aie : i : . we HR Es a i a i srsicirtises: = See ets Sstets Besesdee saat i iy aa i Se i pn ie CONTINUATION OF THE TTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLU LD SERIES, \ eee SERIES, rot. XVIII f BULLETIN OF THE Nu B. VoL. X The Auk A Quarterly Journal of MOriithoiogy EDITOR y, & ALLEN ASSOCIATE EDITOR Cc. F. BATCHELDER VOLUME X PUBLISHED FOR The American Ornithologists’ Union NEW YORK Ji tek FOSTER 1893 “ hi Rt LN is has Ih ; yy ie Gee ve) 7 ‘ lw ee MOG ‘ b ; Rr ) f Le y pt 4 i, i? 4 AeA . | ier! a - i at i] : 4 fp) f { pin Bri i} i af} ; CONTENTS OF VOLUME. X. NUMBER I. PAGE SUMMER BirDSs OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. By ones clas Yr. e ee ON CERTAIN WASHINGTON AND BRrnise Con UMBIA Bievs. By Samuel N. Rhoads. : 5 4 : OBSERVATIONS ON THE Knor (Tringa canulus). By George H. Mackay. : 5 i : SUMMER BIRDS OF Sinan A: AND CLEARED CouNTIES, PENN- SYLVANIA. By W. E. Clyde Todd. : : ; : 3 DESCRIPTION OF A NEW pORSO FROM CALIFORNIA. By Leverett M. Loomts. : 4 : é ADDITIONS TO THE List oF MANrrosan Birps. By Ernest E. Thompson. : : : : ON THE GENUS: Pitta VieILior. “By D. G. Elliot. : : : Tue NESTING OF THE BLACK Duck ON PLumM IsLAND. By Charles Slover Allen. : “ F ; ; ; : 3 ; FirtH SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION Cueck-List oF NortTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 2 TENTH CONGRESS OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ Union. RECENT LITERATURE. Yhe British Museum Catalogue of the Picariz, 66; Cory’s ‘Cata- logue of West Indian Birds,’ 69; Dixon’s ‘The Migration of Birds,’ 70; Torrey’s ‘The Foot-path Way,’ 74; Ornithological Report of the Canadian Institute, 74; Publications Received, 75. GENERAL NOTES. Larus argentatus smithsonianus, 76; Branta canadensis, 773 Branta berueeion 77; Notes onthe American Bittern, 77; Trznga alpina on Long Island, New York, 78; The Migration of Numenius borealis in Massachusetts in 1892, 79; Char adrius sguatarola, 793 The Migration of Charadrius Genus ws in Massachusetts in 1892, 79; Black Vulture in Maine, 82; Some Additional Eastern Records of Swainson’s Hawk (Butee swarnsons’), 82; Swainson’s Hawk in the East, 83; The Nest of Panyptila cayenensis, 84; Sharp-tailed Finches of the New Jersey Coast, 85; Capture of iv Contents of Volume X. the Louisiana Tanager at New Haven, Connecticut, 86; Den- droica kirtlandi in Minnesota, 86; Geenueaee and Breeding of the Kentucky Warbler in Connecticut, 86; Heleodytes vs. Cam- pylorhynchus, 86; Salpinctes obsoletus in Washington and Oregon, 87; The Garona Wren in the Lower Hudson Valley, 87; Sitta canadensis appearing in Numbers in the District of Columbia, 88; Notes from Connecticut, 89; On the Occurrence of Three Rare Birds on Long Island, New York, go; Rare Birds near Washington, D. cue gl. CORRESPONDENCE. A Neglected Branch of Ornithology, 93. NOTES AND NEWS. Obituary, Professor John Strong Newberry, 95; Dr. Philo R. Hoy, g5- A. O. U. By-Laws and Rules, 96 ; British Ornithologists’ Club, 96; A New Journal, 96. NUMBER II. Tue GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN AND DtstTRIBUTION OF NorTH AMERI- CAN BIRDS, .CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO FAUNAL AREAS OF NortH America. By F. A. Allen. ‘ 97 NOTES ON THE PLUMAGE OF SOME BIRDS FROM eer SourH C ARO- LINA. By Leverett AI. Loomis. : A a wisn FurtHer Notres oN THE EVENING GRosBE AK. By Bee W. Butler. : : é : ‘ , : 5 alsis THE CHIONIDIDA. “By Tits W. Shufeldt. : : : : 5 . 158 Our Scorers. By G. Trumbull. ‘ : ; : SLOS OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIRDS OF JAMAICA, West Inpies. II. A List OF THE BIRDS RECORDED FROM THE ISLAND, WITH ANNO- TATIONS. By W. Z&. D. Scott. : , : : : 5) W7F SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE Genus Pitta. By ZL. Ste- never. . . . . . . : . ° ; . 181 VieiLLor’s ‘ANALYSE’ AND BurFon’s ‘Brive.’ By DG. 2ilzor. (.4id4 RECENT LITERATURE. Keeler on the ‘Evolution of the Colors of North American Land Birds,’ 189; Beddard’s ‘Animal Coloration,’ 195; ‘Our Hawks and Owls in their Relation to Agriculture,’ 199; Bolles’s ‘Chronicles,’ 201; Foster’s ‘Bibliography rof the Orme oen Writings of George N. aweace® 202; Publications Received, 203. Contents of Volume X. GENERAL NOTES. Alle alle in Virginia, 204; The American Woodcock, (Philohela minor) in Great Numbers at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, 204; Gambel’s Partridge at San Bernardino, California, 204; Aztros- fomus vociferus in South Carolina in Winter, 205; The Horned Lark ( Ofocorts alpestris) near Charleston, South Carolina, 205; Acanthis linaria in Alabama, 205; The Field Sparrow Winter- ing in Massachusetts, 205; GFunco ridgway? in Colorado, 205; Unusual Habits of Lincoln’s Sparrow, 206; Wintering of Regu- lus calendula at Washington, D. C., 206; Notes on some Con- necticut Birds, 206; Winter Birds in Connecticut, 207; Notes on Helminthophila chrysoptera, pinus, leucobronchialis, and lawrencet in Connecticut, 208; Correction, 209; The Occur- rence in Summer of Certain Warblers at Beaver, Pennsyl- vania, 209. CORRESPONDENCE. ‘““A Neglected Branch of Ornithology,” 210. NOTES AND NEWS. The Audubon Monument, 211; Captain Bendire’s Work, 211; Pterylography of the Gallina, 211; Mr. Chapman in Trinidad, 211; A New Edition of ‘Lewis and Clarke,’ 212; ‘The Birds of Montreal,’ 212; A. O. U. Membership Lists, 212. NUMBER III. A Hysrip SPARROW (Zonotrichia albicollis Snes hyemalis). By Witmer Stone. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW EeneinNe nite FROM Now Tene Mexico. By William Brewster. . 5 5 5 2 : DESCRIPTION OF A New Marsu Wikean WITH CRITICAL NOTES ON Cistothorus mariane ScotTr. By William Brewster. F : A Lisr oF THE BIRDS COLLECTED ON THE ISLAND oF TOBAGO, WEST InpiEs, BY W. W. Brown, JR., DURING APRIL AND May, 1892. By Charles B. Cory. : 5 : : : BIRDS OBSERVED ON MACKINAC ISLAND. MICHIGAN, DURING THE SUMMERS OF 188g, 1890, AND 1891. By Stewart Edward White. A Broop oF YouNG FLICKERS (Colaptes auratus) AND HOW THEY WERE Fev. By William Brewster. : : : : : : ON THE OCCURRENCE OF CERTAIN BIRDS IN BriTISH COLUMBIA. By Wielllam Brewster. . : ° . Tue Vireo huttont GRouP, WITH DESCRIPTION OFA ew RACE FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND. By Samuel N. Rhoads. . - 6 : vi Contents of Volume X. Some ApDITIONS TO THE AvIFAUNA OF NorTH CAROLINA, WITH NOTES ON SOME OTHER SPECIES. ei C. S. Brimley. : . Fry Lines. By George H. Mackay. . ; Tue GroGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE GENus | Megascops IN Nortu AMERICA. _ By Edwin M. Hasbrouck. : 4 . Brrp Nores From Lone Istanp. By William Dutcher. : : Nores ON SOME RARE BriRDS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE LONG IstAND HisroricaL Society. By William Dutcher. 6 : Nores ON Two Costa Rican Birps. By George K. Cherrie. 5 NoTes ON THE TRUNK SKELETON OF A Hyprip Grouse. By le. W. Shufeldt. oo ‘ ; . : - : : : Ae RECENT LITERATURE. Ornithology of the Death Valley Expedition, 285; Hatch’s ‘Notes on the Birds of Minnesota,’ 288; Rhoads’s Observations on British Columbia and Washington Birds, 290; Minor Ornithological Publications, 292; Publications Received, 297. GENERAL NOTES. Notes on Cassin’s Auklet, 298; Behavior of a Sandhill Crane, 300; Tonoruts martinica in Kansas, 300; Pseudogryphus californianus, 300; Cathartes aura in Chenango County, ‘New York, 301; Sztrzx pratincola in New York, 301; Short-eared Owl Nesting on Plum Island, New York, 301; Naxthocephalus wanthocephalus and Spiza americana in Maine, 302; the Ipswich Sparrow (Ammo- dramus princeps) on the Coast of Georgia, 302; A Hybrid Tana- ger, 302; The Summer Tanager in Connecticut, 303; Cape May Warbler at Shelter Island, New York, 303; Nesting Habits of Galeoscoptes carolinensts, 303; Connecticut Notes, 305; Correc- tion, 305; The Faunal Position of Lower California, 305. NOTES AND NEWS. Obituary, Jenness Richardson, 307; Unveiling of the Audubon Mon- ument, 308; Prof. Newton’s ‘ Dictionary of Birds,’ 308; Mr. Chapman in Trinidad, 308. NUMBER IV. ON THE CHANGES OF PLUMAGE IN THE BOBOLINK (Dolichonyx oryztvorus). By Frank M. Chapman : Tue Foop oF HUMMINGBIRDS. By Frederic A. Wucus ORNITHOLOGY AT THE WoRLD’s FAIR. By Frank M. Chapman > hele) a Biihe mol Contents of Volume X. THE HupsONIAN CHICKADEE AND ITS ALLIES, WITH REMARKS ON THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF BIRD RACES IN BOREAL AMERICA. By Samuel N. Rhoads OBSERVATIONS ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF Davns hpi IN MaAssAcHuUSETTS. By George H. Mackay : ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE Birps OF THE SUWANEE River. By Arthur T. Wayne : OBSERVATIONS ON THE Birps OF JAMAICA, West ‘INvirs. tw a List OF THE BIRDS RECORDED FROM THE ISLAND, WITH AN- NOTATIONS. By W. E. D. Scott ; PRELIMINARY DESCRIPTIONS OF ONE NEW SPECIES | AND Ghewo: New SUBSPECIES OF BIRDS FROM THE ISLAND OF TRINIDAD. By Frank M. Chapman RECENT LITERATURE. Shufeldt on Fossil Birds from Oregon, 343; Shufeldt on Zethyornés, and on the Classification of the Longipennes, 345; The Affinities of Hummingbirds and Swifts, 345; Ridgway on New Birds from Mexico and the West Indies, 346; Stejneger on Japanese Birds, 346; Food Habits of Birds, 347; Hasbrouck on ‘Evolution and Dichromatism in the Genus Megascofs, 347; Cook’s ‘Birds of Michigan,’ 351; Averill’s List of the Birds of Bridgeport, Conn., 352; Summer Birds of Greene County, Pa., 353; Nutting’s Zo- Ological Explorations on the Lower Saskatchewan River, 353; A New List of Chilian Birds, 354; Berlepsch and Peters on Birds from Curacao, 355; Hartert on Birds from Aruba, Bonaire and Curagao, 355; Newton’s ‘ Dictionary of Birds,’ 357; Publications Received, 360. GENERAL NOTES. Capture of the Black-capped Petrel Inland in Virginia, 361; Fregata aquila in California, 362; the Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera) in Florida, 362; an Additional Specimen of the Labrador Duck, 363; Capture of Another Ardetta neoxena at Toronto, Ontario, 363 : Another Megascops flammeolus for Colorado, 364; the Road-runner in Kansas, 364; Two Corrections, 365; the Number of Ribs in Cypselotdes, 365; an Attractive Addition to the Avifauna of the United States—J/cferus gularis yucatanensts von Berlepsch, 366; Behavior of a Summer Tanager, 367; Breeding of the Rough- winged Swallow at Shelter Island, New York, 369 ; Cereba versus Cer thiola, 369; Stray Notes from the Vicinity of Muskeget Island, Massachusetts, 370; Notes on some Connecticut Birds, 371; Con- necticut Notes, 371; Rare Birds near Baltimore, Maryland, 371. CORRESPONDENCE. The Evolution of the Colors of North American A to Criticism, 373 ; Birds of British Columbia and Washington, 380. vil Viil Contents of Volume X. NOTES AND NEWS. Obituary, Austin F. Park, 354; Benjamin F. Goss, 385; Charles F. Adams, 385; Eleventh Congress of the A. O. U., 386; a ‘Congress on Birds,’ 386; Nehrling’s ‘Birds of Song and Beauty,’ 387; Postage on Natural History Specimens, 388; ‘Novitates Zoologice,’ 388; ‘Avifauna of Laysan,’ 388. INDEX <= : : : : : : : d : : é » 389 ERRATA . ‘ : ; 3 : t . : : ; . - 407 TITLE PAGE AND CONTENTS é : : ; : : : i-viii OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES OF THE A. O. U. . : 5 : ix MEMBERS OF THE A. O. U. x PLATES IN VOLUME X. I. Black Duck’s Nest. : : ; : : : ; : a II. Black Duck Group. ; ‘ : . 3 : : ; Sahat III. Map of North American Region, showing Subregions and Provinces. . : : - : ; : : , : Oy IV. Map, showing the Subprovinces of the Warm Temperate. OY V. Bills of Ocdemta deglandi. . 3 : ; ; : : 5 WE VI. Hybrid, Fuaco + Zonotrichia. y 3 F ; ; 213 Vi.a@ Map, showing the Distribution of the North American Forms of Megascops. . : ; 3 ; ‘ d ; : 5 PAGE VI.6 Map, showing the Distribution of the Central American Forms of Megascops. . : ; : 2 : : . : . 264 VII. Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) . : ; . : - 309 ae oes) ste hard Me ieee) eth Ay oa) Go! ak J — - ‘ PLATE BHEOAUK, VOL. x PLUM ISLAND, N. Y. NEST, BLACK DUCK’S er oA SN ae ‘ re ines : PN Be ny ty J i PEATE Ii: ISS AUK, VOL. THE sROUP, BLACK DUCK (¢ MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. IN AMERICAN SLED ALK: POW Lay | O UR NAL, OF ORNITHOLOGY. VOD. 0%. JANUARY, 1893. NOV T: SUMMER BIRDS OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. BY JONATHAN DWIGHT, JR. LyinGc in the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, its low outlines just visible from the mainland, is Prince Edward Island, called by some one the ‘Garden of the Gulf.’ Compared with the rugged Labrador or Cape Breton coasts of the Gulf, this patch of green on the surrounding blue waters might to a fervid imagination suggest the appellation of garden, but when the climate, with its long winters and brief summers, and the limited productions of the island are taken into account, not to mention the seri-civilized aspect of much of the country, the name of garden does not strike the beholder as_ particularly descriptive. However, it is not my present purpose to do more than indicate the salient features of the island’s topography and flora, that my fellow ornithologists may follow me the more understandingly in my endeavor to introduce to them the avifauna of a considerable area hitherto neglected by our fraternity. Anticosti, Newfoundland, Cape Breton, and particularly the Magdalen Islands have all been visited, but Prince Edward Island has been passed by, probably because it seemed to offer fewer attractions than these wilder, rougher islands. Notwithstanding the probability that I should only meet with 2 Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. ae birds whose acquaintance I had already made in other parts of Canada, I nevertheless devoted a couple of weeks last summer to exploring the island, and am now able to say what species are characteristic summer residents; and a few words about them may not come amiss to those of us who may be familiar with them only during the migration seasons. . The length of my stay was from June 23 to July 9, and by means of the narrow-gauge railroad, supplemented by horse power, I visited both extremities of the island, making Tignish and Souris my headquarters. The remarkable feat of connecting these places by 167 miles of railroad has been accomplished (the air line distance is less than 100 miles), the promoters of the road being desirous no doubt that each feature of the land- scape should be viewed by the travelling public from at least three different points of the compass. I also stopped at inter- mediate points. The weather was favorable, mostly bright, the raw winds from the northeast and the brief rainstorms peculiar to the Gulf being the only disagreeable features, and these were less pronounced as July advanced and the sun gained power. What the climate must be in the winter time, when a belt of ice extending as far as the eye can reach surrounds the island, and binds it to the mainland by ever shifting. floes, can only be inferred from the chilling breath of the northerly breezes that in summer sweep over the frigid water of the Gulf. The ice is said to disappear in April and spring opens, but the summer is brief and chiefly confined to the months of July and August. Brant regularly remain till the Sth of June. With such a back- ward spring and such a cool and brief summer it is not surpris- ing that agriculture, beyond the production of hay, potatoes and oats, does not flourish. Corn is rarely attempted, and usually suffers by early frost. Prince Edward Island has the form of an irregular crescent, the concavity to the northward. It embraces an area of 2133 square miles. Its extreme length from East Point to West Point is about one hundred and twenty miles, and its width would probably average about twenty miles, for the coast line is very much indented by bays.. By means of them it is, roughly speak- ing, cut into three sections. [The westernmost is the nar- rowest, the width increasing eastward to nearly forty miles, the island tapering off again to a point at its eastern extremity. ee Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. 