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Waa Atl Att 4 ee afi We poy ledecefee Cel bolle I u Cabri OY) LEO leddputted frckery “at! bE Bd | ae. | Aecergutdala dite Yen a eeged Adan IY JOS ld ee, Sib Hla Za 2b2/ Lys ae eT eS SPS SS SS TE j q rene | ) oy | pelogh lip HW Ip “ a ee Prada aga, be A ae, L/S 2, LAL AN Jb: Z oe rm 4G” ae io pint al L260 bart S06 cheese bo” dal HN A Ai Watt (b7 Mio se A swnblglualeit PLE a phir ao Eo 7 fasact leet Ij He. hes SPEIER, Tita, Ai us DE be NER Labial ANCE ANAS ATONE ARE er: alin osc MY Meritlw Malte LOE Va prraidusa carilerined pili edb rai Ectopistes migratoria, Middlesex County, Mass, 1868, Sept. 9. A flock of about forty migrating. 1870. July 6, A young female feeding on currants in our garden, very tame, Sept .2=10.. Migrating over Cambridge in immense flocks for three or four days, roosting in pine woods, 1875, Shot a male in Waltham: he was alone, sitting in an oak by the roadside, Shot a female at Concord, One of eight sitting in an oak in high dry woodland, Towne found a Wild Pigeons nest containing one egg, in Weston, A female in Waverly, Shot a sitting bird in Single bird sitting the top of a dead tree in the Fresh Pond marshes, One in the road near Walden Pond was so tame that my horse nearly stepped on it before it flew (Concord), A pair on the Assabet River, Coneord, A pair flying together near Fifty Acre Meadow (Conc- cord), Ectoistes migratoria. ibagog). g a : : r pee Aaa i ree re mle eas j : i June 1@, Common and seen nearly every day, sometimes in pairs } : metimes in pairs often in ‘floe of twenty or more. ' a | ' ; Ne aon Saw Cambridge along the wooded DG, Mee Abundant and now ‘ . 56, ' eae ae A breeok on Upten Hilt; “ ty Vo Killed-two flock Of -abeut a s'Makes them very diffieult ‘Ww 1 WOOd t I tO Shoot? L882. oO c 4 < Om am oi aa 2. 1 2 . be Om ne Seen Oetober 83; it ts verv r } c TAY » a Rg VC ah e i) ed a % 4 7 i | Ma 4 x Ectipistes migratoria, 1866, Aug. 30. Saw five flying together (West Amesbur},Mass,.). 1870. July 1, Started a young female in beach grass (Muskegat Is- land,Mass.),. Sept.2=—1L0, Abundant frequenting grain stubbles in large flocks, When started they alighted in the dead stubs bordering the fields, They were rather tame and extremely grace- ful in their attitudes, Their flight when passing from one tree to another was often slow and labored but when bound for some distant point théy flew with extraordi- nary swiftness, Large flocks often alighted in the togf of beaches, where it was very difficult to see them in the dense foliage (Forks of the Kennebec, Maine), 1874, Jan, 14, A professional Pigeon snarer whom I met to-day in Boston, gave me the following information concerning this birds; All the Pigeons in the United States, exeep- ting a few straggling pairs or small communities, collect yearly new in one immense breeding colony. If persecu— ted to an exeessive degree the breeding place is deser- ted and another begun a hundred miles or more distant, The largest colony he has ever seen, Was one which he Visited in 1872 on the eastern shore of Lka e Michigan, It was twenty miles leng by six to seven miles in width, He believes that the birds are increasing and aecounts for it by the inerease of the supply of cereal food, Apr, 16.) The Boston markets are now overflowing with Wild Pigeons which are said to come from Missouri, The mar- ket men obtain perfect eggs from the female birds which they sell to collectors, Zenaidura carolinensis, sia Sia lana ania aaa 1868, Middlesex County, Mass, i sept.18. One flying over the Srieckyard Swamp. F . One in the Briekyard Swamp. Probably the same bird seen yesterday. | 1876, q Oct. 27. Shot a male at Concord, Tt rose some distance ] ahead among scattered birches, and passed me, flying swe swiftly down wind, It fell through the branches of a bireh, and before reaching the ground was almost entire- ly stripped of feathers. i Zenaidura carolinensis, q 1867, | Sept.2-7, . Small flecks frequented a long sandy point that Separates the harbor from the bay, They were shy but | could be approached when among the rank beach-grass, q When startéed they rose with a sharp whirring sound (Ply- mouth,Mass.), 1871, | i Oet .18-20. We frequently started them from old fields grown ‘ up to weeds (Marston’s Mills,Mass. ), ) | | | 1874, | | June 18, Only two seen (Marston’s