that city met with its nest and eggs near New Haven in June last. ‘The following data are supplied by Mr. Eddy himself: — The nest was found June 14, and at that time con- tained one egg. It was revisited June 20, when it contained four eggs, which were taken with the nest and the female parent was shot. The nest was situated in an old orchard, about half a mile from the coast of Long Island Sound. It was placed on the ground, in the grass, at the foot of a small bush. The nest is of a very loose structure, and is com- posed of oak leaves, built so as to form an inverted cone; within is a coarse lining of grape-vine bark, and this is again lined with fine orass and very fine pieces of grape-vine, The egos are white, with small red spots forming a ring around the greater end: A few spots are also seat- tered over the whole surface. Before they were blown the eges were of a flesh-colored tint. Their measurements are as follows: -65 X .50, .67 X 49, 63 X .48, .60 X.47.— T. M. Brewer, Boston, Mass. Lio i jere 2 male had several times been was again saluted by his energetic rmined to make one more effort, but confessed with very little hope of utting a chestnut sprout I proceeded bushes in a sort of zigzag course up Che sun was hot, the mosquitoes Thad walked about ten miles, and tering his note unconcernedly from 1 neighboring Oak, seemed to say us to be another case of persistence I began to think that I did not need a set very badly when just in front of me appeared a female evidently very much excited and chipping sharply. Whence she came was a puzzle, but my mind was at once made up to examine every inch of the ground if necessary, as I felt’ sure the nest must be near, but after nearly a half hour’s search I had found nothing, and expectations that were decidedly above par a short time be- fore were somewhat lower now, although the female continued to utter her sharp chip near by. Determining to pursue a different course of action I walked off a few rods and sat down within hearing, the birds note soon became less anxious, the male descended from his perch on the oak and together they proceeded slowly down the hillside stil] chipping, finally the note of the female grew fainter, less frequently, and suddenly ceased. Taking out my watch I waited five minutes (hours it seemed) and then * Since this paragraph was in type, I learn that several nests have been taken by Mr, Clark, of Saybrook, Gonn., and that one of its nests is in the possession of Mr. Purdie, though no description of any has been published. Bull, N,O.0, 5, Jan,.1880,p, ¥¥- Yq - Nesting of the Blue-winged Yellow Warbler at New Haven, Conn. BY H. W. FLINT, NEW HAVEN, CONN. For several seasons I have felt a consuming desire to procure a set of eggs of this warbler Helminthophaga pinus, and when, after much persistent watching, in June, 1887, I was enabl- ed to trace a pair home, only to find the nest occupied by five interesting young, my vexation can be better imagined than described. However, my determination to have a set of eggs was only strengthened by this partial success, and as the past season drew on I watched almost daily the several pairs of birds that had been located earlier in the spring, but as in previous years heard only (by the hour at a time) the aggravating song of the male asa reward for my persistence, so that finally through repeated failures to find the nest I lost no small amount of the zeal possessed early in the season and gave the birds little or no attention when in my rambles specimens were noted, | On June 11th, as I was passing a scrubby | rising to my feet hurried in the direction from whence the last note had proceeded. On arriv- ing there I was unable to find my bird for some time but finally did so by nearly stepping upon the nest, which was placed at the foot of a small briar, constructed entirely of Oak leaves, and so cleverly hidden by a growth of tall grass that had not the bird been flushed it would not have been noticed. It contained five eggs, pure white, and quite glossy, sparingly marked and specked with blackish and brown. The birds came within a few feet of me while the eggs were being packed and expressed their opinion of the robbery in a very vehement manner. O &O, XIII, Nov, 1888 p.!173 a WAZ New Pex 5 decor Cdge of the nests and egos of Helminthophaga pinus is limited to a very few Buiur-wincep YELLow WARBLER ty New EnGuanp. — Our knowl- _examples, and although its presence in New England has been several © times noted, and it has been affirmed to breed (see Am. Nat., VII, 629; this Bull, I, 73; Jbid., Il, 16; Merriam’s Rev. Bds. Conn, p. 14), no mention has been made, that Iam aware, of its nest and eggs having been actually taken.* The presence of here and there an individual in the breeding season has rendered it a probable occurrence, and the present season has made this a certainty. My friend, Mr. Harry Merrill, of Ban- gor, Me., writes me that Mr. N. A. Eddy of that city met with its nest and eggs near New Haven in June last. The following data are supplied by Mr. Eddy himself;— The nest was found June 14, and at that time con- tained one egg. It was revisited June 20, when it contained four egos, which were taken with the nest and the female parent was shot. The nest was situated in an old orchard, about half a mile from the coast of Long Island Sound. It was placed on the ground, in the grass, at the foot of a small bush. The nest is of a very. loose structure, and is com- posed of oak leaves, built so as to form an inverted cone; within is a coarse lining of grape-vine bark, and this is again lined with fine erass and very fine pieces of grape-vine. The eggs are white, with small hillside (where a male had several times been spots forming a ring around the greater end, A few spots are also sq seen) and was again saluted by his energetic tered over the whole surface. Before they were blown the egos were 0} note, I determined to make one more effort, but flesh-colored tint. Their measurements are as follows: -65X.50, 67 it must be confessed with very little hope of -49, .63 X .48, .60 X.47. — T. M. Brewer, Boston, Mass. | success. Cutting a chestnut sprout I proceeded | to beat the bushes in a sort of zigzag course up *: the hill. The sun was hot, the mosquitoes * Since this paragraph was in type, I learn that several nests have | thick, and Thad walked about ten miles, and taken by Mr. Clark, of Saybrook, Conn., and that one of its nests is in} the male, uttering his note unconcernedly from possession of Mr. Purdie, though no description of any has been published. the top of a neighboring Oak, seemed to say Kull. N.O.0. 5, Jan,, 1880, p, o §- 4G that this was to be another case of persistence misapplied. I began to think that I did not need a set very badly when just in front of me appeared a female evidently very much excited and chipping sharply. Whence she came was a puzzle, but my mind was at once made up to examine every inch of the ground if necessary, as I felt sure the nest ‘must be near, but after nearly a half hour’s search I had found nothing, and expectations that were decidedly above par a short time be- fore were somewhat lower now, although the female continued to utter her sharp chip near by. Determining to pursue a different course of action I walked off a few rods and sat down within hearing, the birds note soon became less anxious, the male descended from his perch on the oak and together they proceeded slowly down the hillside still chipping, finally the note of the female grew fainter, less frequently, and suddenly ceased. ‘Taking out my watch I waited five minutes (hours it seemed) and then Nesting of the Blue-winged Yellow Warbler at New Haven, Conn. BY H. W. FLINT, NEW HAVEN, CONN. For several seasons I have felt a consuming desire to procure a set of eggs of this warbler Helminthophaga pinus, and when, after much persistent watching, in June, 1887, I was enabl- ed to trace a pair home, only to find the nest oceupied by five interesting young, my vexation can be better imagined than described. However, my determination to have a set of eggs was only strengthened by this partial Success, and as the past season drew on I watched almost daily the several pairs of birds that had been located earlier in the spring, but as in previous years heard only (by the hour at a time) the aggravating song of the male as a! reward for my persistence, so that finally | through repeated failures to find the nest I lost no small amount of the zeal possessed early in the season and gave the birds little or no attention when in my rambles specimens were noted. : On June 11th, as I was passing a scrubby | risivg to my feet hurried in the direction from whence the last note had proceeded. On arriy- ing there I was unable to find my bird for some time but finally did so by nearly stepping upon the nest, which was placed at the foot of a small briar, constructed entirely of Oak leaves, and so cleverly hidden by a growth of tall grass that had not the bird been flushed it would not have been noticed. It contained tive eggs, pure white, and quite glossy, sparingly marked and specked with blackish and brown. The birds came within a few feet of me while the eggs were being packed and expressed their opinion of the robbery in a very vehement manner. eS O &O, XITI, Nov, 1888 p.173 \ = May, 1883.] o rule, I cannot give the measuréments.) ey are more pyreform and the ground color is lighter, are marked nd blotched with purplish red and a it a tint. The se as though/lashed on with a water color brush, moré at the larger end. The nest was compdsed of twigs. dung, and grass, lined with horse hair and bird feathers. I foud them common around Stockton and Kinde River. They allow no other bird fo share their tree; will drive the Woodpecker out of\his hole and take it for théir own. This I know to be a fact as a byother collector told ma he had found a nol on the eggs of a Gairdner’s Wood- pecker.— W. O. Emerson, Haywards, Cal. The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler. I found a nest of the little Helminthop- haga pinus last Summer and could scarcely credit my sight, as I recognized beyond question the little rare bird starting al- most from under my feet from the coarse swamp grass—a new situation entirely to me for a nesting place of this species. It was a moist, spongy place, far back in the woods; the old Maples had been cleared off about two years before and coarse swamp grasses and weeds had sprung up among” the sprouting stumps. The little bird flut- tered off about ten feet and perched on a low spray quietly, not even a “chip,” and my first thought was a Maryland Yellow Throat, for it was in such a situation as I often find their nests; but no, the bird commences a series of the most grotesque gyrations imaginable in such a little crea ture—the tail drawn down and spread to its fullest extent, displaying to the utmost all the six white feathers therein, and thus indicating the species unmistakably—with low bowed head and drooping wings she stood and silently watched me as I exult- antly clutched the tempting prize—the nest with its complement of five little spot- ted eges. The nest was bnilt directly on the moist ground and its base was damp from the AND OOLOGIST, 3 contact. It was not unlike a Maryland Yellow-throat’s nest except in being much more bulky, the base being chiefly leaves of Chestnut and Beach placed endwise in stead of circularly, as with most birds, and grapevine bark, being neatly lined with fine grasses. The egos were quite fresh and rosy, showing that incubation had barely commenced at this time, June 16th, 1882. It would be very difficult to tell what is the usual nest complement of this species, from my experience, for this is the fourth nest I have found containing respectively two, three, four, and five, when the birds ceased laying, though I thought in the case of the two that it was broken up by a violent storm that filled the nest with wa- ter and caused the birds to desert it. One nest was built in the grass about four inches from the ground, another in a little clump of bushes about twelve inches up, another in a wild Rose bush about two feet from the ground, and this last one di- rectly on the damp ground of a swamp; so it is equally difficult to declare what is their usual nesting place. None of the others were in a swamp, and one was on a hillside at quite an ele- vation, the one with the set of two, which, as already stated, the birds deserted at this stage. One of the eggs is before me and measures .61X<.49 in., being very sparsely marked with a few minute dots scattered promiscuously over the whole shell, and a few larger spots, some quite dark and some very light near the large end. I found a nest in a little thicket of wild Rose, June 15, 1871. The female was on the nest, where she sat very close till I al- most touched her with my hand, when she fluttered slowly away as if disabled. I found incubation had commenced at that time, but had not progressed so far as to injure the eggs for the cabinet, and I have been measuring them and find the ex- tremes to be about .62.48 in. No. 1, and .59.50 in. No. 2. In markings No. 1 is thinly spotted with minute dots, with no 38 resemblance to a ring, but the spots some- what larger and a little more numerous at the large end, the ground color being a fresh rosy white, before being blown, and the markings light brown, nearly cinna- mon. In No. 2 the spots are more numer ous, forming a distinguishable ring near the large end, but the spots are very small and even lighter in color than those of No 1. So far as my observation extends the eggs are usually less elongated than those of most of the Warblers and more sparsely marked. It is stated that Dr. Brewer published in the Proceedings of the Boston Natural History Society for May, 1879, an account of the finding of a nest of this species at New Haven, Conn., by N. A. Eddy, adding that he believed it to be the only instance of its being taken in New England; but two of the nests alluded to above were taken long before that. The bird is in fact quite common here in the migrations, and the collector will hear their quaint song, if such it can be called, in every warm glade of any extent in our woods by the middle of May, about which time they first appear, May 5th, 1880, and May 12th, 1881, and perched on the summit of some small tree keep up their insect: like note, repeating it, at intervals of two or three minutes, by the hour. A friend listening to it for a while very successfully imitated it by violently drawing in his breath through his closed teeth, and slowly breathing it out again in the same manner with a slight vocal sound at the same time. The birds become much rarer as the breeding season arrives, or else more quiet, the former I think, for I find them usually quite demonstrative when their nesting place is invaded, and that their note is changed to a more vocal one. But if the birds go further it is a mystery to me whither, for my ornithological friends only a few miles further north declare that they never find it. Mr. Sage once wrote me from Portland, triumphantly, “At last we have got it;” but when I saw their ORNITHOLOGIST © specimen I found it the still rarer HZ. lew- cobronchialis. Since my first acquaintance with the bird, more than a dozen years ago, I have never failed to find them in consid- erable numbers every Spring. I have been sometimes amused at a remark in ‘“ Samu- els’ Birds of New England,” which I have also seen copied by other authors, that he “once saw a small flock at Dedham, Mass., &e.” Of all the solitary birds I never saw any more exclusively 80 than this species, and among the numbers I have seen I never saw a flock consist of more than a pair, male and female, and I have often hoped no at- thor would credit the bird to Massachu- setts again without some better authority than that.