3 The geological formation of the island is a red, crumbling sand- stone that gives rise to low bluils ten to twenty feet high along the coast, these reaching a height of sixty or seventy feet at some points, notably near North Cape, at East Point, and on the north shore near New London. The blufis (or ‘clifts’ as they are called by the natives) are practically perpendicular, the waves eating them away below, and usually there is a gravelly beach of detritus at their base. They are often guttered by streams, and sloping down, parallel to the water’s edge, may be replaced by reaches of gravel or sand, or perhaps low islands, behind which are found lagoons and salt marshes, but in a few miles, perhaps in a few hundred yards, they may again unexpectedly rise to con- siderable height. The wind-swept sand beaches are chiefly along the north shore, interrupted at times by the red bluffs; and although there is always a perceptible reddish tinge to the sand, it is surprising how white it may become in some local- ities. The drifted sand-hills, fringed with more or less scanty grass, suggested the possibility of finding the Ipswich Sparrow, and yet my efforts were unrewarded, the Savanna Sparrows met with in such places being in no wise lighter-colored than those of adjacent fields, A green belt of farming country encircles the island, the pas- tures in many places extending to the very edge of the bluffs, and back of them the land is slightly rolling, nowhere reaching any considerable altitude. The only marked inequalities are due to the erosion of small brooks, and the general effect is that of a flat country. In the central section, the best settled, the farms extend from shore to shore and have succeeded the forest that once clothed the whole island. The timber has been nearly all cut, and no large bodies remain except in the western and eastern sections, where bears, still surviving in limited numbers, indicate the nature of the unsettled tracts. A few ‘blueberry barrens’ were noticed. Most of the island appears to be well drained and comparatively dry. I met with no extensive swamps, nor are the shores of the fresh water lagoons and lakes (particularly abundant near East Point) especially swampy. The lagoons have been made by the damming back of small streams behind the sandbars formed by the wearing away of the bluffs. At Tig- nish the woods were in patches interrupted by fields, this style of country being characteristic of a large part of the island. It rep- Auk Jan. 4 Dwicut, Summer Birds 0) Prince Edward Island. resents here as elsewhere the spreading of civilization that destroys utterly the forest of its own generation and takes no thought for the possible necessities of the future. Before the woodman’s axe, the evergreen forest has melted away in many parts of our conti- nent never to return, its place being taken, as is well known, by deciduous trees, they suffering in their turn, and this process is now well advanced even on Prince Edward Island. The native trees are chiefly conifer and more than nine tenths of them spruce (Prcea nigra and P. alba) and fir (Adzes balsamea). Among the more abundant deciduous trees are maples (chiefly Acer saccharinum), birches (Betula lenta, B. lutea, and RB. papyrifera, all in considerable numbers), beeches (Fagus ferruginea), and some of the willows and poplars. Of the shrubs the heath family is well represented, especially by the genera Vaccénzum (blueberries), Ledum (Lab- rador tea), and Kalmia (K. angustifolia, sheep laurel). Alders are generally distributed. As to the herbaceous plants, they are those of the northern woods and fields. It is said that some plants of the adjacent mainland are not found on the island. In other words, the twenty miles or so of the Straits of Northumberland act as a_ barrier to the possible tinge of more southern forms, and the same may influence the northward range of certain species of birds more or less common on the mainland. One may find fragrant banks of the tiny, nod- ding Linnea, pastures red with sorrel (/tumex acetosella), swamps blue with iris (/rzs versicolor), clearings green with coarse ferns, beneath which gray mosses and clumps of the scarlet bunchberry ( Corzaws canadensis) may be found, and the dark evergreen woods are carpeted with the greenest of mosses. There are many other tvees and bushes, notably larch (Zarzx americana) and arbor vite (Zhuya occtdental’s) which are rather common locally, but they are not especially conspicuous features, and I merely wish to call attention to certain parts of the flora to indicate in a very general way its character. ‘There are many tracts of second-growth, usually almost wholly beech or maple which, if small, are shunned by birds, and nowhere can one wander far without entering tracts of timber, from which per- haps only the larger trees have been culled. When fire runs through timber, dead and blackened trunks are left that in a few years become, by the rotting away of their branches, the monoto- Vol. X 1803 Dwicnut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. 5 nous dead stubs of the northern landscape. Prince Edward Island is, however, remarkably free from such tracts, having passed this period of primitive civilization. One way of clearing land, especially if it is covered with second-growth spruce, is to cut down everything and then let fire do its work when the brush isa little dry, so it is no wonder forest fires are easily started. After fire has swept through a clearing, raspberry bushes (2. s¢rzgoszs) and the willow-herb or ‘fire weed’ (2pzlobium angustifolium) are certain to spring up, although apparently there may have been none for miles, coarse ferns soon multiply, and in time the old stumps and fallen, half-charred logs are covered with mosses and lichens, while the ground, if not cultivated, is soon hidden by many sorts of plants and grasses. In such spots the White- throated Sparrow and the Slate-colored Junco find their favorite haunts, and here the Hermit Thrush makes its nest near the edge of the woods, and sings from some favorite tree. Perhaps an Olive-sided Flycatcher may be heard whistling from the top of the tallest dead tree to be found in or near the clearing, or a Wood Pewee may wander out from a bit of open woods of mixed growth near by, where also may be heard a Parula Warbler or a Red-eyed Vireo. If maples, birches, and beeches predominate, Ovenbirds will be found, and the larger the growth the more probability there is of finding the Black-throated Blue Warbler. The Winter Wren and the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher abide in the dense evergreen woods along mossy brooks where few other birds disturb the quiet, save perhaps wandering Warblers or Thrushes. In clearings grown up with small spruces Magnolia Warblers always abound, and if these trees are of considerable size there are sure to be Olive-backed Thrushes, Black-throated Green and Myrtle Warblers. The Nashville Warbler is usually found in the detached, ragged bits of mixed woods, which the Mag- nolia and Myrtle Warblers also frequent, together with Redstarts and Thrushes. Such in brief are some of the characteristic birds of the woods, and such their favorite haunts, though their tastes of course may vary and some, such as the Hudsonian and Black- capped Chickadees, the Woodpeckers, and the Golden-crowned Kinglets, are almost sure to be found in unexpected places. Then there are damp bushy tracts where the bushes may be waist high and an occasional arbor vite or larch rises above the smaller growth. Here one may seek Canadian and Wilson’s 6 Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. tan Warblers and Maryland Yellowthroats, while swampy alders suggest the probability of finding Traill’s Flycatchers and Swamp Sparrows. Ifa brook passes through the alders, Water-thrushes may be heard, but it is no easy matter to get. even a glimpse of them. The birds of the fields are numerous, the Savanna Sparrow probably outnumbering all the others put together. Vesper Sparrows and Song Sparrows abound, while the Robin and Flicker are more frequently seen in the open than elsewhere. Crows stalk about in every field, though their nests are in the woods. Goldfinches, Purple Finches, Crossbills and Cedarbirds are generally seen on the wing in the open country, and flying higher than the Swallows (Barn, Bank, and White-bellied) which most frequently are noticed skimming along near the ground or over the surface of a sheet of water. Long familiarity with the notes and habits of the birds of the Maritime Provinces enabled me to accomplish much more than if I had been a stranger to them, and even though my stay was brief, I feel confident that those species that escaped my attention were either exceedingly rare or did not occur in the localities I visited. All males were in full song, and females startled from their nests lost no time in beginning to scold. I was in the field from morning till night, and my gun with its auxilliary was a trusty friend. Of a previous visit to the island in 1876 little need be said, for the egg fever was on me at that time and the finding of a Junco’s nest was sufficient to satisfy my ambition for several days. While in Charlottetown I examined a hundred or more birds stuffed by Prof. S. N. Earle, but unfortunately they lacked data and are therefore of little use in the present connection. From him, however, I obtained much interesting information. Some notes upon the winter birds of the island have been published by Mr. Bain (Auk, II, 1885, pp. 262-267). I present here a list that embraces only the species that have come under my own observation, but it includes most of the birds that make their summer home on Prince Edward Island, the fauna of which is thoroughly Canadian. Cepphus grylle. BLAck GuriLLemMor. — The ‘Sea Pigeons’ used to breed in great numbers in the cliffs at various points along the coast. I have no doubt that they still do so in smaller numbers, although the only positive Nees. DwiGuT, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. P| evidence I have is the fact that I saw a dozen or more of the birds about a cliff near New London on the north shore of the island, and heard the young ‘squealing’ in inaccessible crevices. This cliff, extending for perhaps half a mile, is probably the highest on the island, and is almost sheer to the water seventy or eighty feet below. No beach here intervenes between its base and the waves which in times of storm beat so fiercely against it that it is justly dreaded by mariners as one of the most danger- ous spots on the north shore of the island, Its crumbling face, to the very brink of which the green fields above extend, affords ledges and seams where the ‘Sea Pigeons’ find secure nesting places, and are said to be “plenty.” I devoted only one day to exploring this locality and did not see many birds. They were in small parties or pairs, floating upon or skimming over the water, or quietly sitting upon some ledge, the white wing-patch conspicuous against the red background of rock as viewed from a boat. Their black bodies were comparatively inconspicuous owing to shadows. At Tignish a boy told me he had found a nest the previous year in the low bluffs of the north shore, and I think they may breed in the high cliffs southwest of North Cape, although I could not make thorough search. I also sawa pair at East Point where again are high cliffs. sixty feet or more in height. Larus argentatus smithsonianus. AMERICAN HERRING GULL. — A few were seen from time to time, but I could find noevidence that they bred on the island. Birds of such powerful flight might well wander in the course of a day many miles from their breeding grounds. Sterna hirundo. Common TERN. —It is probable that this species, known as the ‘Mackerel Gull,’ is the only Tern resident during the summer months, and it is abundant at many points, particularly the sandy reaches of the north shore. I visited a colony near Souris July 7, con- sisting of perhaps seventy-five pairs. Several nests found contained three eges each, and were the usual depressions in the plains of drifted sand, protected possibly by a few blades of coarse beach-grass and in one case by a few wisps of grass wound round the edge of the hollow. The birds were reserved in their demeanor, but did not hesitate to expose themselves to the danger of firearms when their nests were examined. ‘Their dainty plumage and easy flight always seem out of keeping with their harsh voices. It is pleasant to visit a colony of Terns and realize it has escaped the persecutions of the milliners, for perhaps no one genus of birds has been more thoroughly exterminated in certain sections of our country than has Sferza, thanks to Dame Fashion’s inexorable decrees. I was told that this species made its appearance each spring with wonderful regularity on the north shore—usually May 22—and always between May 21 and 24. Phalacrocorax -———-—? Two birds were seen at New London, July 2, perched on a cliff white with their chalkings, but they could not be ap- proached. I was told that ‘Shags’ were often seen on this rock, but were not thought to breed there. Whether cardo or dzlophus it is impossible for me to say. 8 Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. Auk Jan. Anas obscura. Brack Duck.— This is the only Duck of whose presence I have conclusive evidence. I saw a brood on a fresh water lake near Souris, and I found dried up on the sand one day the carcass of an adult. In several other localities I heard of nests having been found. Botaurus lentiginosus. AMERICAN BITTERN. —A tolerably common bird in suitable localities, and known by the name of ‘Mud-hen.’ Ardea herodias. Great Biur Heron. —I learned of at least two heronries of this bird, but did not visit them. One near Charlottetown was described to me as containing several hundred birds. The nests were in hard-wood growth, and were warranted to contain young each year by July 4. The Herons were seenat many points on the island, notably along St. Peter’s Bay, where I saw upwards of twenty as the train skirted the shore. They paid little or no attention to it, although often less than a gun-shot distant. Philohela minor. AMERICAN Woopcock.— The sportsmen are ac- quainted with this bird but it is considered rare. I saw a stuffed specimen, and well recollect the one I shot at I don’t know how many times when I visited Hunter River in 1876. The country about there is better suited to it than much of the ground visited this time. The partiality of the Woodcock for clean alder swamps still obtains on Prince Edward Island. Gallinago delicata. Wu£LSON’s SNIPE.— This species breeds, sparingly I fancy, at suitable places on the island. I saw a young bird in first plumage among Prof. Earle’s birds and talked with several men who had found nests. The tussocks in boggy places along brooks seem to be the usual site — in one case a nest was found in a bunch of iris. Actitis macularia. SpPoTrreD SANDPIPER. — Generally distributed along brooks in the open country and fairly common. A nest was found in an odd situation at Tignish. It was under a decayed log on a boggy slope, and was carefully lined with bits of rotten wood. Egialitis meloda. Pip1inc PLover. — Frequented the sandy or gravelly beaches in considerable numbers. Bonasa umbellus togata. CANADIAN RUFFED GRousE. — A few only were met with, although said to be abundant. A novel method of hunting them reached my ears. They come out upon the railroad in a certain section to sun themselves, and it is said the sportsman riding to and fro on a track-velocipede shoots them so that sometimes he can pick them up without stopping. I was informed by gunners that Dendragapus cana- densis does not inhabit the island. Circus hudsonius. MArsH Hawk. — Birds of this species were occa- sionally seen, recognizable at long distances by the white bar on the tail. It was almost the only Bird of Prey met with. Aquila chrysaétos. GoLDEN EAGLE. —I examined a live specimen in young plumage, captured June 23, in a fox trap set for it, near New London. The man who caught it thought there was a nest near by in a piece of woods, and expected to trap the old birds as well, one of which he had seen. After visiting the locality I am inclined to doubt whether the bird was bred on the island. Eagles are considered rare birds there by all the hos Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. 9 people with whom I talked, and probably stray from wilder regions, such, for instance, as Cape Breton. Falco columbarius. PIGEON HAwxk.—A bird that I took to be this species was seen one day. Prof. Earle showed me a stuffed specimen. Pandion haliaétos carolinensis. AMERICAN OspREY.—Seen both at Tignish and Souris in limited numbers. Coccyzus erythrophthalmus. BLACK-BILLED Cuckoo.— One specimen obtained at Tignish is the only evidence I have of its occurrence on the island. Ceryle alcyon. BELTED KINGFISHER. — Tolerably common, making its home in holes dug into the sand stratum that overlies the rock of the bluffs along the shores. Dryobates villosus. Hairy WooppecKeEr. — Occasionally. observed. There seemed to be a great dearth of Woodpeckers, the Flicker alone excepted. Dead trees did not abound, still there were a great many of them scattered here and there. Dryobates pubescens. Downy Woopprecker.— The only birds I chanced to meet were a family at Souris occupying a hole thirty feet from the ground in a dead maple of large dimensions. The locality was a grove of old maples. Sphyrapicus varius. YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. — This species was also unexpectedly rare and seldom met with. Ceophleeus pileatus. PILEATED WoOoODPECKER. -—Said to have been formerly common. Prof. Earle showed mea stuffed specimen, but I found no other evidence, save hearsay, of its occurrence. No ‘mortise holes’ were discovered. Colaptes auratus. FLicker. — The only abundant Woodpecker, and found everywhere in moderate numbers. June 25, a nest with fully fledged young was examined in the top of a hollow fence post. No excavation had been made by the bird, and the young were entirely exposed to the weather. Chordeiles virginianus. NiGHTHAWwK.—A few were seen almost every day, frequenting the open clearings or sailing high in the air at sunset. Chetura pelagica. CHIMNEY Swirt.— Rather rare, and not often seen. In a country where a majority of the houses have but one chimney, and that chimney in use from one vear’s end to another’s, it is not remarkable that the Chimney Swift still nests in its primitive manner in hollow trees, but it is remarkable how soon it takes kindly to civiliza- tion when this has advanced to the point of building houses with a spare- room chimney. Trochilus colubris. RusBy-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD —Not observed, but undoubtedly occurs. Prof. Earle showed me stuffed specimens. Tyrannus tyrannus. KINGBirD.— Rather common, and no doubt greatly enjoys life where there are so many Crows to be harrassed. Contopus borealis. OLIVE-sIDED FLYCATCHER.— One specimen was observed at Souris. Prof. Earle was familiar with it. Contopus virens. Woop PrwEE.—Not common, though now and then met with in certain localities, 2 1g@) Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. aoe Jan. Empidonax flaviventris. YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER. — Found only at Tignish and in smallnumbers. The dryness of the other localities visited would partly account for its absence. The scarcity of this and the following species rather surprised me. Empidonax pusillus trailliii TramLi’s FLYCATCHER.—A few at Tignish in their favorite haunts, the alders, were the only ones met with. It is likely that both this species and the preceding are in some other localities more abundant than my observations would indicate. Empidonax minimus. Least FLycarcHer.—A cheerful series of ‘che-bécs’ greeted me one morning at Souris. It is really easier to distin- guish this bird from ¢vazldz7 by its notes than by the bird in hand, but the bird in hand is, unfortunately perhaps, a scientific necessity. No others were seen. Cyanocitta cristata. BLue JAy.—Not abundant, and only occasionally met with. No Perdsoreus canadensis were even heard of. [Corvus corax principalis RAveN.—I was told thata pair of Ravens had formerly nested for several years on the face of the cliff at East Point, and while I think my informant could have made no mistake as to the species, I hesitate about admitting a bird to the list on hearsay only. ] Corvus americanus. AMERICAN Crow.—Nowhere, in the breeding season, have Iever seen Crows so abundant and so tame. ‘They were never out of sight or hearing, and they sit on the fences and ‘caw’ at you derisively as you ride by. Of course their numbers were augmented by young birds, and early in July they were beginning to flock, as indicated by a gathering of nearly a hundred seen July 4. AtTignish there was a roost in a large patch of woods, whither towards sundown and later Crows were seen converging from all directions. In the woods a terrible noise was kept up until it grew dark. The Crows do not molest the farmer to any great extent, as he raises no corn, but I was told they kill young chickens and pick out the eyes of new-bornlambs. They daily congregate for a feast in the fields where the refuse of the many lobster- canning establishments is used as a fertilizer. Scolecophagus carolinus. Rusty BLAcKsBIRD.—A flock of twenty or more, largely young birds, near East Point July 7, were the only ones seen. I had heard of their occurence elsewhere. Quiscalus quiscula zneus. BrRONZED GRACKLE.—A pair of these birds in Prof. Earle’s possession were the only ones he had ever seen, very likely stragglers from the mainland. Carpodacus purpureus. PurpPLE FINCH. — Sparingly distributed, a restless and roving species, and seen singly or in pairs. Loxia curvirostra minor. AMERICAN CROSSBILL. — Perhaps more abundant than the following species, but the flocks are so often made up of birds of both species, and so much more frequently seen or heard flying overhead rather than allowing a closer examination, that it is difficult to estimate their numbers. At any rate both were occasionally seen in flocks of old and young, sometimes one species predominating (usually the flock was almost entirely made up of one species), sometimes the eee Dwicur, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. it other. Although the call notes are quite distinguishable, those of leucop- tera being harsher, itis no easy matter to determine percentages in chat- tering flocks of a dozen or more birds. Their favorite feeding haunts were larch trees, and, unless disturbed, they were silent as they hung about the branches in all conceivable attitudes, usually upside down. They also feed on the seeds from the green cones of the fir which are tipped with freshly exuded pitch at this season, ifit be a cone year. The pitch often mats on the bills and feathers of the birds. Dissection showed the breeding season to be long past. Loxia leucoptera. WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. — Rather numerous. The remarks made under the preceding species apply also to this. Neither can be seen every day, for both are great wanderers. Spinus tristis. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.—A few seen almost daily. Spinus pinus. PINe Siskin.—It surprised me to meet with this species but once—a male at Souris. Dissection showed the bird to be breeding. Poocetes gramineus. VESPER SPARROW.—An abundant bird, frequent- ing the open fields in the more settled districts. Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna. SAVANNA SPARROW. — It is probably the most abundant bird on the island, and is found everywhere except in woods. On sand beaches, marshes, or dry fields its weak song was constantly to be heard, and in certain pastures it seemed as if every third fence post were occupied by asinger. As an illustration that flying is a matter of practice on the part of young birds, I instance a young Savanna Sparrow that I flushed one windy day ina pasture where the grass was very short. The wind upset all his calculations and himself as well, apparently getting under his wings and turning him upside down every time he started on a fresh flight. He would get along pretty well for a rod or so and then a puff would send-him bowling over the sod till he reached a point of fright and exhaustion that left him panting just where he happened to roll. Ammodramus caudacutus' subvirgatus. ACADIAN SHARP-TAILED Fincu.—A few birds in a salt marsh at Tignish were the only ones I could discover, although I searched in many other localities. As Mr. Wm. Stone found this form abundant at Tignish in 1876 (recorded as A, cauda- cutus, for subvirgatus was not then separated, Brewster, Bull. N. O. C., Vol. II, Jan. 1877, p. 28), I was surprised not to find it more abundant. I saw likely ground along East River, but did not have time to explore it, and the birds very possibly may be locally distributed here and at other points also. Zonotrichia albicollis. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.—This bird so characteristic of the Canadian Fauna is less abundant than the ubiquitous Junco, but on account of its loud and striking song is far better known to the average inhabitant. It is a bird of the clearings, building its nest upon the ground in a bunch of weeds, and singing nearly all of the time it is not occupied scolding intruders. Its well-known song is easily imitated, and it is amusing to see how angry and excited a male will become if he thinks another has strayed into his own domain. The song 12 Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. avuie Jan. is sometimes heard breaking the stillness of the night, and only those who have passed a night in the northern woods can know how profound this stillness may be. The song has given to the bird many local names wherever it occurs, one of the best known being ‘Kennedy Bird.’ I heard a new version which credits him with saying ‘Good Lord, pity me, pity me, pity me.’ When the young get on the wing, the song is less fre- quently heard. The bird is known to the few French settlers of the island as vossignol (nightingale). Spizella socialis. CHIPPING SPARROw.—Not a common ‘species, and only occasionally observed. Junco hyemalis. SLATE-COLORED JuNco.—Next to the Savanna Spar- row this is probably the most abundant bird on the island. It is found everywhere,—in dooryards, open fields, fern-clothed clearings, even deep woods. Its nest is on the ground, preferably under something—the bottom rail ofa fence or a hole in some grassy bank. Young were just beginning to fly June 23, and a week later nests with fresh eggs indicated a second laying. Its local name is ‘Bluebird,’ a strange misnomer, even though Szaldza séalis does not occur. Melospiza fasciata. SONG SPARROW.— Very abundant and generally distributed. Mr. Bain states that some winter on the island. Melospiza georgiana. SwAmp SPARROW.— Rather common in very wet, bushy meadows, with alders here and there, or in open swamps of limited area, such as occur along brooks in cleared country. Petrochelidon lunifrons. CLIFF SwALLow.—A common bird, locally distributed, and nesting in colonies under the eaves of barns and houses. Chelidon erythrogaster. BARN SwALLow.— Abundant and generally distributed. Tachycineta bicolor. WHITE-BELLIED SwALLow.— Fairly abundant, nesting in old Woodpecker holes in clearings, crevices about barns, and the hollow ends of the rails composing the zigzag fences so common on the island. The sudden disappearance of a Swallow as it alighted on a fence was almost startling until I learned that in some deep hollow, de- cayed out of the heart of an unsplit rail, was a cosy nest of grass and feathers. It was impossible to dislodge the birds that were sometimes out of arm’s reach, but several nests examined the last week in June contained young. I have never found this species nesting in such a location before. Clivicola riparia. BANK SwALLow.—I perhaps do this species an in- justice when I say that it is outnumbered by the Savanna Sparrow and the Junco. I saw colonies of hundreds at several points along the coast, and as every bluff is crowned by a layer of sand, and much of the coast line is a continuous bluff, the Swallows have unrivalled opportunities for nesting places. Ampelis cedrorum. CEDARBIRD.— Seen now and again, but not com- mon. There is a remarkable similarity between a lisp of this species, a certain note of the Robin, and one of the Hermit Thrush. Vireo olivaceus. RED-EYED VIREO.