Mills, Mass.). | | | 1875. | i Oet. 20. Shot one (Marston’s Mills,Mass), ‘ i 1 i 1876, ; May 15, One (Chatham,Mass.). | Siena ie ea ase aus Sta oa ee ee i aa be ee a a - a in a ‘a r Se eee oe i] ts © t 45 e ae e ; id 3 ~ °. | € += c of s e © . © 1 ° se « ‘ e © ” e . e Canace cana > y of Sag). Gideon Stone, tells me se drum. male pidly and ntal brane rests a:moment Same incline ‘odueed Ls .e ks the prelimina Shorter, one that he He doseribes gion Grou The POT) at a6 the sound thus pr bay io Grouse US7 3s With tO me alive Tyler Path. brood, nooseof passi ng young manner short Wit th a pole, Two young POUT halt to me, Bi eipaliges ak Chuce K birds, a male srown, were Their erberries, ang a 1874, July 28 Among the er behind mill, e upon Grouse about as ue ge as heavy to the Sat watching me, uttering noise, The mother, also called incessantly kruck- krue Approaching her cautiously her in the breast pete bhe sranch thickly T cam the whirring to oach oetia hs few yards s answering appr h Ne Came upon the Spruces behind the walked out al Tibi a a turkey inten tones as his Same mot! HOt. Fe) more ing young Quail. 5 8 tops of occasior 5 ak brood One limb continuously in .densis, Lts to ground, Pek ML nl of about 45° above the yeas drumming much Like ad not Ai st tan diseonnect ad 7a, ble LE Ving i ee and five suLdas first pluma gags! Soruces Spruce With a o @ brood the ally Lentod on ck, kirr-kruck et ae es Bo ima at to ae tun lly got ne muZZle of my gun rapidly with a allowed me to withdrawing a Bird. 2% seen on the hie, Ot, the with his ge rere J” : SPE TO or a i = = = — ie a SS as a RF ig a EEE a@ di. ‘AS7B<. June a4, Canace canadensis, @ female which berry bushes in a perfe Upton ‘ill, nearly one the woods, which for a exclusively of hard wooc Killed a very fine adult male on the Sluice, While walking quietly along beyond the bog I happened to look young Spruce Grouse Sitting in +t} 3 directly over my head, one with neek o other squatted close on the limb. ne the deli-~ After watch- ing them a moment I shot one and missed the other as it flew. The bird killed had its crop filled with larch needles, Leaving the Tyler Path to pick up a bird that T had shot I came Suddenly upon an old male Spruce Grouse, As he stood on a little knoll in a elump of bunek berries with a stray sumbeam lighting up his dark plumage he pre- Sented a most beautiful appearance and T looked at him Several: moments before shooting. Henry Douglass kill- ed another, a fine male in fall plymage., A very fine adult male shot on the Tyler Path, Between the entrance to the Tyler Path and the bog me upon a fine male Spruce Grouse, He rose from the with a faint flutter and alighted in a low alder. tched him for some time and noticed that the red over the eye was very conspicuous; that he held with the under covert Striking down below he turned his head very Slowly and steadi- ly end slewly as if it were moved by automatic machinery. At length I turned to walk away to fair shooting distance when he immediately took wing, flying directly after m the path and actually alighting within six feet of The next moment af 2, terwards, however , he the bushes and again flew to a low limb Shot) him: fn the woods immediat covered a female Spruce trunk of a spruce. Ly out along the lin and began to fuls “or i x nm @ quick, nervou motion, x Lens 1aC€ Canaca ear 1879, PAAR EPA eee ed Wid 1866, May 19, 1867, Nov, 30,) May 23, 1871, June 17, Bluebird they rose easily, uttering a cheeping ery, and 1872, Feb . 22, i Bonaza umbella, Middlesex County, Mass, Nest with ten eggs. Found a place yesterday where several had roosted on a low serubby pine; visited the spot to-day and by the signs judged thay had passed the night there also, My dog flushed one in the Pine Swamp that was ap-= parently lging under the snow, Upon shooting and dis- secting it I found its crop filled with buds (with parts of the stems attached)--maple buds predominating, & bird game into Fresh Pond this afternoon which I took for a Rudy Duck, It passed entirely around the pond, a distance of at least a mile and a half, flying at a height of about twenty feet above water, then pit- ched into the oak woods lining the shore, Upon follow- ing it — found it to be a Ruffed Grouse, Nest with one egg which the female sat on till nearly stepped upon, The localityvwas theedge of a small open grove