—~/. NV. Clark, Saybrook, Conn, O.&0. Vill. May.1883.p. 57 ~ 3. Is it Honest? \If we gee a book offered for sale and Ds puighase a copy, and two or three ygars later\ another work is offered by the Same authoh and we again purchase a copy and find in \the second work twentydive per cent of the matter and cuts that were in the previous work, “Is it Honest 2) is it not a fraudulent transaction to the éxtent of the reproduced matter? Goop Sxor.—R. N. Denison secured at one shot, near the mouth of the Connecti- cut River, the middle’ of February, three Lapland Long-spurs,, two Shore Larks and one Tree Sparrow, Wanrep to Kyow. \If the following named birds could be kept as cage birds, viz.: Canada /Jays, Cardinal Redbirds, Golden Robins and Scarlet Tanagers.—A Subscriber. \ Jasprr’s Brrps or Norra A\gertca.—In glancing over the above work ‘ye notice that the pair of Woodcocks have five young, that thé Summer Redbird’s beak is\as red as the body, and that “ Audubon’s Birds of North America” are quoted, and that, Dr. Coués is quoted very often. Can this \ac- count for the Doctor's endorsement of this work ? ‘ Mela prom bohealn in her bill) finally began to move off in a new direction, working gradually through the shrubs to an open place where stood a Butternut tree, whose leaves hung black and dry from the effects of the sharp frost Uae UU ER LW paar a te ey fifteen feet from the nest, and the bird soon became sufficiently accustomed to my presence to make several trips toit. The identification was as good as if I had shot the bird. As I have not been able to visit the spot since, I know nothing further of the history of this rare and interesting family. I trust they will have such pleas- ant memories of this moist, malarial spot, that they will visit it again next breeding season, although there may be a spark of selfishness in the wish. This is near the northern limit of the breeding place of Helminthophaga pinus. The other rarity was taken not over a mile from the first. I happened to be in the country on the Fourth of July, when a lady said to me that she had a very beautiful bird’s nest she would like me to see, and to my sur- prise brought out a nest I had never seen before, but had heard much about, one which in material and form stands apart from any of our birds’ nests. A few pieces of the hanging gray lichen, found so abundantly on dead trees in damp places, were fastened at the upper end to a twig so as to hang closely together, the whole forming a mass about seventeen inches in length and about four in greatest thickness at the top and tapermg to a ~ SO y ee p av 80 abundantly on dead trees in damp places, were fastened at the upper end to a twig so as to hang closely together, the whole forming a mass about seventeen inches in length and about four in greatest thickness at the top and tapering to a Juty 1. My friend handed meanest and four eggs, of the Blue-Winged Yetlow Warbler, (Helminthophaga pins). The eggs are somewhat smaller than the Maryland Yellow Throats; of a pure white background, with a few brown spots and lines around the larger end. The nest resembles that of the above mentioned species, except the lining which is entirely of grapevine bark, the ends of which on up all around the i ‘DLecty, be rraoaky of the Ca. 0.& 0, elas 1884. p./3¥. Hy. WH] point at the bottom. The whole shape suggests a long tapering beard of some venerable specimen of the genus Homo. At or near the top the fibres were woven to form a pouch-shaped cavity in which was an egg of the Cowbird, which, by the way, often gets its ege in before the own- er of the nest. The cavity was hardly over an inch in diameter and about two and one-half in depth. I was much disappointed not to see the eggs, but the nest was a thing of beauty and the lady generously gave it up in the cause of science. It was found about the Ist of July in a hemlock tree on the bank of the Housatonic River, hanging from a low limb. Brewer, Minot and Ingersoll have writ- ten interesting descriptions of this nest, which is that of the Blue ee ee Warbler (Parula amerg S sh Averill, Jr., Stratford, be won Co., OF t. 1884. Two Connecticut Rarities. Although I have been in the fields but little this season, I have been fortunate enough to come across two birds’ nests that I had never found before, although the birds were old acquaintances. I think them rare enough to be worth notice. The first find was on June 15th, when, | seated on a fence at the ed of swampy woods, watching ge of a piece a friend and I were a par of Chestnut-sided War- blers that were fitting about in overhead, in hopes that the their nest. a tree y would betray Suddenly we heard a “chip” close by, saw sharp and on looking ar a little bird hopping along EEeaae ; barberry bush with an insect in its aie The Chestnut-sides were at once forgot. ten ; for within a rod of us was a Blue- winged Yellow Warbler, ( pinus. Helminthophaga Its mate was close by, and both being uneasy at our presence, kept up their single note of alarm. For some time we sat motionless, look- ing at them, and they uneasily moving from bush to bush, not daring to go to the nest while two such suspicious lookin characters were near. It was a trial of patience and the birds were beaten. The female (distinguished only by the insect Melis far ohectn in her bill) finally began to move off in a new direction, working gradually through the shrubs to an open place where stood a Butternut tree, whose leayes hung black and dry from the effects of the sharp frost of May 30th. Suddenly she disappeared in the grass at the foot of the tree, where we found the nest on the ground, close to the trunk. The female left at our ap- proach, half running and half flying along: the ground. The nest was built—outside of dead beech leayes, inside of grapevine bark. Except a single horse-hair there were no other materials in it. It was not concealed well and contained five young birds that must have left the eves about five days before. I then took up a position on a rock, about fifteen feet from the nest, and the bird soon became sufficiently accustomed to my presence to make several trips toit. The identification was as good as if I had shot | the bird. As I have not been able to visit the spot since, I know nothing further of | the history of this rare and interesting family. J trust they will have such pleas- ant memories of this moist, malarial spot, | that they will visit it again next breeding season, although there may be a spark of selfishness in the wish. This is near the northern limit of the breeding place of Helminthophaga pinus. The other rarity was taken not over a mile from the first. I happened to be in the country on the Fourth of July, when a lady said to me that she had a very beautiful bird’s nest she would like me to see, and to my sur- prise brought out a nest I had never seen before, but had heard much about, one which in material and form stands apart from any of ow birds’ nests. A few pieces of the hanging gray lichen, found so abundantly on dead trees in damp places, were fastened at the upper end to a twig so as to hang closely together, the whole forming a mass about seventeen inches in length and about four in greatest thickness at the top and tapermg to a Juty 1. My friend handed mea nest and four eggs, of the Blue-Winged Yetlow Warbler, (Helminthophaga pinus). The eggs are somewhat smaller than the Maryland Yellow Throats; of a pure white background, with a few brown spots and lines around the larger end. The nest resembles that of the above mentioned species, except the lining which is entirely of grapevine bark, the ends of which stick up all around the inner edge of the nest. A loony By. WH /' 0.& O. IX, Nov. 1884. p. /39. point at the bottom. The whole shape suggests a long tapering beard of some venerable specimen of the genus Homo. At or near the top the fibres’ were woven to form a pouch-shaped cavity in which was an egg of the Cowbird, which, by the way, often gets its egg in before the own- er of the nest. The cavity was hardly over an inch in diameter and about two and one-half in depth. I was much disappointed not to see the eges, but the nest was a thing of beauty and the lady generously gave it up in the cause of science. It was found about the 1st of July ina hemlock tree on the bank of the Housatonic River, hanging from a low limb. Brewer, Minot and Ingersoll have writ- ten interesting descriptions of this nest, which is that of the Blue Yellow-backed Warbler (Parula amer;, OLS “at Averill, Jr., Stratford, Fairfield Co., Ct. Nesting of the Blue-winged Yellow Warbler in Pennsylvania. BY ISAAC S. REIFF, PHILADELPHIA, PA. The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler, (Helmin- thophaga pinus) cannot be called a rare species in South-eastern Pennsylvania as it seems to be pretty well distributed in Philadelphia Coun- ty and those adjoining. Wherever there is a suitable site for a breed- ing place, a pair of birds is found. The breed- ing habits of this species seem to be little known, even to many of the more advanced odlogists, and very little has ever been written on the subject. This beautiful little Warbler is the most in- teresting representative of the family that re- mains with us to breed. It arrives here during the first week in May; and I think it is then al- ready mated, having never found more than one pair in the same locality. Nest building with some begins as early as the 10th of May, as I have found the nest containing young birds as early as June 8rd. ‘To the best of my knowledge it takes at least six days for the birds to complete a nest. On account of its re- tired habits during the breeding season this species is rarely met with by collectors, unless they are well acquainted with its song. Early in the morning and during the latter part of the afternoon, the birds are very active hunting for food, but through the middle of of the day, while the female is sitting, the male moves around very little, but takes his position on some tall tree situated near the nest, and at short intervals pours forth his little song, to cheer his partner while performing her labori- ous duties of incubation. I cannot state so positively, but I think that the male assists in incubation. While the male is singing, there ‘is no trouble LOGIST. 15 to locate the tree upon which he is perched, but on account of his small size and his habit of remaining on one twig a long time without moving, it is almost impossible to see him. Many times have I stood under a tree, upon which a male was singing, and looked until my neck ached trying to see the little singer, but allin vain. I might almost as well have looked for a needle in a hay. stack, and I was never successful until he made some movement, which only occurred at long intervals. ‘The moye- | ments made while singing are so slight that they are hardly perceptable at a short distance, it being merely the throwing back of the head. The site selected for a breeding place in this locality is generally a clump of blackberry bushes, on the edge of a wood. ‘They seein to prefer high ground only a short distance from water. It has been the good fortune of the writer to find six nests of this Warbler; four containing eggs and two having young birds. Nest No. 1 was found June 16, 1877, contain- ing four fresh eggs. It was on the ground in a small meadow, about ten feet from a running stream, and about the same distance from a wood, placed between two blackberry bushes, nearly hidden by tall grass, and could only be seen when standing directly over it. The female was flushed, and immediately dis- appeared in the thick bushes, where she was joined by the mate, both keeping up a continu- ous chirping, being careful to keep themselves well concealed. It was a short time before I could see either of them. I retired some dis- tance, and waited until the female returned to the nest, when I approached it cautiously and was able to look down upon it. ‘The fervale re- mained quiet, until I disturbed one of the bush- es that held the nest in plave, when she disap- peared as before. The base and outer walls of the nest were composed of dry leaves, the nest proper of coarse strips of wild grape vine bark, becoming finer towards the inner part. ‘The bottom was lined with very fine grass. Out- side depth three inches, inside two inches, out- side diameter two and a half inches, inside one and a half inches. ‘This nest, to the best of my knowledge, was the first one that was disvov- ered in this section of the country. ‘The set of four eggs is now in the large collection of Mr. J. Parker Norris. Nest No. 2 was found June 8rd, 1878, in the same meadow, occupying a similar position be- tween three blackberry bushes. It contained five young birds about three days old. ‘The ma- terial and construction are the same as in No. 1. \ Nests anp Eees or HenMinrHOPHAGA PINUS. — Mr. S. N. Roads, of West Chester, Pa., writes respecting two nests of this bird, the nidifica- tion of which is as yet none too well known. On the 12th of June, 1878, he found a pair of these Warblers showing unmistakable signs of having a nest, which latter he soon discovered, as he saw the male fly to it with a worm in his bill. It was built in the midst of a clump of tall swamp- grass, on the outskirts of a forest where there was a good deal of weedy undergrowth not over two feet high. The nest rested slightly on the ground, and was quite bulky for the size of the bird; the cavity was nearly three inches deep by two inches in width. The structure was com- posed externally of beech and oak leaves of the preceding year, which “seemed to have been carelessly strewn and stuck in as if to form a barri- cade around the brim.” The lining consisted of fine strips of grape-vine and inner bark of the oak, together with some straws. his nest contained four young birds about two days old. Mr. Roads shortly afterward procured two eggs from another nest which he found about a quarter of a mile from the same spot. These were pure white, dotted with red at the greater end, and were of just the size of those of Chrysomitris tristis, but less pomted. He also examined another set of eggs procured by a friend in the same vicinity. — Enurorr Cours, Washington, D. C. Bull, N.O.C. 3,0ct.;1878,p, S94: Nesting of the Blue-winged Yellow Fa) Warbler in Chester County, Pa. The record of nests of this rare Warbler that have been found in Chester County is as follows: Mr. Thomas H. Jackson has found three nests, one of which contained five eggs, the other two contained young birds. Mr. Samuel B. Ladd has two sets of eggs in his collection, consisting of four and five eggs respectively, which were taken by Mr. Wm. Hall, near the Westtown school, this county. Mr. Ladd found two nests himself this year, one of which contained three young Warblers, [Vol. 14-No. 9 JLOGIST etc., for I had no desire to repeat an experi- /ence I had last year with a Golden-crowned |Thrush’s nest, which I stepped on and broke the eggs. For quite along time I was unable to find any nest, having in the meanwhile made a bare spot of about fifteen feet square. By this time I was beginning to get dis- couraged, and I walked back to where I had left my box. As I stooped down to pick it ‘up I saw it was almost resting against a nest, which contained five eggs, and which I at once recognized as belonging to the Blue- |winged Yellow Warbler (Helminthophila _pinus). The nest is a beautiful structure. It is quite large, and is composed of leaves, grape- ‘vine bark, and a few pieces of straw, and is lined with fine grass and horse-hair. It was placed on the ground between the forks of a small bush, on a piece of level ground about thirty-five yards from astream of water, and at the bottom of a slight hillside in a rather