—A common and ina few localities an abundant bird, here as elsewhere a tireless songster. It prefers decid- uous trees, particularly large maples. Vol. X eas Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. 13 Vireo solitarius. SoLiTARy VIREO.—At Souris one day I was attracted by the song of this bird, and soon saw the performer. This was the only specimen observed on the island. I have often met with it on the main- land, and fully expected to find others, as its rich, clear song, disconnected withal in delivery, cannot fail to attract attention. Mniotilta varia. BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER.— Occasionally seen or its ‘wiry’ song heard, though not very common. Helminthophila ruficapilla. NAsHvILLE WARBLER.— Rather abundant at Tignish and not met with elsewhere. The activity of this bird is highly commendable, unless you are in pursuit of one, when you are not so favor- ably impressed. Hardly pausing to dash off its lively song, it is one moment at the very top of some tall tree and the next on the ground a hundred yards away where its song breaks forth quite as vigorously. The bird is the embodiment of restlessness. Compsothlypis americana. PARULA WARBLER.— Infrequently observed and generally in the upper branches of hard-wood forest. Dendroica zstiva. YELLOW WARBLER.— Rather common and quite as likely to be found among lonely alder thickets as in the trees around houses. Dendroica czrulescens. BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER.— A few were detected at Souris. I did not see such extensive hard-wood timber anywhere else on the island, and as the species has a decided preference for such localities, its absence elsewhere is perhaps not to be wonderedat. Dendroica coronata. MyrTLE WARBLER.—Common. Their song reminded me of early spring days in lower latitudes. Their favorite haunts were clumps of spruces and firs in partly cleared land. Dendroica maculosa. MAGNOLIA WARBLER.— This is the characteristic Warbler of the region and is abundantly represented. It is most abun- dant in low growths of spruces, where the variety of its song is often con- fusing. Dendroica virens. BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER.— Abundant at every place visited where the forest was composed of trees of consider- able size. Dendroica palmarum hypochrysea. YeLLow PALM WaARBLER.—An incubating female taken at Tignish is the only evidence I have of this bird’s occurrence. The locality was damp, cleared ground, growing up with bushes and small larches. Seiurus aurocapillus. OvEeNBIRD.— One was noted at Tignish, anda number at Souris in the hard-wood timber. It is doubtless fairly common in suitable localities. Seiurus noveboracensis. WATER-THRUSH.— A few were met with at Tignish only. It isa species that but for its loud:song would easily escape notice. Invariably found along brooks or in their near vicinity. Geothlypis philadelphia. MourninG WarpBLer.— Apparently rare, though a few were found at Souris in the bushy edges of dry fields adjoining the woods. Geothlypis trichas. MaryLAND YELLOWTHROAT.— Found sparingly * 14 Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. real in the western portion of the island. None were noted at Souris, although I have no doubt they occur there. Sylvania pusilla. Wuitson’s WARBLER.— One specimen was secured at Tignish in an extensive arbor-vitea and alder swamp. This is a retir- ing species and is probably not uncommon if particular search be made for it. Sylvania canadensis. CANADIAN WARBLER. — Rather common about Tignish, but not met with elsewhere, although I have no doubt it occurs in suitable localities. Setophaga ruticilla. AMERICAN REepsTART.— Abundant. One of its songs might be easily confused with one of D. maculosa. ‘The importance of recognizing songs in a region where the denseness of the woods and underbrush renders the sight or capture of the vocalist often well-nigh impossible, is very great, but to depend entirely upon one’s ear in identi- fying birds is a procedure greatly to be deprecated. Troglodytes hiemalis. W1nteR WreN. — Tolerably common in damp woods along brooks, or sometimes in more open localities. On July 6 I met with a family of young birds able to fly. That so minute a bird should produce such a volume of liquid sound is ever to me a source of wonderment. It is often impossible to see the little fellow when he is pouring forth his song right over your head, but those who have ever entered a dense second-growth of spruces, with a wilderness of dead twigs interlacing below, know one of the difficulties that beset the path of the collector in the northern woods. Sitta canadensis. RED-BELLIED NuTHATCH. —I had about given up seeing this species at all when I came upon several at Souris, probably a family. They‘feed usually in the upper boughs of spruces, and seldom run up and down the trunks of trees like their white-breasted brethren. They have a nasal cry of one note, uttered with varying intensity, and never rapidly repeated like the other species. Of course I should not venture such general conclusions as these with regard to this species, nor to others, if they were not based upon further observations made else- where. Parus atricapillus. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. — Occasionally small roving families were encountered, so that it is probably a fairly common species. Parus hudsonicus. HupsoNniAN CHICKADEE.—Tolerably common, but not attracting attention to itself so aggressively as does atricapillus. However, when it does speak out, it always seems to me to make use of the ungrammatical expression ‘It’s mé-e,’ with a good deal of emphasis on the ‘me-e.’ Regulus satrapa. GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. — Infrequently ob- served. Young were on the wing the last of June. It should have proved much more abundant than I found it to be. Turdus ustulatus swainsonii. OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH. — Very abun- dant, almost equalling in numbers the Hermit Thrush. They are usually excessively shy and difficult to obtain, although several may be singing wr Vol. X 1893 Dwicut, Summer Birds of Prince Edward Island. 15 within hearing atthe sametime. They frequent thick growths of spruces, and from some commanding perch pour forth their rich song. If they become aware of your approach evena gunshot or more away, they dive down into the dense undergrowth, and a few soft alarm notes are the last you hear of them. Squeaking to them will bring them to you for one brief look, which satisfies them, but not you, for they generally see you first and at close range. Sometimes they sing in the thickets of spruces, but are more apt to have a particular perch, perhaps on some towering, dead tree. I heard no songs that I had any reason to suppose were other than true swaznsoniz, for the possibility of finding d¢cknelli or alicie had to be kept constantly in mind. I found no young, even up to the last. day of my stay,but that proves nothing with a bird so retiring. They sang more persistently and in greater numbers in the early morning and late evening hours. Turdus aonalaschke pallasii. Hermir THrRusH.— Slightly more abundant than the preceding species, and perhaps more generally dis- tributed. The songs and notes of this species have been so frequently confused with those of other Thrushes, particularly with those of the Olive-backed Thrush, that an effort on my part to call attention to the differences that exist between them may not be without interest. The deliberate character of its song is in marked contrast to that of swaznsont? and its musical ability is more varied. The usual song dies out without the rising inflection of swaznson77, and there is a pause after the first syl- lable, while in swazusonc¢ there is no pause and the second syllable is strongly accented, the whole song being quickly delivered. The Hermit Thrush has also a nasal note of complaint in two ellided syllables, a cluck like a Blackbird, and a lisp not unlike a Cedarbird. The nasal note has its counterpart in swaznsonzz which utters a similar, but more liquid note, and the cluck of PadlaszZ may be compared with a ‘puk’ or ‘pink’ (as near as it can be represented) of swaznsontz. The lisp is peculiar to patlasit, while there is a queer multiple note of soliloquy peculiar to SWALNSONTL. Merula migratoria. AMERICAN Rosin. — Very abundant in the more open country. An occasional one is said by Mr. Bain to remain through the winter, subsisting on the berries of the mountain ash. 16 Ruoans, Washington and British Columbia Birds. oa NOTES ON CERTAIN WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA BIRDS. BY SAMUEL N. RHOADS. Owrnc to unavoidable delay in the publication of a complete paper on the birds I observed in Washington and British Colum- bia in 1892 I am induced to present the following remarks on some of the more noteworthy species. These notes are based for the most part on a collection of birds made during the past spring and summer on Puget Sound, Vancouver Island, and in parts of British Columbia south of the fifty-third parallel between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast. Of the twenty species recorded as new to the fauna of British Columbia a few may be found in Lord’s list,’ but owing to the debatable nature of the territory surveyed by that naturalist and the inaccuracy of many of his statements, we are forced to ignore it in this connexion. Additions to the lists of Messrs. Chapman and Fannin are : — Simorhynchus pusillus. Clivicola riparia. Charadrius dominicus fulvus. Vireo huttoni obscurus. Callipepla californica vallicola. Helminthophila ruficapilla guttur- Bubo virginianus. alis. Bubo virginianus arcticus. Dendroica maculosa. Glaucidium gnoma. Icteria virens longicauda. Perisoreus canadensis capitalis. Certhia familiaris montana. Chondestes grammacus strigatus. Parus hudsonicus columbianus Zonotrichia querula. (subsp. nov.). Spizella socialis. Turdus ustulatus swainsonii. Passerella iliaca schistacea. Turdus aonalaschke pallasii. Additions to previous avifaunal lists of Washington are : — Colymbus holbeellii. Simorhynchus pusillus. Urinator arcticus. Synthliboramphus antiquus. ‘Naturalist in British Columbia,’ J. K. Lord, Vol. II, Appendix. Vol. X 1863 Ruoaps, Washington and Brittsh Columbia Birds. Ly Brachyramphus marmoratus.! Arenaria interpres.' Cepphus columba.! Hematopus bachmani. Uria troile californica. Oreortyx pictus.' Larus argentatus smithsonianus ? Callipepla californica vallicola. Larus californicus.! Dendragapus franklinii.' Larus delawarensis.! Lagopus leucurus. Larus brachyrhynchus. Cathartes aura.! Phalacrocorax dilophus cincinatus. | Circus hudsonicus.! Merganser serrator.’ Falco peregrinus pealei. Lophodytes cucullatus.! Falco columbarius suckleyi. Anas discors. Asio wilsonianus. Spatula clypeata.! Syrnium occidentale. Aix sponsa.! Megascops asio kennicottii." Aythya americana. Dryobates pubescens gairdnerii.' Histrionicus histrionicus.! Sphyrapicus ruber.’ Anser albifrons gambeli.' Cypseloides niger. Branta canadensis hutchinsii.! Pica pica hudsonica.! Branta canadensis occidentalis.! Agelaius phoeniceus.' * Branta canadensis minima. Progne subis.+ Olor buccinator.! Vireo solitarius cassinii.! Grus mexicana? Dendroica coronata.! Porzana carolina. Sitta carolinensis aculeata. Fulica americana.! Sitta canadensis. Tringa canutus. Parus atricapillus occidentalis. Totanus flavipes. Simorhynchus pusillus. Least AukLetr.—Mr. Jos. Edwards, of the well-known firm of Edwards Bros., taxidermists, of Tacoma, called my attention to the occurrence of a ‘‘very small Auklet,” a pair of which were seen by his father on Puget Sound during the wfnter of 1888. One of these was wounded and finally escaped after a very close pursuit by the two men in a canoe. The diminutive size of this Auklet as compared with Prychoramphus aleuticus, or any other of its congeners known to inhabit those waters, and the great familiarity of Mr. Edwards with these, makes the authen- ticity of this record almost unquestionable, and extends its winter range several hundred miles south of previous records. f Syrnium occidentale. SporreD OwL. —Two Owls (one of which is in the collection), taken by Edwards Bros. twelve miles east of Tacoma, on the western foothills of the Cascades, prove to be almost identical with Xantus’s type of Syrzéum occidentale taken at Fort Tejon, California. In color the Washington specimens agree with the type in being darker 1 Washington species included in Cooper and Suckley’s Pacific R. R. Report of 1860, Vol: XII. 2 Mistaken for A. gwbernator by Lawrence, Auk, IX, 45. Auk 18 Ruoavs, Washington and British Columbia Birds. fai: and larger than Arizona specimens. The Spotted Owl has heretofore been considered representative of the Lower Sonoran Fauna; that it. should thus suddenly appear on the Boreal horizon is somewhat startling. Bubo virginianus. GREAT HORNED OWL. Bubo virginianus saturatus. Dusky HORNED OWL. Bubo virginianus subarcticus. WESTERN HORNED OWL. Bubo virginianus arcticus. Arctic HorRNED OwL. — The distribution of resident and visiting forms of Horned Owls throughout British Colum- bia is most confusing. I have examined about thirty specimens, repre- senting all localities visited. Of these, six from the region between the Cascade and Rocky Mountains (Ashcroft to Vernon) are almost typical virgintanus; three from Vernon are as dark as lighter specimens of satu- ratus from the coast, and six others from the same place grade from typi- cal subarcticus nearly into arctzcus. It is probable that two winter specimens in the collection of Mr. W. C. Pound, at Vernon, are arecticus. The presence of individuals so closely resembling vzrgvnianus, west of the Rocky Mountains, is the most striking example of the frequent repro- duction of eastern forms in the northwest I have yet observed. The reap- pearance of the dark sa¢uratus phase upon the well-watered slopes of the Selkirk Range, and their disappearance a few miles farther east on the Rockies, tallies perfectly with the local climatic conditions of those regions. If we consider the extreme susceptibility to environment dis- plaved by certain genera of North American Owls, and their tendency to dichromatic variation, the mixed condition of the Bubo virgintanus group becomes less puzzling. The occurrence of saturatus in Labrador and on the mountain peaks of Idaho and Arizona, as testified by Ridgway and Mer- riam, is in keeping with my own experience. From sucha state of affairs to the voluntary, individual assumption of color characters according with sudden local changes of environment, is a step in development too short to be impossible. Glaucidium gnoma. PyGmy OwL.