take on a shade of green while about their roots busy family groups are at work upon the soft grassy nest which soon contains their pretty o eggs all goes well unless some wandering breaks rudely in upon the happy pair and leaves a scene of ruin behind early in july the parents have a brood of full grown young which they straightway introduce to the vicinity of the houses where we soon find them in fall possession of the of the fort and ready to join in friendly companionship with the white crowns and young long spurs the crew associate in the most congenial way during this season of plenty and a crew they make all clad in dingy and dull each apparently without an object in life but to himself on the abundance of food which the plants begin to shower down ere long however the cold storms of autumn announce the approach of winter and send many of the more sensitive off to a climate september passes the and cold are more severe and as this month ends and october begins the last of the pass on to a this species on the shores of sound as far north as bushes are found i have no record of its occurrence on the adjacent shore although it is undoubtedly found on the it can scarcely be expected to occur upon any of the islands in sea from their bleak and character ji the black snow this is perhaps the most uncommon found upon the american shore of sea and can be noted merely as a from the interior of pretty regular occurrence in spring of in the ocean it is rarely seen more than two or three times daring the season at saint at the month it is rather more common it at this latter in small numbers and is also found in the vicinity of sound and bay as specimens brought me from those by natives indicate it is unknown from the shore to the islands of sea the among the peculiar birds found on the this is one of the most remarkable it forms the giant among its kin and would scarcely be connected with its eastern relative by one not familiar with the links in the chain which unite them it extends its range from the of the east to island it has been described under various names by the older who secured it during the occupation of the territory but as in many other instances the most of our knowledge of its life history and distribution is mainly the result of work done since the country changed owners during a brief residence at in the islands in may became somewhat familiar with the habits of this bird at that season and during the stay of the at the same place in the fall of i was pleased to renew the at another season they were common in both seasons and frequented in autumn as in spring tlie vicinity of the shore with a preference for points where great masses of rock lie at the water s edge or the rugged slope of the cliff reaches out into the bay it is the habit of this bird to hop from rock to rock and scramble about along their inclined faces searching for their food close to the water s edge where it on the small marine animals by the falling water oi living there between the tide lines the male frequently to the top of some convenient point and his short rather hard but pleasant song this song consists of several loud hard notes the first two the and most musical the others rather harsh as might be expected the size of the bird the song is stronger and louder than that of its relative the familiar song during the entire time of our stay at in september and october the showed their appreciation every pleasant day by passing a considerable portion of their time upon the roof of the at the wharf or other conspicuous position elsewhere uttering their song at short intervals this stood beside the wharf to which we were and the passing to and fro of the men handling cargo or attending to other duty made a scene of bustling activity in spite of this the bird was sure to be found whenever the weather favored at other times he could be found with one or two companions searching the sandy beach close by for food the common in summer along the coast of sound and extends its range north to the shores of sound its loud clear song rises from every patch of of any size along this stretch of coast and the birds upon their first arrival about the last of may come boldly about the dwellings uttering their loud clear song from the roofs of the and other convenient stand points at the mouth it is very common and i found its song one of the most musical and striking among the very scanty choir which the advent of summer at that remote place it is unknown from any of the islands in s sea as well as from the shore its range extends within the interior of the circle although the lack of bushes along the coast limits its occurrence except on the shores of the two sounds named s this species is admitted here solely by reason of the of s a as this bird one thing is certain and that is that since s type no specimen of this bird has been secured at although numerous have visited that op steamer in the ocean and paid special attention to its neither has the bird been found on any of the eastern islands of the chain which renders its occurrence here still more improbable occurs here however in three distinct one of which answers fairly to the very insufficient description given by the nearest where has 