near a house, and with farmers working close at hand, The nest was placed in a Slight hollow at the foot of a tree, and was composed of leaves and the abdoninab feathers of the parent bird, I visited the Place at intervals till May 17 when she finished her laying of ten eggs and began to incubate them. While Sitting she would remain perfectly motionless until my hand was within a few inches of her tail, not so much as moving a feather or rolling her fiery eyes; then with a Startling suddenness would rise directly from the nest with the usual loud whiring, Whenever I found her ab- | Saat from the nest the eggs were always covered up in the most careful manner, Nest eleven fresh eggs, Two broods of young, although not larger than a flying a hundred yards or more alighted in low trees or bushes, The mother was very bold approaching within a fow yards and making a noise p eeisely like the whining of a dog; also elucking -rapidly, Started forty in Concord and Carlisle, ve Hh Bonasa umbella, Middlesex County, Mass. Started twelve at Coneord. One started by my dog flew up and alighted in a bireh where I shot it, Started four over the same ground hunted yesterday; Several birds left yesterday were, however, gone to-day, a fact whieh confirms Melvin’s idea that they have already begun their migration, Shot a female in a cedar tree in Watertown, She sat perfectly still with out stretched neck and feathers drawk close, : Four, which I found in mixed cedars and birehes near the Waverly mill-pond, lay as closely as Woodcock my Seéter getting steady points on all but one, This unusual behavior was probably due to the fact that a rain last ni ght had thoroughly wetted the leaves and under- growth, Starédd seventeen in Western; they were nearly all found in alder runs and most of them lay nearly as well as Quail, In one plaee our dogs made five consceutive peints on birds in a littie open meadow among tussocks, Started about twenty in Lineoln, We started forty-eight in Concord and killed ten, Many of them were found in very open ground, One which was distinctly seen to alight in a thick white pine could not be either seen or frightened out Probably apprecia- ting the perfect conesaiment afforded by the thick bran- ches, Ome shot through the head towered to a great height and fell within a hundred yards of us, Found signs of ofe in an old stump at Watertown, It hag haunted this locality all winter, | One drumming on a stone wall in Lexington. I Started him put returning an hour later found him drumm- ing in the same Place, where, indeed, I remember hearing one (perhapgssthe same bird) four years ago, I believe they use a Part :ecular roek, mound, or log every season, Shecnolnh nyse 89 Pha Qari Ke Beers } ; 7 A male drumming, A female with young; she fluttered along the ground Making a piteous whining exactly like that ofa dog (erying for admission at a closed door, I could find only one chiek which was apparently about a week old, 1875, Bonasa umbella, Middlesex County, Mass. (June 21). A female with a brood of about a dozen young fPééding sept es VT. | in the road, in Lincoln, The young-~pretty little fellows--ran about precisely inn the manner of newly~ _hatehed chickens, Sometimes one would pick up a seed or other choice morsal and start off, hotly pursued by two or three envious, but less fortunate companions, The old hen walked Slowly along, keeping her body erect, and once hopped on a fallen log where she ealled out Sruek, er-r-rer-uek to collect her scattered brood which eame running in from all directions in obedience to the summons, When £ approached they all took wing (although _ they could not have been more than a week old)-alighting in low bushes and along the tops of stone wallg I con- _¢ealed myself and after a few moments they began to lisp in a high anxious key Seroe, seree, screep. As usual in September next to none are to be found, Melvin started only one in a long tramp at Concord last week, Heard one drum eight or ten times in succession ( (Belmont), Started seven in Belmont, One started in Belmont, Upon being fired at it mounted into the air at the height of several hundred feet and literally flew out of Sight across the open country. ; Two of these Grouse rose from @ patch of briars and wild-rose bushes not exceeding six feet Square, in the Middle of a perfectly open field: they