—That the California Pygmy Owl of the Pacific slope of British Columbia is sparingly replaced by true gnoma in the interior, is shown by several specimens taken by Mr. Pound of Vernon, one of which is in the collection. Colaptes cafer+auratus. ‘Hysrip’ FLrickKER.—A paper on ‘Hybridism ’ asexemplified in the genus Colaffes,’ in the issue of ‘Science’ for Dec. 9, 1892, embodies my observations on this interesting group. Corvus americanus. AMERICAN CRow. Corvus caurinus. NorTHwEsT Crow.—Thirty specimens of Crows from British Columbia and the shores of Puget Sound, Washington, of which fifteen are in the Streator collection and fifteen in mine, give the following measurements (in inches). Vol. X i8o3 Ruoaps, Washington and British Columbia Birds. fe) Exposed Sex Wing Tal Tarsus Culmen East Cascade region of B. C. a 12.45 7.15 2.25 1.72 ee HE Porat | cae Vitis PEC 6.90 Pets 1.60 ge e Aa A & 11.75 6.75 Dea 55 us ve SCagbesestt kf Tien Te 7.05 Pept 1.56 a in the vicinity, and by their being mingled with the Turnstones which are in the habit of frequenting such places. ‘They are induced in consequence to follow the Turnstones where they lead, this bird showing more determination of purpose than the Knots which frequently yield and follow them. This is not the case with the Turnstones; they often leave the combined flock rather than be led where they do not care to go. Vol. X 1853 Mackay ox the Kuot. 29 On the Dennis marshes and flats, at Chatham, the Nauset, Well- fleet, and Billingsgate, Cape Cod, and on the flats around Tuck- ernuck and Muskeget Islands, Mass., they used to be more num- erous than in all the rest of New England combined, and being very gregarious they would collect in those places in exceedingly large numbers, estimates of which were useless. This was pre- vious to 1850 and when the Cape Cod railroad was completed only to Sandwich. Often, when riding on the top of the stage coach on the Cape beyond this point, immense numbers of these birds could be seen, as they rose up in clouds, during the period ‘that they sojourned there. It was at this time that the vicious practice of ‘fire-lighting’ them prevailed, anda very great number of them were thus killed on the flats at night in the vicinity of Billingsgate (near Wellfleet). The mode of procedure was for two men to start out after dark at half tide, one of them to carry a lighted lantern, the other to reach and seize the birds, bite their necks, and put them in a bag slung over the shoulder. When near a flock they would approach them on their hands and knees the birds being almost invariably taken on the flats. This practice continued several years before it was finally prohibited by law. I have it directly from an excellent authority that he has seen in the spring, six barrels of these birds (all of which had been taken in this manner) at one time, on the deck of the Cape Cod packet for Boston. He has also seen barrels of them, which had spoiled during the voyage, thrown overboard in Boston Harbor on arrival of the packet. The price of these birds at that time was ten cents per dozen; mixed with them would be Turnstones and Black-bellied Plover. Not one of these birds had been shot, all having been taken with the aid ofa ‘fire-light.’ As they appear on our shores each season at about the same date as the Black-bellied Plover, which, however, they formerly always greatly outnumbered, I venture to suggest for the Knots the same possibility of a change of habitat and of lines of migra- tion that I did when considering the cause of that bird’s lessened numbers (Auk, IX, 143). Iconsider the case of the Knots a much more aggravated one than that of the Black-bellied Plover, the Knots having been reduced to a much greater extent in my opinion by having been killed. Besides those destroyed on Cape Cod through the agency of ‘fire-lights,’ I have reasons for believ- ing that they have been shot also in large numbers on the Auk Jan. 30 Mackay oz the Knot. Atlantic seaboard (Virginia) in the spring on their way north to their breeding grounds. one such place shipping to New York City in a single spring, from April 1 to June 3, upwards of six thousand Plover, a large share of which were Knots. This was about thirty years ago, but it nevertheless serves to illustrate what kind of treatment these birds received in those days, as well as since, and bears out the current belief of today that the Knots in a great measure have been killed off. In more recent times we find every locality along the shore, where shooting can be obtained, accessible at short notice to sportsmen, who are ever ready to avail themselves of weather conditions likely to land birds ; and should any arrive, they are immediately pursued, and those not killed are driven away. Therefore as passing flocks receive no answer to their call of inquiry, and as those birds which have been over the same route a number of times before (having become leaders of migratory flocks) have learned what invariably awaits them in certain localities, the remnants of the once large numbers pass on, carrying their companions with them, being unwilling to risk the death or persecution that awaits them at all times; for there is never any cessation. It is not my intention to convey the impression that the Knots are nearly exterminated, but they are much reduced in numbers, and are in great danger of extinction, and comparatively few can now be seen in Massachusetts, where formerly there were twenty to twenty-five thousand a year, which I consider a reasonable estimate of its former abundance. Mr. S. Hail Barrett informs me that he has not shot a single old red-breasted bird for the past five years on Cape Cod, although he has been on the ground that they would frequent during the proper season for them to pass, but he has seen about one hundred young, gray-and-white birds a year. His place of observation was Billingsgate Light House, one of the best places for such birds on Cape Cod. In old times he has seen as many as twenty-five thousand birds (estimated) in one year. On the other hand, Mr. C. L. Leonard of Marshfield Hills, Mass., informs me that on Cape Cod, generally near Barn- stable, he sees annually about one hundred adult birds with full red breasts (and takes more or less of them), and about one thousand young gray and white birds, from their first arrival until October. This gentleman also informs me that he does not believe after his past fifteen years’ experience that these birds Vol. X i863 Mackay on the Knot. st ever change back to the gray and white plumage of the younger birds after once attaining the adult full plumage of brick red on the underparts. They are still found in greater or less numbers along the Atlantic coast south of Chesapeake Bay. Near Charleston, S. C., Mr. William Brewster noted about one hundred and fifty Knots on May 6 and 8, 1885, and sawa number of flocks on May 13. They were flying by, or were alighted, on Sullivan Island beach. On May 17, 1883, he noted about one hundred of these birds in the same locality. In the spring they pass Char- lotte Harbor, Florida, so I am informed, in large numbers, coming up the coast from the south (a flight on May 26, 1890), at which time they are very tame. They are also more or less numerous near Morehead City, North Carolina (where they are known as ‘Beach Robins’), from May 15 to 30, their flight being along the beach, just over the surf, at early morning, coming from the east in the neighborhood of Point Lookout, ten or twelve miles away, where they probably resorted to roost. This indicates that these birds were living in that locality. As late as twelve years ago I understand from very good authority that Knots were abundant from May 20 to June 1 on the Magdalen islands. During spring when they were on migration they used to be abundant on Lake Ontario, but I am not in possession of any late data regarding their movements at that point. To methe Knots are very handsome birds in the full adult plumage; their red, Robin-like breasts and lower parts with their reddish-and-black-spotted backs, make a soft blending of color most pleasing to the eye. The plumage of the female, on the back, is sometimes duller and with less red than in the male, often without any red. It is from their resemblance to the American Robin (Merula migratoréa) that their local names of Robin Snipe and Beach Robins (the latter on the North Carolina coast) have been given them. The plumage of the young birds (sometimes called ‘Whitings’ on Cape Cod, and which are usually smaller than the adults) is of a general slate gray for the upper parts, and white underneath, with neck, breast, and sides streaked with fine slate-colored lines. This is so unlike the plumage of the old birds that they are often mistaken for a dif- ferent species by those not familiar with them. I desire to call attention to the universal statement current in * Auk Jan. 32 Mackay on the Knot. the literature of the subject that the adults assume what is desig- nated as the winter plumage, that is, gray above and white under- neath, similar to the plumage of the young birds. I can but believe that such statement is an error of long standing, it being my conviction that such gray and white plumage is confined exclusively to the younger birds, and is retained by them in vary- ing stages up to three or four years of age, or in other words until such time when they change it (never to reappear in it) for that which is known as full spring plumage. I have yet to see what I understand to be an old bird, from any locality in any season, in the gray and white plumage. Lest [ may be misinter- preted, permit me to add that as these birds do not, in my opinion, reach the height of their plumage until they are three or four years old my remarks apply only to birds of that age or over. Mr. Geo. A. Tapley of Revere, Mass., who is a close observer and has shot as many of these birds as any one in Massachusetts, and whose shooting experience extends over a period of about fifty years, informs me that he has in the past shot in every year agood many old birds in full plumage on Cape Cod, Mass., in August and September. He says he never saw what he calls an old bird in the gray and white plumage. Mr. S. Hall Barrett of Malden, his fellow sportsman and of the same nutnber of years’ experience, reiterates Mr. Tapley’s state- ments, and I am myself in full accord with both. Owing to the variation of plumage a large series of these birds is imperative in order to arrive at satisfactory results. After examination of thirty-eight specimens of adult Knots, twenty-four of which were females, I came to the conclusion that there is no constant feature in the plumage of either sex, whereby they can be distinguished one from the other by the ordinary observer, both sexes varying considerably. Some of the females have no red on the back and scapulars, others have a little, and still others as much as the males. In this respect the males are much more constant in their plumage than the females appear to be. In size both sexes are apparently alike. The lower parts of adult birds of both sexes, from the bill to the abdomen, are of a dark vinaceous cinnamon varying in intensity. An examination of eighteen specimens of what I understand as the younger birds, shows their upper parts to be, in general, gray, with the neck, breast, and sides gray, streaked with V-shaped Vol. X G3 MACKAY ox the Knot. 33 lines or marks; the lower parts and abdomen are white. This stage of plumage seems constant with only a slight occasional variation. I cannot say as much, however, for the plumage of the older birds. A considerable portion of these young birds are smaller, while some are about the same size as the adults. Full-plumaged specimens of the Knot are even now not easy to obtain in New England, and the day is not far distant, if it is not already here, when the fine series belonging to Mr. William Brewster will be a prize indeed. To him I am much indebted for their use, also for being able to refer to several of them which, while they are not all I could desire as regards dates of capture, are, together with a few others I have, the best I am able to obtain at this time, to illustrate the point at which I take issue. If the old birds migrate north in June, in their full spring plumage, when they return from the middle of July to September they would have changed, I should suppose, at least in part, if the old statement is correct, into the so-called winter plumage of gray above and white underneath. How is it, then, that sportsmen who have shot these birds all their lives have been able to take so many in full adult plumage on Cape Cod in July, August, Sep- tember, and occasionally in October? The following specimens are in Mr. Brewster’s collection. No. 18,945 is a male, but not an old bird, taken Oct. 6, 1887, at Monomy Island, Cape Cod, by J. C. Cahoon. The breast and lower parts of this bird are washed with pale cinnamon red. No. 19,188, taken at same place by same collector, is a rather young bird with only a cin- namon shading on breast and lower parts. No. 12,727, a male taken at Shelter Island, N. Y., Sept. 6, 1883, is quite an old bird and has considerable cinnamon red on breast and lower parts. No. 1363 (Bangs collection), a young bird taken at Isles of Shoals, Aug. 24, 1877, has only a few red feathers on the breast. The Smithsonian Institution has a female, No. 78,419, taken Sept. 1, 1879, at Big Pass, Florida, which has the entire lower parts, including throat, pale cinnamon red; it is not an adult, however. I have an adult male taken by N. E. Gould on July 15, 1889, at Chatham, Mass. ; the entire lower parts from the bill are of a clear deep vinaceous cinnamon. without a white feather. I have a specimen collected by J. C. Cahoon, July 30, 1886, on Cape Cod; it is an adult female with lower parts cinna- mon red from base of bill, with a few white feathers intermixed. 5 Auk Jan. 34 Mackay on the Knot. I have also a male taken Aug. 17, 1889, by N. E. Gould on Cape Cod; the whole lower parts of this bird from the bill to the abdomen are cinnamon red. Mr. Henry W. Abbot and Mr. Richard D. Ware, of Boston, visited the Magdalen Islands the past summer. On Aug. 23, 1892, they shot.a full-plumaged Knot; on Aug. 30 two more were obtained with full red breasts and mottled backs ; on Sept. 5 still another full-plumaged bird was taken. There were in addition two or three others in similar plumage which they secured, but for which the exact dates cannot be fixed. In Mr. Brewster’s collection are six Knots all of which were shot on May 11, 1885, in South Carolina; one of them is all gray above and white underneath ; one is of a deep vinaceous cinnamon on the underparts from the bill to the abdomen; and four are in varying stages of plumage between. It is an interest- ing little group, showing the development of plumage, on the same date, of birds of different ages. Iappend some notes taken by an old shooting friend, Mr. Augustus Denton, which he gave me in 1877; those for the last five years are my own. They are for Cape Cod, Mass., unless otherwise specified. They serve to indicate the move- ment of the Knots northward in the spring. 