open spot in the woods, not more than one hundred and fifty yards from a road. While I was looking for the nest the female was joined by the male, and they both flew from branch to branch of the neighboring trees (usually at a considerable distance from the ground) uttering notes of distress. can be no question as to the identification as I saw both birds plainly. On blowing the eggs I found that they contained small embryos. J. P. Norvio 7 0&0. XIv| There one Warbler’s egg (which was nearly hatched) and one young Cowbird. The other nest. was found June 16, and contained three eggs of the Warbler and one of the Cowbird. Both these nests were placed on the ground at the foot of a bush, in a clearing. On May 29; 1889, I had the good fortune to find a nest of this Warbler. I was looking through a good-sized and (in places) swampy woods, where two years be- fore I had found a nest of the Maryland Yellow Throat (Geothlypis trichas) and which is a favorite nesting place for the Acadian Flycatcher (Hinpidonax acadicus) three or four pairs of which breed there every year. I'‘had been there for some time and not found anything at all, when suddenly a small bird, which I did not at first recognize, got up about two or three feet off from me. Putting my collecting box on the ground I got down on my hands and knees and began to look around carefully, tearing up the weeds, ferns, Nesting of the Blue-Winged Yellow /the female might return to her nest. tiresome work waiting, however, for the birds | Warbler in Delaware Co., Pa., in 1890. On the 27th of May, 1890, I started out with the hope of finding some Warblers’ eggs. It had been raining very hard all the afternoon and evening of the previous day, and tramping through the wet woods was by no means a pleasant task. Every few minutes I would strike my head ou a branch and a shower of rain drops would run down my neck. For hours I tramped over hillsides in several woods without finding anything,—not a single nest save an old one of the Worm-eating Warbler. After Thad been looking for four or five hours I heard a pair of Blue-winged Yellow Warblers acting as if they had a nest. IT looked all over the hillsides where I heard them, and also at the top of the hill for at least twenty minutes without success. Then I thought possibly if I laid down for a time It was were very wary and disposed to regard me as an unwelcome intruder in their neighborhood. At last, however, all was quiet, and I resumed my search, this time entirely at the top of the hill (for I had about made up my mind that the nest was somewhere at the top of the hill) but still without success. This was rather discouraging as I had apparently looked thor- oughly over every available spot where the nest might be. There still remained a small piece of woods, however, divided by a fence from where I had been looking and on the edge of a large field. As a sort of forlorn hope I crossed this fence | and had taken but four or five steps when [| flushed the female, and, looking down, right at | my feet was the nest, which contained five | eggs. | It was placed at the foot of a sinall sapling, | and the bottom of the nest rested on the ground, though not embedded in it. It was not more that fifteen yards from the field I | mentioned before, and was a beautiful structure composed externally of leaves and grape-vine bark, lined with fine dried grass, and a little horse-hair. It was a trifle smaller than the one found by me last year (which also contained five eggs, which seems to be the usual number) although made of exactly the same materials. The eggs were quite heavily marked for spec- imens of this species, and were about five days incubated. As the set I found on the 29th of | May, 1889, was about seven days incubated it shows how very regular the birds are about laying. It seems to make little difference whether itis a backward spring or not the birds lay just the same and are apparently not in the least influenced by the weather. + A curious thing I have noticed about the Warblers’ nests I have found, is their apparent preference for the edge of a woods rather than in the centre. While I was packing up the eggs the birds made quite a noise, the female in particular coming to within five yards of me and uttering plaintive cries. Although I was very wet and tired I felt well satisfied with the result of my day’s tramp, for they are very rare birds in this locality. J.P. Norris: Jt Philadelphia. ee ? 6. Aveust 1800, 6, //7. wi OF, OLOGIST [Vol. 18-No. A Few Days Among the Blue- winged Warblers. | | My experience of past years with this species (/Ze/minthophila pinus), hasbeen that on the last of May or the first of June, when I found a nest, the eggs were oftener heavily incubated than fresh, so the past season I thought I would start a week earlier. I left the city on May a2rst, my object being to locate the birds on their breeding sites and see if they had commenced nest building. I spent the afternoon of the 2rst, all day of the 22d and 23d tramping over the country wherever I knew of a | suitable site, and at the end of the third day I had an attack of the blues of the very worst kind. The weather for the three days was raw and cloudy and I located only one pair of birds. I felt very badly over my poor luck and told my farmer friend who goes with me on all my egg tramps and knows as much about them as I do, but who is no collector, that I thought the birds had deserted their old breeding grounds, and that I did not think I would bother with | them any more that season as I felt sure they |were not there. He had more courage ithan I had, however, and said that he was not going to give up without another fight when I left him at the depot on Mon- day evening, where he had taken me to meet my train for the city. He told me that the first bright, sunny day he would look after them again and that I would hear good news from him before the week was out. I did not have much hope of receiving the good news he promised, but imagine my surprise when on Friday of that week I received a letter telling me to come up on Saturday as he had found two nests. On the evening of the 28th I took the |train for my friend’s place, he meeting me at the station when the train arrived. IST. tall grass, blackberry and raspberry 3. The Sunday before we had been over site and I thought it was impossible | nest to be there and we not find it, such must have been the case, for upon ing near it I sent my friend to examine od site for a pair to take up in, telling { would examine the old one but with lope of success. I went the length of soking carefully into every place large igh to contain a nest and had nearly hed the corner of the fence and almost last vine when out hopped the little -wing. I stepped up to the vine, ed into the nest, counted the eggs, rub- my eyes, looked and counted again, ied my eyes, counted the third time yelled to my friend the number, sevez. r packing them, we threw ourselves ae ground in the shade of a large oak talked the matter over, and we both e to the same conclusion that the nest t have been there when we looked for week before. fter taking a half hour’s rest and re- jing ourselves with a drink of cold ig water, we started for another site, re we found a pair of birds. The pn before this was a narrow strip of t ground on the edge of a wood about lighth of a mile in length, overgrown | bushes and vines of many different ls. We started in at the west end and } going about half way we knew the s were there by hearing their song ; hunted the whole length of the wood came to the conclusion that they had er hidden their nest so well that we ‘looked it or else had not commenced it, when reaching the end of the wood tre a fence divided it from a clover field e wasa small cluster of raspberry vines ; ping over to them and looking on the ind I saw the nest with little or no lection; it contained two eggs. On e 3d my friend secured the nest with eges. | January, 1893. ] ANI \. while fresh for his cabinet and the , six hatched; but about the time the € wis sitting Mr. Briggs died, and ir tling& the estate and when these gos were “about half grown, they wer shipped\together, twelve in numbe M. L. Rite, of Utica, Michigan, wh agreement \with Mr. Briggs, held a claim on them, The young goslings required any feeding but picked their living with the old Geese. We ho’ hear more about Mr. Rice’s success, them in the future ;\but this articl cludes all of their history up to the pi date. James B. Puri Plymouth, Wayne Co., Michigan. Nesting of the Cerulean Wark ‘ How well do I remember findin; first Cerulean Warblers’ nest. } It came about in this manner: pleasant day in May, 1890, while oul lecting skins at Greenwood, a subu St. Louis, on the Missouri Pacific Rail and about one half mile from my li and while prying around in a smal beautiful piece of forest through \ winds a small creek which goes b name of the river Des Perces, pronot De Pere, I spied a small bird fl about in a tall but slender sycamore.) first appearance I took the tiny bird | a Vireo of some species, and sat doy watch its movements for awhile t shooting. Finally it disappeared, : had just begun to beyvexed at such st ity in allowing thé bird to escape, it made its appearance again, and w thought, something in its mouth ; | such a great Areight I was not sure decided to wait awhile, and was rew with unmistakable signs of nest bui As I could see nothing of the nest, | cluded that the nest must be just b and so I left, intending to visit th again in about a week; but it we January, 1893. | AND OOLOGIST. After a drive of five miles and a good night’s rest, on the 29th I was in good trim for work, and after breakfast we started out. The first thing to be done was to examine the two nests my friend had found, which were both in the same thicket about two hundred yards apart. The first nest contained four eggs of the Warbler and one of the Cowbird. When it was found it contained two eggs of the Warbler and the Cowbird. I did not dis- turb this nest as I was going to stay until the next day. The second nest was about half finished, but my friend declared that there had been nothing added to it since he found it, but on June gth he took a set of five fresh eggs from it. Our next find was a nest containing szx fresh eggs in a small thicket on edge of a wood where I never found a pair before and have been hunting over the same ground for the past ten years. This was a grand surprise as I had never found a nest containing more than five eggs, but it seemed as if this was my lucky day and made up of surprises, for after packing the six little beauties safely in my box we started again and after a tramp of a half mile we entered a heavy wood ; after tramp- ing through it for some distance we came to a small stream of water and a clear spot containing about an eighth of an acre, with a few raspberry vines scattered about. As we entered the clear spot what was our surprise to hear the notes of the Blue- wing above our heads. It took us but a moment to find the nest which contained three fresh eggs. I left them and my friend secured the nest and five eggs for me on June 2d. After leaving this nest and tramping another half mile or more we came to an old breeding site where for the past three years we have found a nest of this species. The site isa narrow strip of ground between the last furrow of a ploughed field and an old worn fence di- viding the field from a large wood, covered with tall grass, blackberry and raspberry vines. The Sunday before we had been over this site and I thought it was impossible for a nest to be there and we not find it, but such must have been the case, for upon coming near it I sent my friend to examine a good site for a pair to take up in, telling him | would examine the old one but with no hope of success. I went the length of it, looking carefully into every place large enough to contain a nest and had nearly reached the corner of the fence and almost the last vine when out hopped the little Blue-wing. I stepped up to the vine, looked into the nest, counted the eggs, rub- bed my eyes, looked and counted again, rubbed my eyes, counted the third time and yelled to my friend the number, sever. After packing them, we threw ourselves on the ground in the shade of a large oak and talked the matter over, and we both came to the same conclusion that the nest must have been there when we looked for it a week before. After taking a half hour’s rest and re- freshing ourselves with a drink of cold spring water, we started for another site, where we found a pair of birds. The season before this was a narrow strip of clear ground on the edge of a wood about an eighth of a mile in length, overgrown with bushes and vines of many different kinds. We started in at the west end and after going about half way we knew the birds were there by hearing their song ; we hunted the whole length of the wood and came to the conclusion that they had either hidden their nest so well that we overlooked it or else had not commenced it yet, when reaching the end of the wood where a fence divided it from a clover field there wasa small cluster of raspberry vines ; stepping over to them and looking on the ground I saw the nest with little or no protection; it contained two eggs. On June 3d my friend secured the nest with five eggs. ORNITHOLOGIST [ Vol. 18—No. 1 On the afternoon of May 30th I visited the first nest spoken of. It contained five eggs of the Warbler that were cold, which led me ‘o believe the female would have laid at ms one more; but as the nest was placed in a hunch of grass and the cows had been tramping very close to it, I was afraid to leave ifanother day, and thinking a bird in hand was worth two in the bush I packed the eggs Ye my box and started for my home feeling well paid for my trip, bringing home one set of seven, one of six, one of five, and receiving, the other three sets of five in good condition when the sets were completed. \ On Sunday, June 12th, myself and friend went over the same ground and found the second nest of the pair from which I took the seven eggs. It was placed in a‘bunch of tall grass about 200 feet from the site of the first one and contained four eggs; ‘in- cubation commenced. About 300 yards from this nest we found one containing four eggs that we overlooked on the 29th of May; incubation was far advanced. Or our homeward trip we found the second nest of the last pair we found on the 28th about 50 feet from the old site, contaihing four eggs; incubation commenced. /I do not believe in robbing a pair of birds of their eggs the second time; my @bject in going after them this time was fo find out what their second clutch would consist of. I did it once before and never found but four eggs, and by this I am Jed to believe that they rarely, ifever, layymore. I hope to spend several more pleasant days look- ing after them the coming season. I would be pleased to have other col- lectors give their expefience with this spe- cies. To my mind it is one of the most interesting of the Warbler family. : Ppae Spee Philadelphia. saac S. Reif. ae R. H. Carr reported a Scarlet Tanager taken at Brogkton, Mass., on November | II, 1892. A Comparison of the Nesting Hab- its of the Long-billed and Short- billed Marsh Wren. / / The Short-billed Marsh Ween ( C7stot- horus stellarts) seems to be confined to certain sections for the nesting season. I[ know of but two places Where they are to be found in numbers, afd as these places are somewhat under thirty miles from my present residence, ahd, so far as I know, but one other oologist besides my brother and myself knowé about them, the birds are disturbed very Iittle and consequently con- gregate in gonsiderable numbers every year. ThefLong-bills (C. palustris) are common almost anywhere. The Ghort-billed usually