A supposed specimen of the Yellow Warbler (<I>Dendroica aestiva</I>), from Grenada, West Indies

2

12

GeneralNotes.

[£

u

r

k

ludavicianus, andfor this'reason is referred tothe latter form.

—

J.A.

Allen, Am.

Mus. Nat. Hist.,

New York

City.

Parula

Warbler

and Short-billed

Marsh Wren. —

^{In referring} to the ParulaWarbler and Short-billed

Marsh Wren

in the January issue Mr.

Swales has left the impression that these birds areveryrare in

Wayne

County, Michigan. Hisrecords represent the first specimens taken but not the ^firstobserved. I haveseen theParula hereat various timesdur- ing both springand autumn.

The

specimenI secured,and mentioned by Mr.Swales, istypical ofRidgwav's C. a.ramalince.

The

Short-billed

Marsh Wren

is a

summer

resident but not

common

andno eggs have been taken in thisimmediatevicinity,probablybecause no localoologist hasdevotedespecialattention tothespecies. InEcorse

Township,

on

May

27, I found two nests in asmall inlandswale covered with fine

marsh

grass interspersed with bush clusters.

The

greatest depth ofwateratthattime was about onefoot,but this swale isperfectly dryfromJulyto

November,

exceptduring shortperiodsafter heavyrains.

The

nests werefastenedtothe

marsh

grass onlya fewinches above the water.

They

were

composed

of fine grasses and were without lining, being eitherthe well

known

falsenestsor

good

ones not yet completed.

I drove one of the birds out of the grass and into a bushwhere he remained for

some

time not

more

thanfivefeet from me.

My

nextvisit

was

September 11, but no birds were seen inthemarsh. However, one was discovered in a thick

weed

tangleon thebordering high ground.

—

J.

Claire Wood,

Detroit,Michigan.

A Supposed Specimen

of theYellow

Warbler

{Dendroicaazstiva)from Grenada,

West

Indies.

—

Mr.

Ridgway

(Birds No. and Mid.America,II, p. 510, 1902) gives Dendroica astiva (Gmel.) as having occurred in Grenada. Hiswords are: "

No

certain record from

West

Indies,except Grenada,but doubtfully credited to

Bahamas

and Cuba." In thedistri- butionofthesubspecies D.^a;, cestivahe includesGrenada,"one specimen,

November

14,1882, inU. S. National

Museum

collection.

"

Through

thekindness of Dr. C.

W. Richmond

I have been enabled to

examine

the bird in question.

The

label attached to the skin reads:

"Shot on a

mangrove

tree

on

borderof

swamp

at Telescope, 14th Nov.

1SS2.

Only

2 seen." This isin thewriting of the late Mr. John Grant Wells,by

whom

the birdwas taken.

The name

of the bird asgivenon the label is "

Dendraca

petechia" but the

name

" petechia" iscrossed out and^"(estiva "writtenabove it.

The

dimensions of the bird (which

is an

immature

male)aregivenon thelabelas

"4^

inches, 7^^inches,and 2| inches."

In Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., IX, 1886, p. 611, in a list of the birds of

Grenada we

find: "No.5. Dendroicapetechia (Linn.). Yellow Bird.

"

<J ^; Length, _4^in., expanse, 7^in., wing, 2§in.

"Not numerous;

veryshy; frequents the

mangrove

trees nearto the

swamps

or

windward

side ofthe island."

Vol igo₅

Xn

] General Notes.

213

The

occurrence of "D.petechia " in Grenada was apparently basedon this specimen,if one can judge from the dimensionsgivenon the label ofthebirdandtheircorrelation with those inthe text; thelocalitygiven in the article and thatonthelabel (Telescopeisonthe

windward

sideof the island); thefact thatthe birdwasoriginallylabelled "D.petechia^";

and the fact that in writing up the species Mr.Wells gave it the local

name

of "Yellow Bird,"which

name

is also on the label in his hand- writing.

This onespecimen,therefore,representstworecords;

Lawrence

records

"D. petechia "from Grenada, and Mr. Ridgvvay D. mstiva on the evi- denceofitalone.

Now

Dendroica ruficapilla occurs as a resident in the

swamps

of Grenada,Carriacou,

Union

Island, and PruneIsland (Grenadines),and is

probablythe bird referredtoby

Lawrence

and Wellsas "D. petechia"

With

the assistanceof Mr.

Outram Bangs

I tried to determinewhether this bird

was

an example of D- ruficapilla or of D. cestiva. It is an

immature

male,withthe colorationof thefemale. In sizeit is identical withspecimensof D. cb. cestiva in Mr. Bangs'scollection, and also with specimens of D. ruficapilla obtained by myself on Prune Island and on Carriacou.