1858, May 27.— First birds shot; most on the 31st. 1859 .— Practically the same as above. 1861, May 27.— First birds shot. 1862.— Very few birds. 1863, May 27.— First birds shot. 1864, May 27.— First birds shot. 1865, May 26.—First birds shot. Some birds in August, shot 26 this month. 1866.— Very few birds. 1867, May 27.— First birds shot; most on the 29th and 31st. 1868, May 23.— First birds shot; most on the 27th to 3oth. 1869, May 27.— First birds shot, only very few birds. 1870.— Law prohibiting shooting in the spring. 1871, May 17.— First birds shot, earliest I have ever known them to appear, best shooting up to the 20th. A good many birds in August. Law prohibiting spring shooting repealed. 1872, May 25.— First birds shot, numerous this year. 1873, May 19.— First birds shot, abundant until the 31st. 1874, May.— Best shooting up to the 29th. Few birds in August. 1875, May 14.— First birds shot, best shooting 29th. Few birds in August. ee | Toop, Birds of Indianaand Clearfield Counties, Pa. 35 1876, May 20.— First birds shot, best shooting on the 26th. 1877, Sept. 28.— Shot one on Nantucket Island, Mass. 1884, Aug. 25.— Shot two on Nantucket Island. 1891, about Aug. 20.— Twenty shot on Tuckernuck Island, Mass. 1891, Sept. 7.— Quite a flight of young birds passed Essex, Mass. ; wind northeast with rain, storming hard. 1892, May 11.— Tuckernuck Island, first birds seen (three). June 1, seven seen (adults). Aug. 2, Muskeget Island, Mass., I saw eight Knots, and shot one which had some red feathers on the breast, and was very fat. Aug. 3, Muskeget Island, saw one, with an apparently full red breast, but failed tosecure it. SUMMER BIRDS OF INDIANA AND CLEARFIELD COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA. BY W. E. CLYDE TODD. WHEN we come to examine and compare the summer birds of Beaver, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, with those found at that season in the Buflalo Creek region of Butler and Armstrong Counties, about forty miles directly to the eastward, a striking difference at once becomes apparent. This difference consists in the entire absence or rarity in the latter locality of a number of more or less typical Carolinian species which are characteristic birds at Beaver, and in the infusion instead of certain Allegha- nian and Canadian forms. As might be expected, there is a cor- responding difference in the flora of the respective sections, which is especially marked in the character of the forest, coniferous trees of three species, —white pine (Pzzus strobus), pitch pine ( Prxus rigida), and hemlock ( 7suga canadensis) ,—which are rather local and not common in Beaver County, predominating in the other locality. But it is to be observed that this preponderance of conifers exists only in the vicinity of streams, the higher upland forests differing little, if at all, from those of like situation in Beaver County, though here and there a solitary conifer may be found. In order to investigate the country still farther to the eastward, in Indiana County, I spent four days, June 22 to 25, 1892, in this 36 Tovp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. ta region, my stopping-place being a farmhouse two miles east of the village of Two Lick, on Two Lick Creek, a few miles south of the town of Indiana and near Chestnut Ridge. This ridge is the most western range of the Appalachian chain in Pennsylvania, entering the State from the south about the middle of the southern boundary of Fayette County, and terminating a short distance east of the place of my observations. At this point it becomes - nothing more than a series of broken ranges of high hills, which to the northward finally disappear into the general level. The elevation for this part according to the contour map of the U.S. Geological Survey is 1500 feet, but there is good reason for believing that to the southward the Ridge attains a height of 2000 feet, since the town of Ligonier, situated east of the range, in Westmoreland County, is known to be 1748 feet above tide. I found this locality far poorer in conifers than the Buffalo Creek region which I had just left, and I was told that they predominated only in the northern and eastern parts ofthe County, Pine Flats, fourteen miles east from Indiana, being said to be the western limit of their abundance here. No pines at all were discovered, and the hemlock was confined to the bottom lands of Two Lick and Yellow Creeks, and even there it occurred only at intervals. However, where it was found at all it was very often to the almost complete exclusion of other forest trees. Progress through such gloomy tracts of woods would have been practically out of the question had it not been for an occasional cattle-path or a small stream flowing through the midst, so dense were the thickets of laurel (Kalmza latifolia) and rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) beneath. This growth, as well as that of the hemlocks, often extended a short distance up the ad- joining hillsides, especially if they were steep and had a northerly exposure, though the laurel in places composed thickets by itself, while the rhododendron was not found outside the shade of the hemlocks. These tracts of hemlock forest in the creek bottoms, with their undergrowth of laurel and rhododendron, interspersed with small pools of stagnant water, were far more prolific in bird life than the hills and uplands above, although of so limited extent in comparison. Black-throated Blue, Black-and-yellow, Black- burnian, and Blue Yellow-backed, Warblers were the character- istic birds of such cool and shady recesses, within which they rae | Toop, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. 3 were abundant, but outside of which they were not found at all. Several other species were more or less common also in such Situations. The high hills in which Chestnut Ridge terminates are clothed from base to summit with a deciduous forest, of which oaks of sev- eral species and chestnuts are the most prominent trees. The latter seemed to be more abundant near and on the summit than lower down. Black-throated Green Warblers were numerous throughout this woodland, where about the only other birds found to any extent were the Red-eyed Vireo, Golden-crowned Thrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Wood Thrush, and White- breasted Nuthatch, but none of these were nearly so common as the species which were confined to the hemlocks., At some points, where the original forest had been cut and second-growth and tracts of bushes and scrub had taken its place, the Chestnut- sided Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Brown Thrasher, and Catbird were found, as well as a single individual of the Ceru- lean Warbler, which species was otherwise observed only in the open woods of the uplands outside of Chestnut Ridge. The cultivated districts were found almost altogether in these uplands, the birds of whose orchards, fields, and woods did not differ materially from those found in like situations in Beaver County. In considering the faunal relations of the locality, we find that three species occur which are usually considered to belong to the Canadian Fauna, namely, Dendroica cerulescens, Dendroica maculosa, and Dendroica blackburnie. It is a noteworthy fact that all these birds, which are abundant here in suitable situa- tions, are rather uncommon in the Buffalo Creek region, while on the other hand two of the common relatively northern species of this latter locality— Sylvania canadensisand Turdus fuscescens — are here apparently altogether wanting. Five species were found whose breeding range to the southward is limited to the Alleghanian Fauna: Hmpidonax minimus, Flelminthophila chrysoptera, Dendroica pensylvanica, Den- drotica virens, and Parus atricapillus. Ten species were observed whose breeding range to the northward is likewise limited to the Alleghanian Fauna: Colinus virginianus, Antrostomus vociferus, Sturnella magna, Icterus galbula, Ammodramus savannarum passerinus, Pipilo erythrophthalmus, Piranga erythromelas, Galeoscoptes carolinensts, Harporhynchus rufus, and Turdus mustelinus. 38 Topp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. ee The six following more or less typical Carolinian species were found: Empidonax acadicus, Cardinalis cardinalis, Den- drotca cerulea, Seturus motacilla, Icteria virens, and Parus bicolor. It is to be remarked that the three species constituting the Cana- dian element are not the most typical of that fauna,’ and further- more that they are wholly confined to the deep hemlock wood- land of the creek bottoms, the coolness of whose forest shade seems to become the equivalent of a higher altitude, as another writer has recently remarked. It is, moreover, to be observed that only a few typical Carolinian forms occur, while the Alleghanian element is the most promi- nent as to number of species. On the whole, consideration of the above facts seems to bear out the conclusion that this region belongs to the Alleghanian Fauna, with, on the one hand, a slight tinge of lower Canadian forms where local conditions are favor- able for their existence, and on the other a very considerable Carolinian element. Compared with the Buffalo Creek region it seems to be somewhat more southerly (ina faunal sense), since the relatively northern birds are more local in their distribution and are fewer, in number of species, though represented by a greater number of individuals. But one paper containing any information on the birds of Chest- nut Ridge has so far been published (that by Mr. C. H. Townsend ‘in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences for 1883, pages 59 to 68), and this information is so meagre as to be practically valueless for comparison. Of the birds of the country between Chestnut Ridge and the main Alle- ghany Mountains, including Laurel Hill, we know nothing as yet. Sixty-five species were observed during my stay, of which the following is a list. Actitis macularia.— Common at certain favorable points along Two Lick Creek, but observed also about marshy spots in the upland. Colinus virginianus.—Quite abundant in the upland meadows and grain fields. Bonasa umbellus —Met with but once, in the laurel and rhododendron thicket of Yellow Creek bottom. 1 Cf. Allen, in Stone, Proc, Phila, Acad, Nat. Sci., 1891, 433, foot-note, ve Tovp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counttes, Pa. 39 Meleagris gallopavo. — On the last day of my stay a Wild Turkey hen, accompanied by three young less than a week old, appeared near the house where I was staying. It is quite possible that there were more young, but these were all that could be found. They were captured and taken into the barn, with the object of decoying the parent inside and capturing her also. She refused to enter, however, but presently flew to the roof, and afterwards lingered about for some time, and doubtless was in the vicinity when I arrived upon the scene, but I was prevented from making a careful search by lack of time. I was informedthat Wild Turkeys were tolerably common in this county, and did considerable damage in the grain fields; on several occasions nests with eggs are said to have been found. Zenaidura macroura.—Common everywhere, except in the deep woods. Accipiter velox. — One observed near the summit of Chestnut Ridge. Buteo borealis.— A pair seen circling over the summit of Chestnut Ridge. Coccyzus americanus. — Observed but twice. Ceryle alcyon. — Found along Yellow Creek on one occasion. From the lack of banks suitable for nesting purposes I should judge that it was not numerous. Dryobates pubescens.—Found in the forest. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. — One individual noticed in the upland, between Two Lick and Homer City. Antrostomus vociferus. — Several were heard. Chetura pelagica — Seen but once. Trochilus colubris. — An individual observed along Two Lick Creek, at the village. Tyrannus tyrannus.— Common. Found in orchards and at some points along the streams. Myiarchus crinitus. — Not common. Sayornis phcebe. — Common. Contopus virens. — Common in the deciduous forest. Empidonax acadicus.— This species was fairly abundant throughout the forests of the creek bottoms and was often found higher up along the courses of smaller streams. Empidonax minimus. — A single pair was observed in the trees sur- rounding the house where I was staying. Cyanocitta cristata. — A few observed. Corvus americanus. — Abundant. Molothrus ater.— A small party was noticed in an upland pasture between Two Lick and Homer City. Agelaius phceniceus.— Found commonly in and about the upland meadows and streams. Sturnella magna.— Not uncommon in the upland. Icterus galbula.— Two or three were found in orchards about houses. Quiscalus quiscula eneus.— Found in the same situations as the last species, but more common. ies 40 Topp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. Tas. Spinus tristis. — Numerous everywhere, except in the forest. Poocetes gramineus.— Common in the pastures and along the road- sides. Ammodramus savannarum passerinus. — One pair was met with, fre- quenting a pasture field across the road from the house. -Spizella socialis. — Common and familiar as usual. Spizella pusilla.Numerous in waste pastures and in the bushy growth along fences. Melospiza fasciata.—Abundant; found in its usual haunts. Pipilo erythrophthalmus.—Common in briery thickets and on the edges of the woods. Cardinalis cardinalis. — Several pairs were found, all in second-growth bushy thickets, both in the creek bottoms and on the hillsides. Habia ludoviciana. — The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is one of the most abundant birds of this region. It does not affect the oak woods of Chestnut Ridge, nor yet the denser parts of the hemlock forest, but pre- fers the rich woods that border this last, as well as the upland woods near streams, and the tracts of second-growth interspersed. Passerina cyanea.— This bird was found commonly in its usual haunts of bushy, briery thickets along the edges of the woods. Piranga erythromelas.— Another very abundant species, especially partial to the hemlocks. Petrochelidon lunifrons.— Observed about farm buildings, but not so numerous as the next species. Chelidon erythrogaster.— Abundant about farm buildings. Vireo olivaceus.— Very abundant throughout the woodland, in the bottoms and on the hilltops. Vireo gilvus.—One pair was noticed in an orchard surrounding a farm- house. Mniotilta varia.