has the first nest completed and eggs laid by the last of May And the Long-bills about. a week latey’; as at that time of the year the grass is plot very long, the nest is often built so tbat it almost touches the hummock from vhich the supporting grass grows, but I ae never seen them actually on or in the Gatos As a rule it is built some dis- tance fkom the ground, and one, containing seven eggs, was built in the top of the bunch of the grass—the tops of the live grass being Woven in and forming part of the nest. \ I have noticed that while both species build in wet meadows (in this case fresh- water meadows) the Long-bills invariably build in the tall rank grass and near some river or brook, whilé the Short-bills are equally particular in choosing a shorter and much less rank kindof grass. When the first set is laid, the gtass all over the meadows is rather short \and not very rank, so that the nests may\be anywhere and it is nothing but pure luck when one is found; but later in the season, when most of the grass is long and \ank, the Long-bills stay wherever they happen to be, while those of the other species come from all parts of the meadows, and, con- ORNITE On the afternoon of May 30th I visited the first nest spoken of. It contained five eggs of the Warbler that were cold, which led me to believe the female would have laid at least one more; but as the nest was placed in a bunch of grass and the cows had been tramping very close to it, I was afraid to leave it another day, and thinking a bird in hand was worth two in the bush I packed the eggs in my box and started for my home feeling well paid for my trip, bringing home one set of seven, one of six, one of five, and receiving the other three sets of five in good condition when the sets were completed. On Sunday, June 12th, myself and friend went over the same ground and found the second nest of the pair from which I took the seven eggs. It was placed in a bunch of tall grass about 200 feet from the site of the first one and contained four eggs; in- cubation commenced. About 300 yards from this nest we found one containing four eggs that we overlooked on the 29th of May; incubation was far advanced. On our homeward trip we found the second nest of the last pair we found on the 28th about so feet from the old site, containing four eggs} incubation commenced. I do not believe in robbing a pair of birds of their eggs the second time; my object in going after them this time was to find out what their second clutch would consist of. I did it once before and never found but four eggs, and by this I am led to believe that they rarely, if ever, lay more. T hope to spend several more pleasant days look- ing after them the coming season. I would be pleased to have other col- lectors give their experience with this spe- cies. To my mind it is one of the most interesting of the Warbler family. Tsaac S. Retff. Phileap U2 vol.18, Jau.lsv8 p,.6-8 ia as gee TS - bate bHLtHS } (H4~-Thé Interbreeding of Helminthophila pinus and H. chrysoptera.—On J3 , June 13, 1889, Mr. Samuel Robinson, who has collected with me here for the past fifteen years, noticed a male Helminthophila pinus, with food in its bill, fly and disappear at the foot of a small alder. A female Helmin- thophila chrysoptera soon appeared, also with food, and was lost to sight at the same spot as the other bird. On going to the locality five young birds flew from the nest and alighted on the bushes in the immediate vicinity. Both parent birds were soon feeding the young again. He shot the old birds and secured all the young, which, together with the nest, are in my cabinet. The locality was ground sloping toward a swampy thicket and covered with a young growth of alders. A few maple trees were in the vieinity. The nest was on the ground at the foot of a small alder and partly con- cealed by overhanging ferns and weeds. It is composed externally of oak leaves and lined with grape-vine bark, no other materials being used. The male (fzzus) is a very brightspecimen with white wing-bars, edged with yellow. The female (chkrysopftera) is strongly marked with yellow below, the wing-bars being exceptionally rich with the same color. The young, two males and three females, are all similar, and have the head, neck, chest, sides and back olive-green. Abdomen olive-yellow. Remiges like adult pzzws. Two conspicuous wing-bars of light olive, edged with yellow.—JNo. H. Sacre, Portland, Conn. Auk, Vi. July, 1889. p: 277. General Notes, “ On the Breeding of Helminthophila pinus with H. leucobronchialis at Englewood, New Jersey.—As additional evidence in this puzzling case, I desire to record the breeding of a typical male of H. pznus, with a non- typical female of leucobronchial’s. ‘The nest was found on the west slope of the Palisades at Englewood, New Jersey, June 12, 1892. It was placed on the ground in a small bushy opening in a piece of mixed woodland, and contained three eggs (one of which was broken) of the. rightful owners and one of the Cowbird. Inconstruction it agreed with typical nests of Jzwus. The eggs are similar to those of Azzus, but are some- what more heavily spotted than the average eggs of that species. The female was closely examined both while she was on the nest and in the bushes and trees near it. In coloration she was intermediate between pinus and leucobronchialis; the underparts were washed with pale yel- low, the upper back was bluish, the rump grayish; the wing-bars were white. She was flushed from the nest three times, and on each occasion was at once joined by a typical male pzzws which shared her anxiety. Frequently they were so close to each other that they were both in the field of my glass at the same time, and I thus had an excellent opportunity to compare them. The broken egg and the egg of the Cowbird were removed, On returning to the nest June 19, it was found to be deserted. While interesting in itself and of importance as a fact in the history of the relationships which exist between these two birds, this record has no decisive bearing on the case, and it would be unwise therefore to. attempt to draw inferences from it.—FRanK M. Cuapman, American Museum of Natural History, New York City. : Auk 9 ,July, 1892. p.302-3 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CERTAIN PHASES IN THE GENUS HELMINTHOPHILA. BY SPENCER TROTTER, M. D. Tur Mniotiltine genus Helminthophila has of late years presented some very interesting and curious features in the re- lations of certain of its species to one another and to several remarkable forms which have come to light in the past decade. In fact, in its earlier known history as a genus two forms appeared, one of which has only lately turned up again within our limits, while the other, if indeed it belonged with the genus, has long been relegated to the list of ‘lost’? or ‘doubtful’ species, a veritable myth, never having been seen since its first discovery, so that the genus has always figured in a rather eccentric light. The group is highly characteristic of the Nearctic Region, con- sisting of eight well defined species, which pass under the gen- eral name of Swamp Warblers. Nowhere what might be called abundant birds, the Helmznthophile still enjoy an extensive range over the continent, and are essentially migratory, as the insect nature of their food demands. The species fall into two sub- groups, as regards their general form and pattern of color, and this corresponds pretty closely with the extent of their dis- tribution. Celata, ruficapilla, peregrina, lucte, and virginte form one section, small birds of a more or less uniform and quiet colora- tion, the two former being the most widely distributed species of the genus. ; The Orange-crowned Warbler, ce/ata, with its western variety lutescenms, ranges over the entire continent from ocean to ocean, but is comparatively rare in the Eastern Province, being seldom met with. It winters southward, beyond United States limits into Mexico, and reaches high latitudes in the Northwest. The Nashville Warbler, rujicapilla, on the other hand, with as wide a range as cedata, is far more abundant in the Eastern Province than in the West, and extends its migrations northward to the Arctic Basinon the east. The Tennessee Warbler, peregrzna, is chiefly eastern in its distribution, breeding northward into high latitudes. Virginie and lucie are restricted in their ranges, being char- acteristic of the Colorado Valley and Southern Rocky Mountain region. The other section comprises bachmanz, chrysoptera, pinus, and their curious allies, Zawrencez and leucobronchtalis; birds of striking coloration and of much more restricted ranges than the three plainer colored species of the former sub-group. Bachmant is exceedingly rare, having been taken but a few times in the Southern States. The Blue Golden-winged Warbler, chry- soptera, and the Blue-winged Yellow Warbler, pzzus, are exclusively birds of the Eastern Province, the former ranging into Canada, though rarer in the Northern States, the latter scarcely if ever going beyond Massachusetts and Minnesota. Both winter south of our limits. I have taken the liberty of thus hastily reviewing the genus for the purpose of bringing together as nearly as possible our present knowledge of the distribution of the several species. The history of the two forms Zawrenced and leucobronchialis is already so well known to ornithologists that it need not be reiterated here, except to recall the very general belief of their hybrid nature. The question naturally arises in the minds of most persons who have given any thought to the subject, What does the oc- currence of such peculiar forms, taken in conjunction with other facts, signify? We are stepping into a somewhat uncertain re- _gion when we attempt to speculate on a subject of this character, but I believe that the only way in which we may hope to throw any light whatever upon such a subject is from an evolutionary standpoint. The rise and decay of genera and species in the struggle for existence; the pressure of dominant groups upon smaller and less adapted races ; action and reaction through environment ;— these are the factors involved, and that have given rise to many apparently inexplicable phenomena. A dominant group is characterized by the abundance of its forms, both in species and individuals, over wide areas, this being the index of its vigor and consequent ability to maintain itself against competitors, and its adaptability to varying conditions of environment. Rarity in species and individuals is indicative of degeneracy, the expression of the inability of the group to hold its own. Hybridism under nature is a further expression of decay, the result of a growing rarity in the individuals of a species. Of course a hybrid may be purely accidental, as I believe the case to have been with the cross between the Barn and the Cliff Swallow which I described some years ago, the result of a mesad- Iiance between two individuals during the spring flights when numbers of both species are ‘hawking’ in the air together prior to nesting. But when we see crossing repeatedly performed the question of accident must be set aside and another means of solu- tion sought. Let us see how these principles will apply to the genus He/- minthophila. Here we have a group of eight species, as has been cited above, none of which are as a rule very abundant, especially when compared with other birds, e. g., certain species of Dendroica. Recalling the distribution of the species, we find that each has a more or less definite area, but their habitats considerably over- lap one another That of the two sub-divisions noted, celata, ruficapilla, and peregrina are the most widely distributed, while chrysoptera, pinus, and their allies are much more restricted, and itis in this latter section that we find what is to my mind an evidence of decay. Strictly insectivorous, the Helminthophile have come in direct competition with other insectivorous forms, and among them the closely allied and dominant genus Dendroica, with its thirty odd well defined species, whose habits and nature closely resemble the Swamp Warblers in many ways. The pressure ex- erted by Dendroica would be very much greater in the East than in the West, owing to the greater preponderance of individuals and species in the former area ; consequently the more restricted eastern species of He/minthophila would feel this competition keenly. Many of the Denxdrotce pursue and capture their food in much the same manner as the Hedminthophile, and in similar locali- ties; more than this, the majority are expert fly-catchers, taking mature insects on the wing with much greater readiness and per- sistency than do the species of Swamp Warblers. A glance at the bills of the two will show which is the best adapted for diver- sified work. And what has been the upshot ofall this? Simply that these restricted species of Melminthophila are succumbing to more wide-spread and better adapted forms, and their decrease in num- bers, though not directly apparent in all the species, is expressed by the curious phenomena which have lately come under our notice. Bachmant is exceedingly rare, for aught we know on the verge of extinction, though it still exists in favorable localities in the vast swamps of the Southern States. The mythical carbonata might have been the last of another form,—who can tell? Audubon gave it a place in this genus. Chrysoptera and pinus yet remain fairly abundant but forced apparently to cross with each other, and the resulting forms, lawrencet and leucobronchialis, without doubt recross with the parent species.* Further, we find evidence that Azzus has un- doubtedly gone over to the strange genus Oporornts and con- tracted an alliance there. These are the facts, and we are left to draw our own conclu- sions in the best way possible. Genera and species rise up, in- crease and become dominant only to break down again under the pressure of other and better adapted forms. What the other genera of the Mniotiltidee may have been in the past we can only surmise. Those that now possess but one or two species may, and very likely have, possessed more and been dominant in their time. A change in habit under pressure and consequent structural modi- fication would be of immense advantage, and finally result in one or two well adapted species forming a well defined genus. Such may have been the history of Mniotilta, Protonotaria, and others, and such may be the future of these Helminthophile who now, as it seems to me, show unmistakable evidence of break-down after a long and severe struggle against better adapted forms. This or ultimate extinction are the only alternatives. * Brewster, Wm. Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, Vol. VI, Oct. 1881, p. 218. + Langdon, Frank W. Bull, Nutt. Ornith, Club, Vol V, Oct. 1880, p. 208, plate, iv. Auk, 4, Oct, '1887, pn JO7- 9/90: ae Lelnunthophaga pimus is the accepted name of a Warbler which, so far as known, (and it is very intimately known to the writer,) frequents chiefly, if not exclusively, deciduous woods. The name pinus implies pinicoline habits, and is therefore “glaringly false.” Bull N,O.0O, 5, Jan., 1880, p,37 710. Lhe Blue-winged Yellow Warbler. By J. N. Clark. Jézd., pp. 37, 38.—Its nesting in Southern Connecticut, where ‘ in the migrations.” O. & O. Vol. VIIE 55 & itis quite common O.and OQ. 321. Blue- winged Yellow Warbler Nesting Habits, otc. [Helminthophila Pinus]. Tes By Fred. T. Jencks. Lbid., VI. 3% Deh O.ana 9. 321. Blue- “winged Yellow Warble Nesting Habits tgc. By F 4 4 ye 1 asexol, 9p Jencks, 366. Dendreca pinus in Winter. py wove | Helminthophila Pinus). Lbid., MI. os bas 26.—Record of a specimen age and of ioe seen, in Framingham, Mass., Dec. 5, 1881. &/Uar, Jour, Bos, Zool Soc, I 1067. Der Blaufiiigelige Buschsinger, Helminthophaga pinus Batrd. 