Notes from Field and Study i73 locked together, forming a very rigid struc- ture, twelve inches wide at the base, five and one-half inches across the top, and sixteen inches high. A photograph of the nest taken after it had been carried six miles and severely handled, and reproduced in the ac- companying cut, gives a very comprehensive idea of the home of the sagacious little birds. The nest proper, perched on top of .VEST OF WESTERN HOUSE WREN" this curious tower, was composed of horse- hair, fine rootlets, grass, and feathers as a lining. The female deposited four dainty pink-colored eggs with brown splotches over them, about the size of a large marrowfat pea, quite large at one end and almost pointed at the other. A too inquisitive and careless person, whilst examining the nest, handled and broke one of the eggs, which so disgusted the little housekeepers that they immediately went to work and built about two inches of twigs over the nest, completely hiding it and the remaining three eggs, and on this oundation constructed a duplicate of the discarded nest. The nest now almost touched the roof of the shed, and shut out the possibility of peeping into it, but inquisitive human nature, procured a mirror and viewed the new home, which act so enraged and disgusted the industrious pair that they im- mediately abandoned it forever. Whether the disappointed birds sought out a new place for homemaking, free from meddlesome man, and raised a family, the friend who witnessed the tragedy related above and brought me the nest was unable to say. — W. W. Arnold, M. D . , Colorado Springs, Colo . Swallow Notes From Northern New Jersey The summer of 1904 was remarkable for the absence of Barn Swallows. Old barns that had been tenanted and used for nesting as long as the oldest inhabitants can re- member were entirely deserted. I visited an old mill and outbuildings that had always been a great resort, but not a single Swallow could be seen. This year a few pairs took to the old homes, one pair in my old barn, and a solitary pair here and there in surrounding localities. A colony of Cliff Swallows built five nests under the eaves of one barn, but the larger colonies that were here three years ago did not appear. — Henry Hales, Ridgeivood. Baltimore Oriole in Virginia in Winter In November I saw what I supposed to be a male Baltimore Oriole. On December 2 j. I saw the bird again, and it had every marking of an Oriole. It was seen by two other persons, one of whom positively iden- tified it as an Oriole or some bird having exactly the same markings. — William P. Caton, M.D.. Dumfries, Va. Migrant Shrike in Spring A Migrant Shrike seen on May 3, 1906, is the first spring record for this locality. In the June number of Bird-Lore, Mr. 'Chapman mentions one seen by him at Englewood, N. J., as the first one ever recorded from that locality in spring. This species is usually found here as a decidedly rare migrant between August and January, but one fall, a few years ago, I noted seven or eight during that period. — W. De Witt Miller, Plainfield, X. J.