The

pileum is of the

same

coloras the backas inthe adult females of D. &stiva\ but one example of D. ruficapilla which I

obtained in Carriacou (an immaturemale)alsoshowsthischaracter,and

I have seen it in birds of that speciesfrom Dominica. There is,there- fore, absolutelyno

way

ofdistinguishingbetweenthe

young

ofthesetwo species,eitherbycoloration orsize.

From

thefollowing circumstantial evidence, however, it seemsclear to

me

that the bird in question is an exampleofD. ruficapillaand notof D.cestiva.

Although ^itappearsnot to havebeen previously

known,

D. ruficapilla occurs,as aratherrare resident, in the

swamps

on Grenada,especially on the

windward

side. Telescope (near Grenville) isoneof the localities in

which it is found. Unless one is familiar with the retiring and shy character of this bird, it is very easily overlooked, which probably accounts for the fact that no collectors ever previously obtained it on GrenadaortheGrenadines. It isfar

more

often heard than seen.

The

greatest

number

whichIeverobtained in asingle daywastwo, theresult of wadingaboutkneedeepin

mud

and waterin the midst of a mosquito infested

mangrove swamp

from sunrise to sunset. Mr. Wells,

who

recentlydied, at theageof fifty-eightyears, livedall his lifein Grenada, except foreleven years spent in Carriacou. lie never took buta single YellowWarblerin hislife, anddoes not record the species from Carria- cou,although ray specimens all

came

from a

swamp

within gunshot of hisresidence.

Ibelieve,therefore, that

we

hadbestexcludeD.astivafromtheavifauna of the

West

Indies for the present, until a bird referable to that species istaken on St. Vincent, or on

some

islandwhich hasnoresident vellow

214

^{General Notes.}

_{\_a^}

warbler, orwhichhasa specieswhich

may

bedistinguishedfrom D.(estiva inallitsforms.

— ^Austin

^H.

Clark,

Boston,Mass.

Breeding of Wilson's

Thrush

{Hylocichla fuscescens) in Virginia.

—

"Northern

New

Jersey and the northern part of the

Lake

States north-

ward"

isthebreedingrangeofWilson's

Thrush

(TurdusfuscescensSteph.) asoutlined inthe A. O. U. Check-List. Theredoes notappeartobeany recordofthebreedingof this speciesfurtherto thesouthward. Itthere- foregives

me

pleasuretorecord the fact that on June25, 1903,whileon acollecting tripin

my

interest to Mt.Rogers (5,719^ft.),Grayson County, Virginia, Mr.

Harvey

G.Davis found a nest of this species containing three eggs, which, togetherwith the parent birds, is in

my

collection.

This record definitelyestablishes the breeding range of this speciesas including the higher

mountain

region of Virginia. It isprobable that this speciesbreedsalso in themountainsof North Carolina,butthis fact doesnot

seem

to be yet established.

—

John W. Daniel,

Jr.,Lynchburg, Va.

Notes on theNestingof theVaried Thrush.

— ^The

following noteson the nesting of the Varied

Thrush

{Ixoreus ncevius) in southern British

Columbia may

be of interest, as

most

of thepublished recordsare

from more

northern latitudes.

During

the Springof 1903I hada

good

opportunity tonotetheirnest- ing habits,whilerunning a line of bear trapsatthe baseof

Cheam

Peak on thelower Fraser River,altitudeaboutseventyfeetabove sealevel.

The

birdswere found nesting in heavyconiferous forest of verytall timber,with verylittle undergrowth for the coast ^district,where dense

brushistherule.

The

nesting sitewas usuallya small treeheavily drapedwith therank growthofgreen

moss

which

grows

insuchprofusionⁱⁿthesedarkwoods.

Five nestsweretakenonthe following dates

:

28th April. Three eggs, incubation ^slight. Nest in small hemlock, ninefeet

from

ground,saddledon limbclose totrunk,

composed

ofgreen moss, twigsandrootlets, in a loosefoundation of largertwigs, and lined with shreddedcedar bark.

3d

May.

Three eggs withlargeembryos. Nestinmoss-coveredspruce, on dead limbtenfeet

from

ground. Nest

same

aslastbutlinedwith fine drygrass, withafew dead leaves in outer structure.

3dMay. Three eggs with smallembryos. Nest in leaning cedar nine feetfrom

ground

; structureand lining

same

aspreceding.

7thMay. Three eggs, nearlyfresh. Nest in vine maple {Acercircin- atum), ninefeetfrom ground.

16th

May. Four

eggs, fresh. Nest in the pendant branch of a large cedar,twelvefeetfrom ground.

The

last

may

have been asecond laying, asI noticed the birdswere breeding there two weekspreviously.

Three eggs seemsto be the average,astwo nestsI havetaken in previ-