5 Blue- -winged Yellow Warbler. By H.Nehrling. Zézd., No. 12, pp. 364-366. © ae FOOlOGI SC le Garten, XXV I 1996. Nesting of the Blue- -winged Yellow er Jaedson [Jackson]. /d¢d., D. 162" ( Tes. , eB yaclinos. tt, 4htols WO Helminthophila lawrencei.—Three beautiful specimens of this bird were taken. Mr. Flint took a female at New Haven May 21, and Mr. Hoyt obtained a female at Stamford, May 23, anda male May 25. The yellow of the under parts of the female taken by Mr. Hoyt approaches the gam- boge-yellow of H. pznus, and is much brighter than that on the corre- sponding parts of Mr. Flint’s specimens.—Louts B. Bisuop, M. D., Mew FHiaven, Conn. Auk, V1. April, 1889. p. ; 193 i [ also have the following list of Lawrence's Warbler (Helminthophaga Lawrencei), none of which have been reported: May 12th, 1886, ¢ ; May 23d, 1888, 9; May 25th, 1888, ¢. " Wm. H. Hoyt. Stamford, Conn. CG &O. X1V.Mar. 1889 p.44 General Notes ft ‘pore. 16. Gage. Atlee borin. | One example only of A. lawrence¢ has been taken, a male, May 14, 1887. The yellow below is not as bright as in some specimens that I ‘have seen from New Haven and Stamford. ( AUE X, aptit, 1893. v. 209. General Notes. oe rte oLbeit Hate ‘ On the 12th of July, while looking for Helminthophila, I took an adult female H. lawrenci?. The bird is in every way like the female H. pznus excepting that the throat patch and stripe through the eye, which in the male H. lawrencrd are black, are in this specimen dusky olive-green. The specimen is quite similar to the one taken by Mr. H. W. Flint in New Haven several years ago. The young in first plumage which this bird was attending when shot were in every respect typical HW. pzvus. The male parent was not found but I feel confident that it was WH. pznus, as the young were well feathered and showed clearly the well defined black lores of the latter.—CLARK GREENWOOD VoorRHEES, New York City. Auk XI. July, 1894 pv. 259-60 ys Per IGON 2 Lown §, Rr) eee rae Cod XM), Joh 1906, p 845- Helminthophila lawrencei. On May 31, 1905, while collecting with Mr. H. W. Beers and Mr. J. C. A. Meeker, I secured in East Haven, Conn., a male H. lawrencei having the full black chin. As it was undoubtedly a breeding bird we searched the vicinity carefully for the female and nest but without result, and absence from town prevented my looking for the young later that summer. Believing some of the young might return to that neighborhood this year I revisited it on May 24, and collected another male within 300 yards of where the other was taken. This bird has the feathers of the chin yellow; the extreme upper throat black at base tipped with yellow; and the lower throat black, each barb of each feather being narrowly edged with yellow, these giving a brownish effect. In other respects it resembles the bird taken last year, except that the wing-bars are more yellow, and shows the plumage that might be expected if, as I believe, it was the young of that bird with a female H. pinws. Fourteen others of this genus examined within half a mile of this spot the same morning were all Blue-winged Warblers. CanneeTiaut, Vermivora lawrencei. Lawrencr’s WarBier.—On May 20, 1909, I collected an adult male less than two hundred yards from where those recorded in ‘The Auk’ for 1906, Vol. XXIII, p. 345, were taken. This bird closely resembles that taken May 24, 1906, but the black of the throat is purer. The capture of three males at the same place in different years would tend to show that this phase of plumage is hereditary. On June 4 of the same year, while collecting with Mr. Herbert K. Job in Woodmont, I obtained another typical male Lawrence’s Warbler. After about two hours’ search a female Blue-winged Warbler (V. pinus) was flushed from a nest containing 4 of her eggs and 2 of the Cowbird (Molothrus ater) about thirty feet from the tree where the male Lawrence’s was shot. As no others of this genus were noted within a quarter of a mile I have no doubt these birds were mated. The nest, eggs and location were typical of V. pinus, as was to be expected. All are now in my col- lection.— Louis B. BisHop, New Haven, Conn. Ank 27%. Oot+1910 p. 763 -Y64- A Third Specimen of Lawrence’s Warbler.—While collecting in a piece of low, swampy woods at Rye, Westchester Co., N. Y., on Aug. 31, 1888, Ishota Warbler, which, on the identification of Prof. J. A. Allen, proved to be a Lawrence’s Warbler (Helminthophila lawrencet). Thisbird, an adult male, is in excellent plumage. In comparison with the specimen in the American Museum of Natural History, taken at Hoboken, N. J., the throat patch is a more intense black while the black stripe through the eye is broader, being of exactly the same extent asin H. chrysoptera. In its actions it resembled H. pzuus, though, of course, I did not wait long to study its actions. The stomach contained very small beetles and larve. This is the third specimen of this bird to date.—CLarKk G. Vooruers, New York City. Auk, V, Oct,, 1888, Pp, H2 ff Me ers es celgen bud f ELITE EO SE Ne Helminthophila lawrencei. At Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, May 8, 1902, a specimen of Lawrence’s Warbler was secured, Nothing except its peculiar coloring was noted as dis- tinguishing it from numbers of other warblers feeding in the same trees with it. The specimen is a male, and seems perfectly typical. This is the first recorded instance of its occurrence on Long Island. Auk, XX, Jan., 1508, #. 33- Capture of Lawrence’s Warbler on Staten Island, N. ¥Y.— At Richmond, Staten Island, N. Y., on May 11, 1907, I found a Lawrence’s Warbler (Helminthophila lawrencei) on some dead bushes out in a dry field. Its black throat and cheeks, sharply contrasted with the rich yellow of its breast and crown, rendered it particularly conspicuous among the other warblers present. Fortunately I was able to verify my observation by shooting the bird, which proved to be a male, of typical color, with two white bars on each wing, washed with yellow, and somewhat wider and more confluent than is usual with the Blue-winged Warbler.— Jamrs Cuarin, New Brighton, N. Y. uk, 24, July,1907,p. 3843 Breeding of Lawrence Warbler in New York City.—It is with pleasure that I am able to place on record some notes of the breeding of Lawrence Warbler (Helminthophila lawrence?). This is, I believe, the twelfth individual of this species to be recorded, and the first instance of its breeding, the other eleven birds being migrants. The discovery of the nest was first made by Dr. Wiegmann early in June of the present year, and many of the following notes are from his observations. : Occurrence.— On May 15, 1903, Dr. Wiegmann observed a Lawrence Warbler in the New York Zodlogical Park, and on June 6 of last year I made a note of this species in my journal, but the glimpse I had of the bird was so brief that I then recorded the identification as not sufficiently certain for publication. The bird was first observed in the Park on May 18 of this year, and almost every day thereafter until June 16. Plumage.— The individual Lawrence Warbler under consideration was exactly like the type specimen of Herrick as described in Ridgway’s ‘Birds of North and Middle America’ (U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. No. 50, Part Il, p. 452) except that the gular patch of black extended over the entire chin. The bird was in finest plumage, the markings of the throat and lores being jet black. The wing bars were white with just a tinge of yellow when seen in a favorable light at short range. flabtiat.— The bird’s breeding place in the Zodlogical Park was in an open hardwood growth, near one of the Society’s buildings, hardly a stone’s throw from the Bird House. Song.— This resembled very closely the dreamy zree-e-e, zwee-e-e-e of the Blue-winged Warbler (#7. g:zus). An acute ear, however, could detect that the first phrase was a typical chrysoptera syllable, while the second was a perfect Azaus syllable, thus: shkree-e-e, zwee-e-e-e, the first syllable penetrating and somewhat harsh, the second long-drawn, dreamy and wheezy. Habits.—Very similar to pzaus. The male Lawrence Warbler was mated with a typical female Blue-winged Warbler. The nest was placed on the ground among a thick layer of dead leaves, and was arched over and almost concealed from view by sweet-brier vines. It was a well-made cup of dried leaves lined with strips of cedar bark. On June 13 there were six vigorous young birds in the nest, all in the typical nestling plumage of H. pinxus, showing no traces of the black markings of 77. lawrencez. Within five minutes after our arrival, both parents appeared, carrying mouthfuls of green cut-worms. The birds were very tame, allowing us to approach within eight feet without showing fear. At other times the birds were within a yard of the observer. Both parents kept up the sharp chips of warning to the young. The young birds left the nest in safety on June 16, and though search has been since made, they have not again been observed. It is hoped that this interesting and rare species, whether it be a hybrid or, as I half suspect, a species in the process of making, will make the Zoological Park its home for a third year. It has seemed to us that when the identification is as certain as in this instance, the interests of science may best be served by permitting the bird to breed unmolested, rather than by simply adding a twelfth skin to our collections, and by so doing, put an end to all hope of future observations of the bird or its offspring. I wish that ornithologists would do likewise more often in the case of extra-limital records of species where the identification of the living bird is certain—C. Witl1AM Beene, Curator of Ornithology, New Vork Zovlogical Park. eal ' ¥, 1904, D. 3 ¥7- CAPTURE OF A SECOND SPECIMEN OF HELMINTHOPHAGA LAWRENCEI. i ‘BY HAROLD HERRICK. In 1874 I had the pleasure of publishing in the “ Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia” (p. 220, pl. xv) a description of a new species of Helminthophaga that I had just been fortunate enough to unearth. It has remained unique up to the present time, and although its friends have stoutly maintained its validity, the “hybrid” theorists have sorely tried their faith ; therefore I am more than pleased to be able to set the matter per- manently at rest by announcing the capture of a second specimen of Helminthophaga lawrenceit. 'The specimen, oddly enough, was secured by Mr. Lawrence himself, who sends it to me with a letter of explanation, from which the following is an extract : — “T obtained the specimen of H. Lawrencei last fall from a dealer, who called my attention to it as having a black throat, differing in that respect from any species he had ever before met with. He said it was sent to him last spring from Hoboken, N. J., with a miscellaneous lot of Warblers. I think the acquisition of a second specimen of this species should put at rest all doubt of its validity.” This specimen agrees precisely with the type, with this slight ex- ception, that the type is an adult male, probably in the second or third year, while the bird under consideration is unquestionably a yearling male, and still has the immature yellowish tips to the coal-black feathers of the throat-patch, A slightly similar effect is seen in the yearling males of Dendreca virens. I cannot better describe it than by republishing the description of the type. “Upper parts and rump olive-green, a shade darker than in pinus. Wings bluish-gray, with two white bands, the upper not so clearly defined as in pinus, Tail bluish-gray, with the three outer tail-feathers with most of the web white, also a small white spot on the end of the fourth feather. Crown and under parts, from breast to vent, orange. A broad black patch extends from the bill through and behind the eye. Chin, throat, and fore- part of the breast black. A yellow stripe, commencing under the bill, extends back between the black eye- and breast-patches, and increases in width upon the shoulder. Length, 4.50; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.00. Meas- urements from the mounted bird.” The measurements of the two birds are as nearly identical as is possible when one bird is mounted and the other a skin. OF its habitat, the plumage of the female, and its nesting peculiarities, we can only conjecture, but it seems not unreasonable to presume that its habitat is similar to that of its near congener, 7. pinus, and that New Jersey may some day produce its nest and eges, as it has already produced the only two known specimens of the bird. ‘The female, I believe, will be found to be not unlike that of pinus, and a close inspection of supposed Specimens of the latter bird now in collections may develop some interesting facts. In conclusion it may be well to add, what by inadvertence I omitted when the description was first published, namely, that for the correct delineation of the bird in the plate I am indebted to Mr. Robert Ridgway, of the Smithsonian Institution, to whom I take this opportunity of tendering my thanks, Bull, N.O,0. 2, Jan.,1877, p, 9-20. An Interesting Specimen of Helminthopila.—Mr. E. Carleton Thurber, of Morristown, New Jersey, has kindly sent me forexamination a Zelmin- thophila, which differs considerably from anything that has been hitherto described, and which is apparently a hybrid between the hybrid 7. daw- rencet and the typical HY. piuus. It is most like the adult male 77. pzuus, the wing- and tail-markings and general coloring, both above and beneath, being essentially the same. But across the jugulum there isa broad band of heavy black spots, and the black eye-stripe, short and well defined in pinus, is in this bird narrowed to a mere line anteriorly, and posteriorly extends to the auriculars, over a portion of which it spreads, forming a dusky or blackish patch more or less broken or overlaid by a plentiful mixture of yellow. The black-spotted space on the jugulum is widest in the middle, narrowing gradually as it approaches the sides. Its greatest width is rather more than one-quarter of an inch. The spots are sub- terminal, all the feathers being tipped, and many of them edged as well, with the rich yellow of the underparts generally. This, of course, tends to conceal the black, but it cannot be entirely concealed by any arrange- ment of the feathers, and when they are disarranged ever so slightly it isa conspicuous feature. Its effectis not unlike that seen in young autumnal males of Dendroica virens, which have the black of the throat and jugu- lum more or less similarly overlaid with yellow. In briefer terms, this interesting bird may be said to be about inter- mediate in color and markings between typical pzzws, with its short, nar- row eye-stripe and uniformly yellow underparts, and the so-called 17. daw- rencet, which has a broad, black patch extending from the bill through and behind the eye, and the chin, throat, and forepart of the breast solidly black. It forms an important link in the chain of evidence sup- porting my theory* that H. pimus and H. chrysoptera frequently inter- breed, and that their offspring perpetuate a variously-characterized hybrid stock by breeding back into one or the other parent strains.. That this is the only possible way of accounting for the now almost complete series of intermediate specimens Connecting the obviously distinct species Hi. pinus and H. chrysoptera is to my mind certain, despite the able argu- ment to the contrary lately publishedt by Mr. Ridgway. Mr. Thurber tells me ‘that the specimen just described, was shot about May 15, 1884, two miles from Morristown, and exactly four and one-half miles from the place where the type of lawrence was obtained. The sex was not determined, but it is undoubtedly a male. The collector, Mr. Frank Blanchet, has also taken another hybrid of the ‘7. leucobron- chialis’ type in the same locality [as above recorded by Mr. Thurber ].