—This species was one of the very few that were uni- formly common in the hemlocks, in the second-growth, and in the oak forest of Chestnut Ridge. Helminthophila chrysoptera.—But one observed,—on the edge of a wood on the bank of Two Lick Creek. Compsothlypis americana.—Very common in the hemlocks, where its humming note could be heard continually. It usually kept high up in the very tops of the trees. Dendroica zstiva.— Found mostly in the orchards about farmhouses; but two nests, one containing young, were discovered in a growth of wil- lows fringing Two Lick Creek just behind the village. Dendroica czerulescens.—This Warbler was confined to the hemlock forest of the creek bottoms, where it was abundant and in full song, haunt- ing the dense laurel and rhododendron thicket beneath, though some- times mounting to the trees. Dendroica maculosa.— Equally abundant with the last species, and like it confined to the hemlocks and undergrowth below, where its sprightly song was constantly heard. al Topp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. 41 Dendroica cerulea.— Much to my surprise I found the Cerulean War- bler quite common, and musical, in the dry, open, oak woods of the up- lands, though the only specimen secured was taken in a tract of dense second-growth on a creek hillside. Dendroica pensylvanica.— Only two individuals noted, both males in full song, observed in a scrubby patch of briers, bushes and young trees, fringing a forest, ona creek hillside. I have reason to believe that this species was more common than it appeared to be. Dendroica blackburniz.— Another of the relatively northern species found exclusively in the conifers of the creek bottoms, where its flaming breast flashed in and out of the hemlocks. Not quite so numerous, how- ever, as D. cerulescens and D. maculosa. Dendroica virens.— This bird would be expected to occur most com- monly in the hemlock forest, and though itactually was found on the edges of this to some extent, I was not a little surprised to discover that it was more numerous throughout the high oak and chestnut woods that cover Chestnut Ridge from base to summit, always keeping high in the treetops. Seiurus aurocapillus.— A very common species, found throughout al kinds of woodland. Seiurus motacilla—— A single pair recorded as frequenting a small stream flowing through the laurel and rhododendron growth in the hem- lock forest of Yellow Creek bottom. Geothlypis trichas.— Quite common, at intervals, in the waste ground along the banks of Two Lick Creek. Icteria virens.— A few pairs of this distinctly southern species were noticed in the thickets to which it is always so partial. Galeoscoptes carolinensis.— Common in briery thickets. Harporhynchus rufus.—One pair accompanied by their young were seen ina thicket. Sitta carolinensis.— Rather common throughout the woodland. Parus bicolor.— A pair observed on one occasion in a yard around a dwelling. Parus atricapillus.— Two noticed with the pair of Tufted Titmice above mentioned, and later on a pair accompanied by their now almost fully- fledged young. Turdus mustelinus.— Common throughout the woodland. Merula migratoria.— Abundant as usual. Sialia sialis.— Several observed in an upland pasture on one occasion. Clearfield County lies to the northeast of Indiana County, which it borders on the west to some extent. Asa whole its elevation is greater, everywhere being above 1500 feet, and over a considerable area more than 2000 feet, this latter region includ- ing the Alleghany Mountains on the extreme southeastern part of the County and the somewhat less elevated portion lying immedi- 6 42 Topp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. ee ately to the west, and extending for some distance into Indiana County. My notes were all made in the vicinity of Coalport, a mining town near the southern border of the county. This point was chosen because of its intermediate position with refer- ence to Cresson on the one hand, whose summer birds Mr. Dwight has studied,’ and DuBois, in the extreme northwestern part of Clearfield County, on the other hand, of whose breeding birds the Department of Agriculture possesses a very full and interesting manuscript list, compiled by Dr. Walter Van Fleet. This list includes nearly all the relatively northern species given by Mr. Dwight, as well as several others which he did not find, and, taken in connection with the present paper, goes to prove the correctness of Mr. Dwight’s surmise that ‘*much of northern and western Pennsylvania is at an altitude which, when combined with forest, cannot fail to attract birds of the Canadian avifauna.” The influence of the character of the forest upon the distribution of birds was illustrated at Coalport where the extension of coni- ferous forest to the uplands was accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number and abundance of northern birds. These woods, composed almost wholly of Péxzus strobus and Tsuga canadensis, were found on the hilltops and inthe bottoms. Pus rigida was not observed. The red-berried elder (Sambucus pubens) was another abundant and characteristic plant there, forming thickets at favorable points. The country surrounding Coalport, like most of western Pennsylvania, is of a broken, hilly nature, intersected by numer- ous small streams. My collecting was mostly done in a tract of upland woods lying on both sides of one of these streams, where the slope was not steep. It was second-growth for the larger part, and in places quite bushy, though the numerous cattle- paths which penetrated it in all directions rendered progress through it quite easy. This proved to be a favorite place for Blue Yellow-backed, Black-throated Blue, Black-and-yellow, Blackburnian, Black-throated Green, and Canadian, Warblers, all conspicuously musical. Here, too, Hermit Thrushes were most numerous, and Snowbirds were frequently met with, as well as the only Winter Wren noticed. Several pairs of -Chestnut- sided Warblers were found here also, but they were not half so common as the other Warblers mentioned. 1 Auk, IX, 1892, 129-141. A al Toop, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. 43 On June 30, after exploring a swampy rhododendron thicket where I found northern Warblers numerous, among them several pairs of Water-thrushes, I came to one of the few tracts of original forest that are left in this neighborhood. I found it to be a thick wood of white pine and hemlock, with no undergrowth to speak of excepting along a small stream flowing through its midst. Scattered here and there were enormous trees of both these kinds, three and four feet through at the base, and rearing their lofty heads far above the general level of the treetops. Here is the haunt of the Blackburnian and Black-throated: Blue Warblers, whose songs are heard on every hand, while from high overhead come the slender filing notes of the Black-throated Green Warbler and the cicada-like humming of the Blue Yellow-backed. Snowbirds, too, were occasionally seen, and Wood Thrushes. Only fifty-five species were recorded during my stay at Coal- port, which was from June 28 to July 2, 1892. That this is less than half the actual number breeding is evident by a comparison with Mr. Dwight’s list for Cresson and Dr. Van Fleet’s for DuBois. Eight species, all except two very common, were found whose affinities are with the Canadian Fauna, as follows: Funco hyemalis, Dendroica cerulescens, Dendroica maculosa, Dendroica blackburnia, Seturus novebo- racensis, Sylvania canadensis, Troglodytes hiemalis, and Turdus aonalaschke pallastt. Four in their southern breeding limit characterize the Alle- ghanian zone: Hmpidonax minimus, Dendroica pensylvanica, Dendroica vtrens, and Parus atricapillus. Eight in their northern breeding limit likewise characterize the Alleghanian zone: Aztrostomus vociferus, Sturnella mag- na, Icterus galbula, Pipilo erythrophthalmus, Piranga ery- thromelas, Galeoscoptes carolinensis, Harporhynchus rufus, and Jurdus mustelinus. These facts seem to justify the conclusion that the district is Alleghanian in its fauna, with a very decided Canadian element however, which latter is probably greater than was apparent from my limited observations. The following is a complete list of the birds observed during my stay. tA 44 Topp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. a Jan. Bonasa umbellus. — Only one individual seen; found in the second- growth. Zenaidura macroura. — Common in the open, especially near houses. Accipiter velox. — One, which from its actions doubtless had young near by, was seen on the edge of a dense coniferous forest. Accipiter cooperi. — A single pair, also evidently with young, were the only ones observed. Dryobates villosus. — Several seen in the timber. Dryobates pubescens. — Not uncommon in the woodland. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. — But one bird noted. Colaptes auratus. — Numerous everywhere except in the deep woods. Antrostomus vociferus. — Numbers heard every night. Chordeiles virginianus. — A few observed on one occasion. Chetura pelagica. — Quite common. Trochilus colubris. — Seen but once. Tyrannus tyrannus.—A pair had a nest in one of the trees near the house where I was staying. ; Myiarchus crinitus. — Not common; one pair was observed, whose nest was in the top ofa tall forest tree. Sayornis pheebe.—A single individual was met with near a house on the outskirts of the town. ContSpus virens. — Rather common, numbers being seen daily, mostly on the edge of the woods. Empidonax minimus. — One pair observed in the trees near the house, in one of which they must have had a nest. Cyanocitta cristata. — Frequently noticed in the woodland, and some- times about houses. Corvus americanus. — A very common species almost everywhere. Sturnella magna. — Quite common in the open fields, where it was found daily. Icterus galbula. — This species, although not actually observed by me, is yet entitled to a place on the list from the fact that I was shown, for identification, an example of its nest which had been taken a few years before and preserved as a great and rare curiosity for this part of the country. Spinus tristis.— Seen on only one occasion, —though perhaps more common than was apparent. Poocetes gramineus. — Found commonly in its usual haunts. Spizella socialis. — Abundant throughout the open. Junco hyemalis.— This species I found at intervals throughout the forest, and in some places it was fairly abundant. Its favorite haunts were the edges of woods, tracts of scrub, and rich second-growth woods, though some were detected in the depths of the original hemlock and pine forest, where they were usually found hopping about on the ground. In other situations it was the rule to find the males perched in the very tops of some tall tree which had been left standing, singing for hours at a time. Although so common, various circumstances unfortunately conspired to ee Topp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. 45 prevent my preserving more than one specimen—a female. This was submitted to Mr. Ridgway to learn if it bore any relationship to carolin- ensts, and he has very kindly compared it and in a note to me states as follows: ‘‘Your Junco from Coalport, Pa., is very close to $. hk. carolin- ensis. In fact, is quite typical of that race as to color of plumage and bill, but bill is too slender. Possibly a larger series of female carolinensis would show specimens with bill equally as slender, but we have only the two specimens.” It would of course be out of the question to conclude that the Snowbirds of this section all belong to this subspecies on the evi- dence of a single specimen, especially in view of Mr. Dwight’s recent researches on the subject. I regard the bird secured as being merely an extreme case. Melospiza fasciata. — Abundant in suitable situations everywhere. Pipilo erythrophthalmus. — A few found in the second-growth. Habia ludoviciana. — Abundant everywhere except in the original forest. Passerina cyanea.—Of frequent occurrence; found mostly along the roadsides. Piranga erythromelas.—Abundant in the woodland, especially so in the hemlocks. Chelidon erythrogaster.—This species, the only Swallow found, was very abundant about farmhouses. Ampelis cedrorum.—Numerous; seen every day in the trees about the house. Vireo olivaceus.—Common, most so in the second-growth. Mniotilta varia.—-This species seemed to share in the general abun- dance of Warblers which is so characteristic a feature of the avifauna of this locality, being much more numerous than in any other section I have visited heretofore. It frequented the second-growth for the most. part. Compsothlypis americana.—Found in the original forest as well as in the second-growth, and in both these situations abundant, but usually keeping high up. Dendroica zstiva.—Met with only about houses, and apparently not common. Dendroica czrulescens.—Abundant throughout both the second-growth and the original forest. Dendroica maculosa.—Very abundant in the same situations as the last species, but as a rule keeping lower down in the bushes and undergrowth. Dendroica pensylvanica.—Numerous in the second-growth, but not nearly as abundant as several other Warblers, in spite of the apparent suitability of the place to its needs. Dendroica blackburnize.—Another very abundant species, met with both in the second-growth and in the original forest. Dendroica virens.—Abundant throughout the woodland in all situa- tions. Seiurus aurocapillus.—Abundant everywhere in the woods. Seiurus noveboracensis.—Several pairs were met with in a swampy rhododendron thicket in a semi-wooded bottom, along a small stream. 46 Topp, Birds of Indiana and Clearfield Counties, Pa. Auk Jan. Geothlypis trichas.—Rather common about the thicket where the last species was noticed, and seen also elsewhere. One individual was observed whose song was peculiar, an extra syllable being added, whose timbre most resembled that of the Kentucky Warbler’s chirp. Sylvania canadensis.—Not observed in the depths of the original forest, though perhaps found there to some extent; abundant in the thickets and in the second-growth, especially about damp places, where its sprightly song was constantly to be heard. Galeoscoptes carolinensis.—Abundant in the second-growth as well as about dwellings. Harporhynchus rufus.—A few observed. Troglodytes aédon.—Four pairs in all were noted, which is a larger number than I have ever before met with in an equal extent of territory. All were found near dwellings, except one which haunted a deserted saw- mill on the edge of a wood. Troglodytes hiemalis.—One pair only met with, in the denser second- growth, where I listened to its enchanting song, and on the last day of my stay succeeded in securing it. Sitta carolinensis.—Of infrequent occurrence. Parus atricapillus.—A pair observed constantly near the house, in the immediate vicinity of which they no doubt had a nest. Turdus mustelinus.