— Wittram Brewster, Cambridge, Mass Auk, 3, July, 1886, Pp. A}f-[2. % Bull. Nutt: Orn. Club, Vol. VI, 1881, pp. 218-225. + Auk, Vol. II, 1885, pp. 359-303. Recent Additions to North American Avifauna, J.A, Allen, 7. Helminthophaga lawrencii, Herrick, sp. nov. LAawReENcn’s Warsirer.—Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1874, 220, pl. xv. New Jersey. Bull N,O.0. 5,April, 1880, p.89 bY eer nae i Wy Bull, N.O,.0, 6, ety, 1881, p, A/F -22 5" Lawrence’s and Brewster’s Warblers and Mendelian Inheritance. — In any discussion of the status of Lawrence’s and Brewster’s Warblers it is well to bear in mind that the facts, including the much greater abundance of Brewster’s, are in accord with Mendel’s Law of Heredity, supposing both forms to be hybrids between Helminthophila pinus and H. chrysoptera. I have written out an hypothetical explanation of the case along these lines, signalizing the two most prominent varying characters of the birds, namely, color of underparts and presence or absence of black throat patch. Familiarity with Mendel’s Law is taken for granted, and I would refer anyone to whom it is not familiar to an excellent article on the subject by W. E. Castle in Volume XX XVIII of the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, January, 1903. Let W stand for “white below’; w stand for “absence of white,”’ 7. e., “yellow.” Let P stand for “plain throat’; p stand for “absence of plainness,”’ 4. e., “black throat.” Then H. chrysoptera is pW; H. pinus is Pw; PW (the pure dominant) is Brewster’s Warbler; pw (the pure recessive) is Lawrence’s Warbler. H. chrysoptera X H. pinus is pWPw, but in plumage PW, Brewster’s Warbler. All the first generation hybrids will be Brewster’s Warbler in plumage. In the next generation there will be pure Golden-winged Warblers, pure: Blue-winged Warblers, pure Brewster’s Warblers, and pure Lawrence’s Warblers; also mixed birds of the first three forms, but none of the last form, which, being recessive, comes to light only when pure.. The original hybrids then (which will be all Brewster’s in plumage) must be fertile with one another or with the parent species for amy Law- rence’s to occur; and if they are perfectly fertile Lawrence’s must still remain a small minority. After the first generation the proportion of plumages of birds with mixed parentage should be: 9 Brewster’s, 3 chry- soptera, 3 pinus, 1 Lawrence’s. See Table. In plumage In plumage PWPW Brewster’s PWPw_ Brewster’s pwpw Lawrence’s PWpW ~ PwPw _pinus PwPW i pWpW chrysoptera pwPW Pwpw pinus PWpw _ Brewster’s pWpw_chrysoptera pwWPw “ pwPw pinus pwPW a pwpW chrysoptera PwpW MY 9 Brewster’s, 3 chrysoptera, 3 pinus, 1 Lawrence’s.— JoHN TREADWELL Nrcnots, New York City. Bok 26, Jan~1908,p. £6, > rf 196. oS A TAOCHARDSON, Cashier. UNITED STATES DEPOSITORY. ? Sess SS Ses = = Reg eS ere eat eee Pte ey A Aft Arctic: ss 4 : Saectotonel: Were eer errr yp Le! Ee el, (/ of An of a Ue, Q20t ne At 7 K Cos Pi, iy A i ‘ ; : y , he 5 : fis tities A ten hake eke ree 2 A flcners (2fln brarkas) BED ‘ e d LUG. Patti ae ime Cet Pana, : : iB. A 4 eens #7 he Ora bet ees A e fom ERK aAW o- SE ee Con m~ Ore aA, a Cece __ | Cente y = Cr+ wrk t 4 nn Avring wee Zo ae . Qa ee COREE Of. Aen, Cana ayy Av utter ley Smee ah~ ae Leen “uef ae eh plot we tare, fe Ob. sl Mie py Cal sh MB tee f ELE Ar1++1 Cho & Malerdey Be ite, Gnwh L eed Be Ow Rl tees ene ey Sees eee Mee Sorc Eby es F weed ye poker feof ores d u 0 a of : Or-aurre cl ee Lae Kel oe ll Lee yaA~G ere re f- Ame by Tok Ae ee Swit. ME RWIN, 496. AS, AJRICHARDSON, President, Cashier. UNITED STATES DEPOSITORY. Pod as ee a sai Re) oe 5 a HN ttt. em (SOF aoe | Sa. ie JSG 7 , Bs; one i Ce? parang. (Geil on oe ms eres | atathkucy Ht EO BEE ee +k Poy ee Le aie ye eae renee es. x saree f- Se ; ftcension af eas | bi ae ate vt hig Unk Ev ane 2 ae ca Des b Et wey A £. Bele. om 7 A AOA es 9 oh g as te see wd eee 3 Ss aap tif Pr [a Pe Me “Ay eae 3 oe (2247 tf ft Gee cr By ee a Pe ee Mee See oe Mee ee ©, ae Pur. 44 es pe ee Ay $f Oe x OO So ea) SOL Cena a De a ee ey es Sa “J ee cin @ ae Ae. ee ere — page ry Sha BA ty Parry Le ns eee ee ae a Fic m2 he = ee atid « (Cre o Pret itg RQ alo Nien on EL eee 1 ee rab AF FO ae € ame ee ae mi fe Y, Ah, hate F ip. QUARTERLY BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. Vol. I. APRIL, 1876. No. 1. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF HELMINTHOPHAGA. BY WM. BREWSTER. HELMINTHOPHAGA LEUCOBRONCHIALIS. Pu. 1* Adult male: summer plumage. Crown, bright yellow, slightly tinged with olive on the occiput. Greater and middle wing coverts, yellow, not so bright as the crown. Superciliary line, cheeks, throat and entire under parts; silky-white, with a slight tinge of pale yellow on the breast. Dorsal surface, —exclusive of nape which is clear ashy—washed with yellow, as are also the outer margins of the secondaries. A narrow line of clear black passes from the base of the upper mandible, through and toa short distance behind the eye, interrupted however by the lower eyelid, which is distinctly white. No trace of black on the cheeks or throat, even upon raising the feathers. Bill black. Feet, dark brown. Dimensions—length, 5.19 ; extent, 7.88 ; wing, 2.45; tarsus, .71; tail, 1.86; culmen, .53. It will be seen from the above description that this bird resembles most closely the Golden-winged Warbler, ( Helmin- thophaga chrysoptera. ) The entire absence of black or ashy on the cheeks and throat, the peculiar character of the superciliary line, and the white lower eyelid, present however differences not to be rec- onciled with any known seasonal or accidental variation of that species. The restricted line of black through the eye gives the head a remarkable similarity to that of Helminthophaga pinus, but the semblance goes no farther. The specimen above described was shot by the writer in Newtonville, Mass., May 18,1870. It was in full song when taken and was flitting about in a thicket of birches near a swampy piece of oak and maple woods. As nearly as can be remembered it did not differ much in either voice or actions * The original of our plate was drawn and colored by Robert Ridgeway, Esq., of the Smithsonian Institution, and presented by him to Mr. Brewster. Recent Additions to North American Avifauna, J.A. Allens WHITE- THROATED WARBLER. — Am, Sportsman, V, 33, Oct. 17, 1874; Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 1876, 1, plate. Massachusetts. Bull, N,O.O, 5, april, 1880, p.89 6. ‘Helminthophaga leucobronchialis, Brewster, sp. nov. 9 QUARTERLY BUELLTIN. from HZ. chrysoptera. The first notice of this specimen appeared in the ‘American Sportsman,” vol. 5, p. 33. To speculate on the probable home or range of a bird so little known would be at the present time idle. Whether it must ge placed in the same category with the unique Euspiza Townsendi, Regulus Cuvieri, etc., or like Dendreca Kirklandi, will warn up occasionally in the future at different points, or still again asin the case of Cen- tronyx Bairdit, will be found in large numbers, time alone can decide. Every fixed species of bird is probably common somewhere. ‘There is always some well stocked reservoir how- ever restricted in area, from which the choicest rarities emanate, but to locate this avian well-spring is not seldom an undertak- ing of difficulty. As previously remarked the differences in coloration in the present bird from any of its allies are so great, and of such a nature, as to render any theory of accidental variation exceed- ingly unlikely, while hybrids—at least among the smaller spe- cies of undomesticated birds—are of such shadowy and proble- matical existence that their probable bearing upon the present case is hardly worthy of consideration. It is not a little remarkable that another species* in the same genus as this, and one too apparently quite as strongly charac- terized, should have been brought to light at so nearly the same time. Bull, N.O,0, 1, April, 1876, Rr /-A. THE COMMON BUZZARD HAWK (BUTEO VULGARIS) OF EUROPE IN NORTH AMERICA. BY C. J. MAYNARD. Late in the autumn of 1873 I received a box of bird skins from Mr. J. D. Allen, of Paw Paw, Mich. ‘Phey consisted mainly of Hawks, among which was a specimen that instantly attracted my attention, for it was quite peculiar in its markings. The skin was evidently that of a Buteo, but I could not make it agree with any of the plumages of the ‘species which had come under my observation. ‘This was the result ofa hasty examin- ation, for being extremély busy at the time I laid it.one side for further comparison. Later study upon it proved as nearly as possible, without * Helminthophaga Lawrencii, Herrick. Proc. Acad. Natural Science Philac1874, pl. 15, p. 220. " i; Recent Additions to North American Avifauna, J,A. Allens 6. ‘Helminthophaga leucobronchialis, Brewster, sp. nov. WHITE- THROATED WaRBLER. — Am. Sportsman, V, 33, Oct. 17, 1874; Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 1876, 1, plate. Massachusetts. ~ Bull, N,O.O. 5, april, 1880, p- 89 The Breeding of Brewster’s Warbler near Boston.— On May 19, 1907, in the Arnold Arboretum, near Boston, Mass., I heard a bird song which I supposed at first was that of a Golden-winged Warbler. Upon investiga- tion, I found the bird on a low birch tree, feeding and singing by turns. To my surprise, though, it had the broad yellow wing-bars, bluish gray back, and yellow crown which I had expected to see, there was only a narrow black line through the eye, and an entire absence of black on the cheeks and throat, the entire under parts being silky pearl-white. Though I was entirely unfamiliar with Brewster’s Warbler in life, I had seen stuffed specimens and had read with much interest the latter-day discussions of its relation to Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers. A few days later I was allowed to see, through the kindness of Mr. Walter Deane, Mr. Brewster’s specimens of all three species, Helminthophila pinus, Hel- minthopila chrysoptera, and Helminthophila leucobronchialis, among which was the type specimen of leucobronchialis taken by Mr. Brewster in New- tonville, Mass., on May 18, 1870. The resemblance between the type specimen and the bird in the Arboretum, as I remembered it, was absolute, except that there was a very slight wash of yellow on the breast of the type specimen which I had not observed on the living bird. Interest in the Arboretum bird quickly spread and it was soon seen by many other observers, all of whom agreed that it was a Brewster’s Warbler; the first record for Massachusetts, I understand, since the taking of the type speci- men thirty-seven years ago. On June 8, a thorough search of the vicinity was made by several of our more expert local ornithologists, and the female, nest, and five eggs were discovered, the nest being located, I believe, by Mr. C. J. Maynard. The nest is on the ground, at the foot of a tiny elm tree situated among other low trees and shrubs, and is within six or seven feet of the main driveway through the Arboretum. Across the driveway at this point is a spring and the beginnings of a small brook. In the structure of the nest are interwoven brown leaves with upturned stems, after the fashion of the Blue-winged Warblers as stated in Mr. Chapman’s ‘Handbook of the Birds of Eastern North America.’ A number of interesting circumstances are to be noted: first, the female has blackish areas on the throat and cheeks, shaped like those on a Golden- wing, but has also a still blacker, narrow line extending through the eye; second, a pair of Golden-winged Warblers has been known to breed in the Arboretum, in the immediate vicinity of the present nest, for a number of years; third, this year the Golden-wings seem to be absent. Of course the most intense interest centers in the expected young, and it is to be fervently hoped that so accident will befall to prevent the suc- cessful hatching of the eggs and rearing of the young birds.— HrLen GranaEr, Cambridge, Mass. Auk, 24, July,1907,p. 3438-344 An Intergrade between Helminthophila pinus and H. leucobronchialis captured in Hyde Park, Mass.— This bird, a male, was discovered by me on the morning of June 13, 1907, on a hillside covered by a dense growth of low oaks and birches, in the town of Hyde Park, Mass. I was drawn to the bird by his song, which was identical with that of the Golden-winged Warbler, being sometimes composed of three notes, zee, zee, zee, sometimes of four, and once only of two. I thought likely that it might be breeding here, but I could find no trace of the nest, so I decided to return in the afternoon and shoot the bird if it could be found, in order that a proper examination and record of it might be made. I returned about three o’clock and shot it near the place where I had seen it in the morning. The description and measurements of this specimen are as follows: Crown yellow, with a few dark feathers. Back and wings greenish yel- low, some of the wing feathers being bluish gray edged with greenish. ‘Tail bluish gray above, the three outer pairs of feathers partly white. like those of H. chrysoptera— Waurer Faxon, Lexington, Mass. Helminthophila leucobronchialis (Brewst.) in Lexington, Mass— On the 14th of June, 1907, while walking in company with Dr. Winsor M. Tyler through a hillside pasture sloping down to a wooded swamp in the town of Lexington, Mass., I came upon a male Brewster’s Warbler in full song. This bird was often scrutinized by Dr. Tyler and myself at short range and with the aid of powerful glasses, from this time forth up to the end of June, about which time it stopped singing and disappeared from view. It wore the pure, unadulterated lewcobronchialis dress, revealing not the slightest trace of yellow on the lower parts, even when seen at close quarters and by the aid of the most favorable light. Its crown was bright yellow, lores black, this color continued behind the eye as a short, thin postocular streak (asin H. pinus). Back gray (as in H. chrysoptera). Wing-patch yellow, indistinctly divided into two bars. Lower parts silk- white, purest on the chin and throat. There were two male H. chrysoptera in the immediate neighborhood — so near that all three could be heard singing at the same time. The Brewster’s Warbler had two different songs, absolutely indistinguishable from two of the songs of the Golden-winged Warbler. The first of these 1See Note by Helen Granger, in the July number of ‘ The Auk,’ p, 348. 444 General Notes. au Both wings and tail light gray underneath. Two yellow bars on each wing, not so broad as in H. chrysoptera. A black line through the eye; sides of neck a little whitish; chin, throat, breast, sides, and belly decidedly yellow, this color being strongest on the breast. Some bluish gray feathers on the upper back and wings. Eyes hazel. Bill black. Tarsi and feet greenish black. Length, 5.05 in.; extent, 7.75; wing, 2.40; tail, 1.90; tarsus, .75; middle toe, .50; bill, 40. This specimen is now in my collection.— H. G. Hieprr, Hyde Park, Mass. Additional Notes on the Brewster’s Warbler in the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass.'