—Common throughout the woodland. Turdus aonalaschke pallasii.mFully as numerous as the last species ; but, unlike it, found mostly in the more open woods and the second- growth. Merula migratoria.—Found commonly about houses. Sialia sialis——A few observed by the roadside on one occasion. Vol. X ine Loomis on Funco pinosus. 47 DESCRIPTION OF A NEW JUNCO FROM CALI- FORNIA. BY LEVERETT M. LOOMIS. Junco pinosus, new species. Point Pinos JuNco. Sp. CHar.— Most nearly like $. 2. thurberz, but throat, jugulum, and fore breast slate-gray, varying to dark slate-gray, and upper portions of head and neck slate-gray, varying to blackish slate; bill averaging broader and longer. JS ad. (No. 278, museum of Leland Stanford Junior University, vicinity of Monterey, Cala., July 4, 1892; Leverett M. Loomis). Upper part of head and neck blackish slate, changing, on sides of head and neck, to ~ slate-gray on throat, jugulum, and fore breast; this dark color being abruptly defined against the colors of the body; interscapulars and scapu- lars pale chestnut; rump gray, tinged with chestnut; posterior part of breast, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts white; sides faintly washed with vinaceous-buff; two outer rectrices wholly white, the third partially white, the others dark brown; wings dark brown, more or less edged with chestnut and whitish. This type specimen is in rather worn plumage. Of three other males (all taken during the first two weeks of July) one is almost an exact counterpart of the specimen described, the other two represent a darker and lighter phase in the shade of the slate-gray of the fore-neck and breast and in the blackish slate and dark slate- gray of the upper part of the head and neck. Q ad. (No. 281, museum of Leland Stanford Junior University, vicinity of Monterey, Cala., July 4, 1892; Leverett M. Loomis). Similar to the male, though smaller, with color of anterior parts grayer, especially the throat and sides of head. The chestnut of the back is deeper than in any of the males. This is also true in the only other female I preserved. Except on the throat the second female is darker anteriorly than the palest male; the dimensions of the male, however, are considerably greater. 3, 2 hornot. (Description based upon two males and two females taken during the first fortnight of July).. Above pale chestnut, more or less slightly tinged with slaty on crown, narrowly streaked with blackish, the streaks predominating on top of head; below white, tinged in a vary- ing degree with buffish, and streaked, except medially, with dusky, thickly on breast and jugulum and more or less sparsely on throat and sides; sides of head with colors and markings of upper and lower parts variously blended; wings blackish, broadly edged on inner secondaries and greater coverts with pale chestnut; middle coverts less broadly edged and with greater coverts tipped with buffish, forming two inconspicuous bars; primaries edged with whitish, shading into the chestnut of secondaries; inner rectrices blackish, margined with pale chestnut; outer one wholly white, second chiefly white, third with or without a white spot. 48 Loomis on Funco pinosus. at DIMENSIONS OF ADULTS (in millimetres). Width upper No | Sex| Length Wing Tail |Chordexp.| mandible at! Tarsus | Remarks culmen hase Bel wai al ths 240! ars. /)/ MOS. 58 11.68 5-84 19. 56 BrS\ lied \ Layege | e763 63.50 10,92 5-84 20.32 | Type 279 | go | 144.78 | 70.36 | 66.04 10.67 5-84 20.32 280 | g | 152.40 | 72-39 67.31 10.92 5-84 20.32 281 | QO) 144-78 | 67-3 66.04 10.67 5-84 18.54 | Type 2E2n | Ouilira7.82i | (O8258 63.50 10.67 Baa 19.56 This Junco is distinguished at a glance from thurberz, which it appears to approach nearest, by the decided slate-gray aspect of the fore breast, jugulum, and throat. The palest female ¢thu- beré I have seen is distinctly darker than the darkest male fzxo- sus of the series. The average greater length and breadth of the bill is also a prominent character when the two birds are com- pared. The color of the bill and the color of the eyes were not noted in the field, which is to be regretted, as additional charac- ters might have been afforded by their determination. I have described this new Junco provisionally as a distinct species, because the material within my reach has not shown that it intergrades with ¢hurberé or any other form. The name chosen, pinosus, is from Point Pinos, the place of discovery, which forms the south side of the entrance of Monterey Bay. I first met with it ina pine grove on the reservation of the Point Pinos Light- house, June 21, 1892, my first collecting day in the locality. Subsequently I found it was a common bird, frequenting the more open places in the pine woods which largely cover the high, cold promontory of Monterey. The fact that a Junco should be found breeding at the sea level so far south in California is very significant and in itself is enough to suggest the existence at least of a local race. It will be inter- esting to learn the status of the birds breeding in the Coast Range, particularly those of Santa Clara County. Since the above was penned I have submitted the specimens described to Mr. Ridgway and he writes me: ‘‘I have examined them carefully, and have not the slightest difficulty in recogniz- ing the marked differences presented by your birds from a series of Fh. thurberz. There can be no question as to their distinct- ness.” Vol. X ee THOMPSON ox Manttoba Birds. 49 ADDITIONS TO THE LIST OF MANITOBAN BIRDS. BY ERNEST E. THOMPSON. Since the publication of my notes on ‘The Birds of Manitoba,’ I have been able to make a number of additions to our list of Provincial birds. These are chiefly the results of my own trip to the Province in 1892, but important assistance has been received from others and is duly acknowledged in place. Ardea egretta. AMERICAN EGret.—A fine specimen of this bird was shot on Duck Bay, Lake Winnipegoosis, in 1888, by Mr. David Armit. Through the courtesy of this gentleman, and also of Mr. Wm. Clarke, the Chief Factor at Winnipeg, who sends methe bird, I am enabled to examine and report fully. It is an adult in full plumage. Length, 404 inches; beak, 44; wing, 154; tarsus, 64. This is, I believe, the northernmost record for the species. Gruscanadensis. LitrL—E BROWN CRANE.—A specimen of this bird was mounted in Toronto by Mr. Thurston who stated that it was killed on the Qu’Appelle River. This may or may not bring the species within ou limits but it certainly would at least inscribe it on our probable list, for I am informed by Mr. Ripon of Toronto that this bird commonly breeds on the upper Qu’Appelle. This specimen I have seen, and measured as follows: wing 19 inches; tarsus, 6; toe, 34; beak, 3%. Micropalama himantopus. STILT SANDPIPFR.—On August 29, at Carberry, I made the first positive capture of this species in the Province. It was in a mixed flock of Sandpipers of several species. Zenaidura macroura. MourniING Dove.— The disappearance of the Passenger Pigeon has been closely followed by the appearance of the Common Dove. In the three years of my residence in the Province early in the eighties, I saw but one Dove; now, however, they abound on the Big Plain wherever there are trees and water. Three or four pairs seem to be semi-domesticated about each barnyard that affords the above requisites, and they appear to be spreading farther each year, and greatly increasing in numbers. Archibuteo ferrugineus. Reb RouGHLEG.—A fine specimen of this was taken near Winnipeg by Mr. Hine, and is now in the Manitoba Mu- seum. It had previously been listed as probable only. Falco rusticolus obsoletus. BLACK GyRFALCON. — This species also I had listed as probably Manitoban in winter. Since then two fine speci- mens have been taken and are now in the Manitoba Museum. Tyrannus verticalis. ARKANSAS KINGBIRD. — Two specimens of this, an adult and one in first plumage, were taken by Mr. D. Losh Thorpe at the Souris coal fields, August 20, 1891. This is not many miles to the west of the Province and justifies the insertion of the species as probably Man- 7 1Proc, U.S. Nat. Mus., XIII, 1891, pp. 457-643. - 4 k 50 THOMPSON on Manitoba Birds. ia itoban. My thanks are due to Mr. Thorpe for the privilege of examining this and other specimens in his collection. Myiarchus crinitus. CRESTED FLYCATCHER. ‘TYRANT FLYCATCHER.’ — Three specimens of this, to us, scarce bird, are in the Manitoba Mu- seum ; all were taken near Winnipeg. While at Carberry I several times met with it; and it is to be considered much less rare than I formerly supposed. Leucosticte tephrocotis. GRAY-CROWNED FINCH. ‘PINK SNOWBIRD.’— I have in my collection an adult of this species taken near Birtle, Mani- toba, in January, 1891, by Mr. George Copeland. Also in the Manitoba Museum are two specimens taken in the Province by Mr. Hine. These give a considerable eastward extension to the range of the species. Rhynchophanes mccowni. McCown’s Lonespur. — A specimen of this bird taken by Mr. Thorpe near Dalesbro, just west of our borders, justifies its inclusion as a probable straggler. Ammodramus caudacutus nelsoni. SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. — On my arrival at Winnipeg Mr. Hine surprised me by producing a specimen of the above, shot at Winnipeg on May 25, 1892. On June 30, at Carberry, while out in pursuit of Leconte’s Sparrow, I heard a curious note, unlike that of the species I was after. On going over the slough to the spot I put up two small, dark-colored Sparrows. I got one with the right, but» the left barrel missed fire. The new species was also caudacutus, and I seyeral times heard its notes afterwards in this and other similar regions about. On September 1, while out Duck-shooting in a new locality, I came on a large straggling flock of Sparrows in a slough; for the sake of identification I shot one, and again found it caudacutus. The same day at a point four miles west, I met with another flock, and again secured a true Sharptail. These two birds, though much injured by the duck shot, are now in my collection. They have been submitted to Mr. F. M. Chapman, who pronounces all to be of the subspecies zelsonz. Stelgidopteryx serripennis. SAw-wINGED SwALLow.—A specimen of this bird, taken near Winnipeg by Mr. Hine, is in the Manitoba Museum. Anthus spraguei. Missourrt SkYLARK.—This bird was very abundant on the Big Plain in 1882, but in 1892 I failed to see or hear a single individual in the country. They appear to have totally disappeared. This is un- questionably owing to the breaking up of the virgin prairie. The progress of agriculture has apparently affected this more than any other species, but has also wrought marked changes in the distribution of several. The Pinnated Grouse, as well as the Sharp-tailed Grouse, the Dove, the Shore Lark, the Meadowlark, and the Vesper Sparrow have all increased remarkably within the last ten years. The same may be said of all the Blackbirds excepting the Cowbird. The Passenger Pigeon, Swainson’s Hawk and several of the Ducks have suffered, but the Missouri Skylark alone seems to have found itself quite unable to cope with the surround- ings of the new order of things. Sialia sialis. BLUEBIRD.—It is gratifying to note that this species, instead of very rare, has become quite common in the country along the Assiniboine; and nearly every grove of oak of any extent is found to have a pair making their home in it along with the Purple Martins. Vol. X ELLiot oz the Genus Pitta. Sal 1893 . ON THE GENUS , 2/7 7A) VIEILLOT: BY DG. HiMion: In 1816 Vieillot instituted in his ‘Analyse d’une nouvelle Ornithologie élémentaire,’ p. 42, the genus /¢¢fa for those birds designated Biéve by Buffon. /tta was defined as follows: “Breve, Pitta. Corvus, Linn. Gm. Lath. Bec robuste, un peu épais a la base, droit, convexe en dessus, comprimé, pointu; mandibule supérieure échancrée vers le bout; Vinférieure entiére, égale.—Ailes longues.—Queue courte. Esp. Bréve, Buff.” Beside the character ‘* Queue courte,” he gives no other which might not equally apply to the species in the other division of the family which are at present included in the genus Huczchla. ‘¢ Oueue courte” is arelative term, as all the species of Pitta have short tails in comparison to their size, although some have them longer than others, and even all the members of Auczchla, the so-called long-tailed species, are not equal in this respect, Z. elliote and £. gurneyé having rectrices intermediate in length between the very short-tailed species, of which P. drachyura (Linn.) may be considered the type,and 4. guwac‘ana (Miill.), which represents those with long tails, and is the type of its genus. Vieillot cites the Bréves of Buffon as those birds he intended should be included in his genus. These are four in number, three only of which, not @//7 as stated by Sclater (Ibis, 1877, p. 260), belong to the short-tailed group, and one to the long- tailed. They arethe Merle des Philippines, pl. 89 (P. sordida Miill.), Merle des Moluqgues, pl. 257 (P. moluccensis Miill.), Merle vert des Moluques, pl. 258 (P. coronata Miill.), and Merle de la Guiane, pl. 355 (P. guazana Miill.). Pitta Vieillot is therefore a composite genus, and an author when dividing the family into different genera has a perfect right to choose as the type for his division Pt¢a any of the species among those included by Vieillot in his genus, when he had made them all equal, and recognized no generic differences among them, and placed both short- and long-tailed species in one genus, 52 ELLiot ox the Genus Pitta. ee In my ‘Monograph,’ published in 1863, I restricted the term Pitta to those birds with the long, pointed tails, and adopted for the short- nearly square-tailed species the term Arachyurus, Thunberg (Vet. Akad. Handl. 1821, p. 370). This, however, has been twice previously employed in zodlogy, first by Latreille in 1802 for a genus of crustacea, and again in 1814 by Fischer for one of mammals, and cannot, therefore, according to the princi- ples adopted by naturalists at the present day, be again employed in ornithology. In 1859 Reichenbach in his ‘Systema Avium,’ pl. li, separated the fourth species in Vieillot’s genus, de Merle de la Guiane, from the rest, and made it the type of a new genus Hucichla, thus leaving the short-tailed birds to repre- sent Vieillot’s genus P¢tta, of which the type, if we take the first species mentioned by Buffon, would be that on plate 89, the Merie des Philippines (P. sordida Miill.), and not P. drachyura as given by Sclater (Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., XIV, 1888, p. 413), which is not mentioned at all by Buffon in his work, the AZer/e de Bengale, as figured on Plate 258, being a Moluccan and not an Indian species. If, therefore, the Pittide are to be divided into three genera, we should have