— The five eggs hatched June 15; the young left the nest June 22, after remaining in the nest but seven days. This tallies exactly with what I observed in a nest of Helminthophila chrysoptera in Arlington, Mass., in 1897: the five eggs hatched June 8, the young quit the nest June 15, An agent was sent from the Museum of Comparative Zoélogy on the 22d to collect the young birds and the two parents, but he was forbidden by the authorities of the Arboretum to shoot any of them. The nest is now in the Museum (No. 5083). The parent birds in this case were, as far as I could see, a normal male H. leucobronchialis without any yellow below, and a female H. chrysoptera (essentially), the only abnormal mark that I could detect on her being a blackish line bounding the gray cheek patches above and separating them from the white superciliary streaks. The five eggs, it may be noted, were dark-spotted near the larger end and appeared like those of H. chrysoptera— Watrrer Faxon, Lexington, Mass. Helminthophila leucobronchialis (Brewst.) in Lexington, Mass — On the 14th of June, 1907, while walking in company with Dr. Winsor M. Tyler through a hillside pasture sloping down to a wooded swamp in the town of Lexington, Mass., I came upon a male Brewster’s Warbler in full song. This bird was often scrutinized by Dr. Tyler and myself at short range and with the aid of powerful glasses, from this time forth up to the end of June, about which time it stopped singing and disappeared from view. It wore the pure, unadulterated lewcobronchialis dress, revealing not the slightest trace of yellow on the lower parts, even when seen at close quarters and by the aid of the most favorable light. Its crown was bright yellow, lores black, this color continued behind the eye as a short, thin postocular streak (asin H. pinus). Back gray (as in H. chrysoptera). Wing-patch yellow, indistinctly divided into two bars. Lower parts silk- white, purest on the chin and throat. There were two male H. chrysoptera in the immediate neighborhood — so near that all three could be heard singing at the same time. The Brewster’s Warbler had two different songs, absolutely indistinguishable from two of the songs of the Golden-winged Warbler. The first of these 1See Note by Helen Granger, in the July number of ‘ The Auk,’ p, 343. Boe | General Notes. 445 was the familiar zee, zee, zee, zee of chrysoptera varied at times by docking one or two of the last notes. The second song may be represented thus: — ti-ti-titt-ti-ti, zee, the preliminary notes (sometimes increag§l to as many as eight) delivered rapidly and without any of the buzzing quality of the long, higher, final note. This song also was indistinguishable from the second song of the Golden-winged Warbler. Let us now compare the song of this bird with what has hitherto been recorded concerning the song of Brewster’s Warbler. The type specimen (Newtonville, Mass.) was singing the first song of chrysoptera when it was shot (test. Brewster and Maynard), The Arnold Arboretum bird recorded by Miss Granger in the last number of ‘The Auk,’ usually sang the same song (zee, zee, zee, zee) but on one occasion it was heard singing the second song, described above, several times in quick succession (Miss Granger, in litt.). The intergrade between H. pinus and H. leucobronchialis shot by Mr. Higbee in Hyde Park, Mass., on June 13 of this year (see Mr. Highbee’s note above) sang the first, ordinary song of chrysoptera. In brief, the few observations on the song of Brewster’s Warbler in Massachusetts disclose no differences between it and the Golden-wing. Connecticut observers, on the contrary, find that in that State Brewster’s Warbler sings sometimes like chrysoptera, sometimes like pinus, while Mr. Eames (Auk, VI, 309) and Mr. Sage (Auk, X, 209) aver that at times it utters notes peculiar to itself. But are Mr. Eames and Mr. Sage familiar with the second, less often heard song of chrysoptera? If not, the “peculiar” notes may prove to be those of the Golden-wing. , In this connection it may be worth while to complete the account of the musical repertory of H. chrysoptera. One bird, observed last June, varied his score by combining the first and second songs into one long and varied melody,— zee, zee, 2¢e, zee, ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-hi-zee; another, discovered by Dr. Tyler near the Lexington Golf Links, sang in addition to songs 1 and 2, a third peculiar song, two long-drawn notes, zee, zec-e-e-e, the second note higher than the first and delivered with a quaver. This song No. 3 sing- ularly suggested the ordinary song of H. pinus, though the relative pitch of the first and second notes was reversed. On one occasion we heard the second song given when the bird was on the wing, and modified by that rapturous delivery which goes with ‘the flight songs of birds. The author of this song was probably the Brewster's Warbler, though the proximity of two Golden-wings at the time made this a little uncertain. Tt was my intention to secure the Brewster’s Warbler at last, but I delayed shooting so long in the hope of finding through him his mate, nest, or young, that he eluded me by lapsing into silence. This is the fourth specimen of Brewster’s Warbler in Massachusetts. The other records are, Hudson, May or June, 1858, o', Sam] Jillson, now in the collection of Williams College (Purdie, B. N..O. C., IV, 184); New- tonville, May 18, 1870, o, the type, W. Brewster (Amer. Sportsman, V, Oct. 17, 1874, p. 33); Jamaica Plain, May 19, 1907, &, Helen Granger (Auk, XXIV, 343). Of these the type specimen (in Mr. Brewster’s col- lection) has a very faint tinge of yellow on the breast, the others showed no trace of yellow on the lower parts. Then there is the specimen recorded in this number of ‘The Auk,’ Hyde Park, Mass., June 13, 1907, #, H. G. Higbee, which is midway between H, pinus and H, leucobronchialis, heavily washed with yellow from the base of the pill to the under tail coverts.— Waurmr Faxon, Lexington, Mass. Quik, KKIV, Oub, 19.9. p- 448-446. Recorp or AppiTroNaAL SpecrmENs OF THE WHITE-THROATHD Waksier (Helminthophaga leucobronchialis). — In this Bulletin, Vol. 111, p- 199, Mr. William Brewster describes the fifth then known specimen of the abovemamed Warbler. I can now announce three more, and allude to what I presume is a fourth : — E 1. A very typical example shot by Mr. Samuel Jillson, in Hudson, Mass., in May or June, 1858. By considerable correspondence I traced this specimen to the collection of Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. Prof. P. A. Chadbourne, without hesitation, very kindly sent it to me for examination. The under surface is clean, silky white, with no trace of yellow anywhere; back pure ashy. It was labelled “ H. pinus, male.” This capture antedates all but the Philadelphia Academy specimen, and is the second Massachusetts occurrence. ; 2. A male is in possession of William W. Coe of Portland, Conn., taken there May 22, 1875, which I have been able to handle by his obligingly loaning me the bird. This one departs from what we consider type specimens in the amount of yellow on both the upper and under parts. There is a broad band or blotch of this color on the breast, with a slight suffusion on the chin and the rest of the ventral aspect. The whole dorsal plumage, from the crown, is faintly washed with the same tint. Compare this and next with Mr. Brewster’s accouut of E. I. Shores’s Suf- field, Conn., specimen, above alluded to. 3. At date of penning these data the following comes from my friend J. N. Clark, at Saybrook, Conn.: “Took a fine male H. leucobronchialis, May 30 [1879];— an exceptional specimen, with a patch of bright yellow across the breast from the bend of wings. Thought it was pinus when I fired; notes and habits the same.” Mr. Clark’s is the fourth for Con- necticut. 4, The “Daily Democrat” (newspaper) of Grand Rapids, Mich., of June 1, 1879, under the caption ‘‘ A New Bird,” thus alludes to a Warbler shot by Mr. Gunn in Ottawa Co.: “.... the new bird be- longs in what is called the genus Helminthophaga; it presents five dis- tinctive points of specific difference to that of its nearest congener, the golden winged warbler (Helminthophaga chrysoptera), the chief point of difference being the absence of the black throat which is a characteristic peculiarity of the golden wing, the throat in the new species being white, the chin is pale yellow, a faint line passing down on cither side as far as the cheek. The cheek patch which forms a prominent marking in the golden winged warbler, is entirely absent. The sub-maxillary stripe is not to be seen, and the lores are merely dusky; but the most peculiar feature in the coloration of the specimen is the bright yellow breast, this color extending as far down as the abdomen and over the flanks. The specimen is a female, and yet it exhibits a golden crown patch equal in intensity to that of the male golden wing.. Mr. W. A. Gunn secured this new bird, May 25th while collecting in a patch of underbrush near the edge of a heavy pine forest. He deserves great credit for so valu- able an addition to the avifauna of the State and in honor to his capturing it and ‘being the first to present it to public notice, it is named Helmin- thophaga Gunnii by Dr. Gibbs, to whom it was submitted for classification.” Allowing for slight individual variation, have we not here a ninth White- throated Golden-wing, or does “ H, gunnii” hold its own ?—H. A. Por- ‘5 pin, Newton, Mass. Bul, N,O.O. 4, July, 1879, p. /F4-VES . Zear Bo S107L, 7Lacs. Brewster’s Warbler— Thursday, Warbler, a male Singing, in the At the time he was singing the re same part of the arboretum as | same bird, He was seen the following d & day by Mr. Charles F. Faxon.— Jame Peters, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Auk 25, July-1908 De 535. “i May 14, 1908, I saw a Brewster’s Arnold Arboretum near Boston, Mass, gular three-syllabled song. He is in the ast year, and is, to all appearances, the Brewster’s Warbler (Vermivora leucobronchialis) in Lexington, Mass.— In ‘ The Auk’ for October, 1907, I recorded a Brewster’s Warbler found during the summer of that year in a swamp in Lexington, Mass. In the decade that has since elapsed, this bird has been found established in the same swamp every summer except that of 1909, when no search was made for it. In 1910 and 1918, Dr. W. M. Tyler and I made a careful study of this hybrid and its relations with the Golden-winged Warbler (V. chrysoptera) and the Blue-winged Warbler (V. pinus). The results of our observations were published by me in the Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, Vol. XL, Nos. 2 and 6, January 1911 and August, 1913. The persistence of this hybrid form in the same locality through so many consecutive years is in itself well worthy of record; I wish, too, to summarize the knowledge acquired relative to the matings of these birds and the duration of the nestling period. In the season of 1910 there were two pairs of which the males were Golden-wings, the females Brewster’s; one pair of Golden-wings ; and one unmated male Brewster’s. The issue of one of the heterogeneous pairs, Golden-wing and Brewster’s, were all Brewster’s Warblers, of the other, a mixed brood of Golden-wing and Brewster’s. The pair of Golden- wings produced Golden-wings only. In 1912 a male Golden-wing mated with a female Brewster’s. In 1913 a male Golden-wing mated with a female Blue-wing, a male Brewster’s with a female Golden-wing. The progeny of the first pair were all Brewster’s, of the second pair one Golden-wing plus several Brewster’s. In 1914 a male Brewster’s mated with a female Golden-wing; their nest was not discovered till June 16, the day the young left it. In 1917 a male Brewster’s mated with a female Golden-wing. Here are six cases of the mating of Brewster’s Warbler, each time with a Golden- wing, and one case of a Blue-wing mated with a Golden-wing. Observe that all previously published accounts of the pairing of Brewster’s Warbler have been records of the union of this form with either a Golden-wing or a Blue-wing (see my paper in Mem. Mus. Comp. Zodl., Vol. XL, No. 2, p. 71)\. It is worthy of note that the numerous Golden-winged and Brewster’s Warblers seen in this locality during these years have without exception exhibited an absolute purity of plumage in spite of the constant crossing of the two forms. In other words, no plumage intermediate between the Golden-wing and Brewster’s has cropped out. Duration of the nestling period: in 1897 the five eggs in a nest belonging to a pair of Golden-winged Warblers (Arlington, Mass.) hatched June 8, the young left the nest June 15. In 1910 the five eggs of a Brewster’s Warbler mated with a male Golden-wing hatched June 8, the young left the nest June 17. In 1917, the five eggs of a Golden-wing mated with a male Brewster’s Warbler hatched June 21, the young left the nest June 29-30. ‘The life of the young birds in the'nest therefore covers from seven to ten days. The spring of 1917 was without precedent in its backwardness. V. chrysoptera did not arrive until May 19. This is latest date for the arrival of this bird in my records of twenty-eight years, the average time of arrival bemg May 11-12, the earliest, May 3 (1905). This will account for the phenomenally late breeding of the 1917 birds given above. Several other localities in the town of Lexington are the home of Golden- winged Warblers, but none of them have ever yielded a Brewster’s Warbler, In the adjacent towns I have twice seen a Brewster’s Warbler: in Concord, May 19, 1912 (Faxon, Mem. Comp. Zodl., Vol XL, No. 6, p. 312, footnote 1), five miles from the Lexington swamp, and in Waltham, May 31, 1915, two miles from the Lexington locality— Wanrmr Faxon, Lexington, Mass. Ate. Vol. x mi, Od. SU], 7 YBI-4EL- Concerning Brewster’s Warbler.— Additional notes on Brewster’s Warbler in the July Auk (pp. 481 to 482) by Walter Faxon have much interest. In reading them I notice that he has not touched on one aspect which may not be clear to those unfamiliar with the laws of alternative inheritance. Supposing, as we do, that where as Brewster’s Warbler is the dominant, Lawrence’s is the recessive hybrid, it could not be obtained from a cross in which one of the parents was a pure-lineage bird of either species, as the white under parts of Vermivora chrysoplera or the lack of throat patch of pinus would dominate in every such case. The comparative abundance of chrysoptera in the region under discussion makes it probable that the Golden-wings observed mated were pure. Judicious shooting of chrysoptera over the leucobronchialis locality would probably induce sufficient leucobronchialis interbreeding, so that we would have the final chapter in this interesting colony; an heroic meas- ure perhaps, but doubtless more specimens are frequently taken with less return to science. To interfere with pinus would be unwise, as the spo- radic occurrence of that species in the Golden-wing’s range places it in the position of the goose that layed the golden eggs.— J. T. Nicnous, New York, Ni a: APL. XxX, awe, /41IS., Je gy Le Tur Wuitr-THROATED WARBLER (Helminthophaga leucobronchialis) in Connecticut. — Through the kindness of Mr. Charles M. Carpenter of Providence, R. I., I have lately had the pleasure of examining a speci- men of this recently described Warbler, which was shot by that gentle- man at Wauregan, Conn., May 25, 1875. The locality was a wild hill- side covered with scrub-oaks and a sprinkling of young pines. Mr. Carpenter’s attention was first drawn to its presence by its song, which at the time he mistook for that of the Golden-winged Warbler (H. chrysop- tera), though he thinks that it differed in being somewhat higher and shriller. The sex of this bird was not determined by dissection, but it is unquestionably a male. It agrees closely in every particular with my type of the species, as does also Mr. Wood’s specimen, which I have like- wise seen at Philadelphia. Indeed, it would be difficult to select three individuals of any species which vary so little inter se. The olive-green wash which is spread over the upper parts, with the exception of the nape, where an area of unmixed bluish-ash forms a narrow collar, is a marked feature in all three specimens, though the silky white of throat, cheeks, and lower eyelids, with the narrow restricted black line through the eye, may be regarded as the most salient points. The validity of this distinctly characterized species must now be regarded as established, but further facts relating to its habits and distribution remain to be elicited by future investigation. — WinL1AM BrewstER, Cambridge, Mass. Bull, N,O.0, 3, April, 1878,p, 997. Tae Wuitre-THROATED WARBLER (Helminthophaga leucobronchialis) In Connecticut. — Through the kindness of Mr. Charles M. Carpenter of Providence, R. I., I have lately had the pleasure of examining a speci- men of this recently described Warbler, which was shot by that gentle- man at Wauregan, Conn., May 25, 1875. The locality was a wild hill- side covered with scrub-oaks and a sprinkling of young pines. Mr. Carpenter’s attention was first drawn to its presence by its song, which at the time he mistook for that of the Golden-winged Warbler (H. chrysop- ; tera), though he thinks that it differed in being somewhat higher and shriller. The sex of this bird was not determined by dissection, but it is unquestionably a male. It agrees closely in every particular with my type of the species, as does also Mr. Wood’s specimen, which I have like- wise seen at Philadelphia. Indeed, it would be difficult to select three individuals of any species which vary so little inter se. The olive-green wash which is spread over the upper parts, with the exception of the nape, where an area of unmixed bluish-ash forms a narrow collar, is a marked feature in all three specimens, though the silky white of throat, cheeks, and lower eyelids, with the narrow restricted black line through the eye, may be regarded as the most salient points. The validity of this distinctly characterized species must now be regarded as established, but further facts relating to its habits and distribution remain to be elicited by future investigation. — WinL1amM Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. Bull, N,O.0. 3, April, 1878,p, Y7. Capture oF A Firre SPECIMEN OF THE WHITE-THROATED WARBLER (Helminthophaga leucobronchialis).—Iam indebted to Mr, E. I. Shores for the opportunity of examining a specimen of the White-throated Warbler, which was taken by him at Suffield, Conn., July 3, 1875. It is an adult male in very worn plumage. In every essential particular it agrees well with my type of the species, though exhibiting certain peculi- arities of coloration not found in any of the three specimens which I have previously examined. These differences are such as might be expected to occur in a series sufficiently large to present the range of individual variation, and do not tend to establish any closer connection with either of the allied species. The most marked departure from the type is pre- sented by the coloration of the under parts. The entire pectoral region is washed with pale yellow, which extends down along the sides of the abdo- men nearly to the tail. This coloring proves upon examination to be a merely superficial tipping to the feathers. In a good series of H. chrysop- tera before me several specimens occur which are marked in a nearly similar manner, though in none of them does the yellow wash extend so far down upon the sides. With this latter species it seems to be a purely individual phase of coloration, dependent neither wpon age nor season. Several young males in newly completed autumnal dress do not show the slightest trace of its presence, while a young female in fall plumage is quite distinctly tinged across the breast. The spring specimens most strongly marked are all apparently very adult birds. Another point of difference, scarcely to be expected when the unusual amount of yellow beneath is taken in consideration, is found in the restricted area of the yellow marking upon the wing-coverts. In the type specimen the wing-bands are nearly confluent, and present the appearance of a single broad yellow band upon the wing, while in Mr. Shores’s specimen they are widely separated. This, however, seems to be mainly due to the imperfect condition of the plumage, whereby the darker bases of many of the greater coverts are exposed. No further differences worthy of note occur, and the salient characters of white cheeks and eye- lids, narrow restricted black line through the eye, etc., are all strongly presented. Mr, Shores’s specimen makes the fifth that has already been brought to light, and is the second reported from Connecticut. — WILLIAM Brewstir, Cambridge, Mass. Bull, N,O.C, 3,Oct., 1878, ve 167-2090. : Another Example of Helminthophaga leucobronchialis from Connect- icut.— Through the kindness of Mr. Harry W. Flint, of Deep River, Conn., I have the pleasure of examining a specimen of this Warbler killed by him, May 18, 1880, at Deep River. It shows a slight suffusion of yellow under each eye and on the sides of chin, and the pectoral region is washed with the same color, which extends over the abdomen Hecrly to the tail. The wing-bands are very much restricted, and the white is tinged with yellow. This is, I believe, the thirteenth known example and the fifth reported from Connecticut.—Jwo, H. Sacr, Portland, Conn. [1 am indebted to Mr. Sage foran opportunity of examining the specimen above mentioned. It differs from the type, as well as from all the other examples which I have seen, in having the yellow of the forehead par- tially obscured by a superficial mark of greenish-olive, in the unusual re- striction of the wing-bands, and in the generally immature appearance of the plumage. These characteristics are just what we should expect in the female of deucobronchialis, and I doubt not that the collector’s mark of ? is correct.— WILLIAM BREWSTER, | Auk, I, Jan,, 1884, p. Gf Another Example of Helminthophila leucobroncnians uv. ‘ cut.—Mr. Harry W. Flint has kindly presented me with a specimen of this Warbler which he killed at New Haven, Conn., May 19, 1885. It isa male, and shows a slight suffusion of yellow under each eye and on the chin, as well as a light bar of the same color across the breast; rest of underparts white. The wing bars are very much restricted, and the white is tinged with yellow, and there is a spot of the same color on the back.— Jno. H. Sacre, Portland, Conn. Auk, 2, July, 1886. pv. 304/. Notes on Helminthophila leucobronchialis.—On May 26, 1888, I cap- tured a male Helmdnthophila leucobronchialis which from comparison with the original description appears to be typical. Length 4.80, spread 7.60 inches. The testes were 5-16 inch long. The stomach contained insects only. Attracted by a new song, I found it among the branches of an apple-tree close by. Apparently it was alone. During the half-hour I watched it, it alighted in the apple-trees in the orchard it was in every time but one, then, for a moment only, on a small hickory. The locality was dry, all the neighborhood being scrubby pasture with very little woodland. On May 29 I heard this song again, and soon found the bird among the branches of a gigantic and solitary hickory ina high, dry, scrubby pas- ture-lot. It was extremely shy, but was unwilling to leave the spot. On the 31st I again saw it, feeding and singing in the same tree, and equally shy. Patient watching during three hours revealed nothing more than occasional short and apparently inquisitive flights to several hickory sap- lings growing about a hazel thicket in the edge of a bushy tract adjoining this pasture. Its errand there seemed to be more with an eyé to some- thing below in the bushes than for the sake of feeding. June 3, after ascertaining the bird’s presence, I secreted myself and waited. Several times did it come in my vicinity, but only casually as it were, never evincing the least alarm; yet it certainly made the rounds of the afore- mentioned saplings more frequently than before. At last with more eagerness than usual it descended, and disappeared in the bushes (an unusual occurrence) where it apparently took possession of its nest, as in less than half a minute thereafter an AH. pznus, the first I had seen in the neighborhood, flew hastily from about the same place. This occurred at about sunset, and between that and dark leucobronchialis did not again appear in sight. I had previously had it in view, or could hear its song, almost continuously. On several days following I searched this thicket thoroughly, as it seemed, and once succeeded in flushing a pzzus, but could not even then find its nest. In company with piénus, leucobronchialis cautiously approached and surveyed me for a short time, then departed with no apparent misgivings. At all other times lewcohronchialis was near by and always reconnoitred the track of my careful search when I had moved to some distance, then, apparently satisfied, pursued its avoca- tions as before. I was not able to visit the spot again until June 17, and neither then nor since have I found this lexcobronchialis, but I did find a brood of several young being fed by an 7. Pzxus, possibly the result of a union between the two. These two birds were the only ones of the genus which I had at any time detected in the locality. During this time I had seen four other H. leucobronchialis (2. e. six in all, this season), and in widely separated localities, as follows: June 1, one was seen for a moment only in a hickory tree whence it flew into an adjoining alder swamp. It was never seen afterward. June 4, one in the edge of a dry woodland was watched some time, but never seen again, although upon a subsequent visit some time was spent in hunting for it. June 10, two were seen by a friend and myself. One, among the branches of the taller trees in a pasture-lot adjoining a dry wood, was again seen June 19 and July 7, this being the latest date I have heard its song or seen the species. The other was seen about one hour later in a similar situation, but fully three-quarters of a mile from the first... I saw this one again June 22. It was always in full song, otherwise I might never have detected it. The peculiarities of the species are numerous, especially its song, so that, aided by my field-glass, identification was perfectly satisfactory to me in each instance. Moreover, its leisurely movements in conspicuous places always gave good opportunity for study. By actual count all these birds with the exception of the one shot May 26 were seen in hickory trees seven times to three in trees of all other species combined. Its flight on many occasions was protracted to at least 400 feet, always, when so con- tinued, to a tree towering far above the surroundings. J have heard of one other HZ. leucobronchialis taken in Connecticut this year, at Stamford by a Mr. Hoyt.—Epwin H. Eames, Seymour, Con- necticut. Ank, V, Oct,, 1888, p, 2 7-27. Saybrook, Conn. O &O, XIV, Aug. 1889 p.119 Notes on Helminthophila leucobronchialis.—On May 26, 1888, I cap- [TPTOA9S *payiem pure jyaskur payaagas | lear roye ‘€ ounf “BUIPIOJ Jo ayes ay} OF -eutos 01 949 ue YIM orour 9 J ‘e0uasard s.paiq ayy Sururejssose uey} soysnq ay} ur mojeq Suryy Sururolpe yoy Aysnq v jo a8 aioe Geet | arn oe oa cent wo a é ; iy ayy Ur Fomor Jezey ¥ jnoge SuImors sSury ea arte Seat ae - Lely 2anistnbur 2. Hybridity occurs not only among different species, but among different genera; and the cross-breeds have been prolific in both cases. bho 3. Domestication does not cause this faculty, but merely evolves it.” The Rev. John Bachman subsequently took the matter up} and supported the negative side of the question, but while be severely criticised Dr. Morton’s views we find him admitting (p. 169), ‘That in avery few species a progeny has been produced that was incapable of propagating with the half-breeds,—in other words, that the hybrid male was physically incapable of having offspring with a hybrid female; hence the latter had to resort to the full blood of either species, and thus the intermediate breed returned to one or the other of the original species.” In the latter fact we doubtless have the explanation of such aberrant specimens as Nos. 1,210 and 2,620, which unmistakably exhibit a slight and otherwise unaccountable trace of hybrid parentage ; and similarly it is not unlikely that the yellow breast of occasional specimens of chrysoptera may be due to a taint of pinus blood. The impaired sexual vitality — granting, for the *“ Hybridity in Animals and Plants considered in reference to the Question of the Unity of the Human Species.” American Journal of Science and Arts, 2d Ser., Vol. III, 1847, pp. 203-211. + An Investigation of the Cases of Hybridity in Animals on Record, considered in reference to the Unity of the Human Species. Am. Journ, Sei. and Arts, 2d Ser., Vol. V, 1848, pp. 168-197. 224 Brewster ox Helminthophaga leucobronchialis. sake of argument, that it is always impaired in such cases — of the original hybrids, would soon be restored by this breeding back into one of the parent stocks, and the descendants would hence stand a good chance of being numerous, while it would certainly require the succession of many generations to wholly eliminate the traces of their mixed ancestry. And if this state of affairs exists in one genus of birds, why may it not be looked for in others? There are some puzzling instances of the occasional cropping out of respective characters among allied but apparently perfectly distinct species which cannot be explained by any of the known laws of geographical variation. The possibilities opened by this field are bewildering, but for the present we are safer to lay them aside and apply the direct analogy furnished by the case of the Helminthophage to a few obviously similar ones. Until very recently there was not a single established example of hybridity among North American Passeres, and many of our leading ornithologists were incredulous as to its occurence in a state of nature save among the Grouse and some of the Swimming Birds, while no one seems to have considered the possibility of its explaining some of the standard puzzles* that have been handed down to us by Audubon and other of the earlier ornithologists. But Mr. Trotter’s hybrid Swallow (described in Vol. III, pp. 135, 136 of this Bulletin) gave us an undoubted instance, and now we have startling evidence that some of the Helminthophaget have been regularly contracting misalliances under the very noses of the scientists who were insisting that such things could not be. Who can say where this entirely irregular state of affairs will be found to end? Cuvier’s Kinglet, with its vermclion crown-patch bor- dered by black stripes, its black eye-stripe and white wing- * From a review in a recent number of “ Nature” I learn that Mr. Seebohm in his late work on the Yurdide, forming Vol. V, of the ‘Catalogue of the Birds of the British Museum,” has lately recognized hybridity as accounting for certain obscure Old World species; but up to the time of placing the present article in the printer’s hands I have been unable to obtain a copy of his book or to ascertain the precise nature of his investigations. + Mr. Ridgway has lately shown (this Bulletin, Vol. V, p. 237) that He/minthophaga cincinnatiensis, Langdon (originally described in Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., July, 1880, pp. 119, 120, Pl. VI—description and plate reproduced in this Bulletin, Vol. V, pp. 208-210, Pl. 1V) perfectly combines the characters of Helminthophaga pinus with those of Oporornis formosa. Vf,as seems highly probable, he is right in considering it a hybrid between these species, it affords another striking example of the tendency of 4. pinus to seek alien connections. Merriam oz Birds of the Adirondack Region. 225 bands, very closely reproduces the prominent characters of Regulus calendula and R. satrapa; the Carbonated Warbler similarly combines the é/ack crown, streaked back and double wing-bands of Dendreca striata with the general coloring of Pertsoglossa tigrina, and possesses no individual characters which might not have been derived from such a parentage ;