lay close as we passed within a few-feet of them and flew after we had got out of gun-shot, Started one in the Maple Swamp, and two in the Pine Swamp, killing both the latter, The first of the three (rose within twenty yards of me, It did not make the Slightest whirring although the air was perfectly still with rather more than the usual celeri- bird, a fine adult fehaleafter being _ flushed twice in the tangled thickets bordering Pout Pond flew out among the tall pines and suddenly sweepéng upward alighted on a dead limb, some thirty feet above the ground where I shot it. It s position was rather unusual, the body being nearly horizontal and the neck not particularly stretched out. Started thirty-five in Concord, and killed four. They are exceedingly tenacious of life at this season, One at which eight shots were fired, struck foreibly in- toa birch, and eame fluttering nearly to the ground, when recovering itself, towered to the height of about one hundred yards and went off over the woods apparently 4 . 4 ¢ ’ a Ta) } > * P ¢ 4 e) ' Ps ° ' se Fr h ies r Cr i ) 7 . ‘ . ‘ € > f ; 4 ‘ mere au or ® 4 * | r 5 Ve leven “ - PY f ~ *f == fee EO > <) 7m Squat 528 ‘ni aalbataee ry ey f ; ‘ o \ * o * / a A ® © ve aa n " . ° ~*~ e ‘ a 9 ” é ¢ ¢ Oo ue * Soe ee Bonasa umbella, Middlesex County, Mass. as well as ever, We finally saw it strike into a pine at least a quarter of a mile from the place where it started, and upon going to the place found it nearly a hundred yards beyond, Both eyes were pierced by the Shot one leg was broken and blood flowed from several wounds in the body. Another bird had both legs and the end of one wing nearly stripped of Beathers, yet it flew about the usual distance and started again from a pine with nearly as much Vigor as at first. Most of these Grouse were found in alder-runs, They flew direct ly to the thickets pines and generally alighted in them If we passed under, or nearly under, the tree the bird would usually out fly getting under way with marvelous rapidity. The crops of two which I examined contained chiefly clover leaves with a few cranberries and acorns, Shot a fine male in a swamp in Belmont, His crop was crammed with the berries of the privet and the wild- rose, Shot a female in the Pine Swamp, Started three in an alder run. They were lying with in a few yards of one another, The first rose liter- ally beneath my feet, the second a few yards ahead, the third rather wild, Started twent Concord bagging si ye Y pointed by my setter and when finally (“Started rose within four feet of his nose, They are wonderfully tenacious of life at this season. All six of our birds were seeured by being wing-tipped, though, with one exeeption, all were more or less Shot in the body and one literally riddled with No. 7 shot, One Upen being shot at pitehed headlong to the earth but When within four feet of it re ing into a small another, gh the body ang at @ach downward movement of the head crimson drops of blood fell on the leaves beneath, Had his wings been tninjured he would probably have hurdled off over the birches out of sight. Nearly all the birds Started within flying distance of pines direetly to them and alightedin the trees, In such cases, unless the pine is a very tall = the bird invariably flies when you are nearly under m i a bes eS - e wt : + é > , " ie * >. C fo ¢ 2 + ~ om af = . : . € - . . i - : " : ; ae ~ . ! = ‘ pe “ al ‘ , . - & : ; i ~ * . ° » Q z . > “ & s x « 2 >A ™ > ’ + 4 r : ¢ < : ‘ Mar. ll. Sept.28, il. 24, 25. 26, ll, Bonasa umbella, Middlesex County, Mass. Started about five in Lincoln, A Grouse at Concord rose from an open field and alighted in a bireh by the roadside, As I approached it started again and flying down the road a few rods, turned sharply into the yard of a farm house and da ighted on the top rail of ap old- hay-rigging Standing direetly in front of the farmers door, As I approach a third time it again started crossing the road and disappearing in the pine grove In Concord my setter pointed a Grouse which rose thirty yards ahead and flying only a few rods dropped to the ground again and began running, Upon shooting it I found it a mere skeleton, though in fine plumage, I emamined it carefully but failed to find any mark of injury. One in Waldon woods Stalked proudly aeross the woodpath in front of my horse, They are getting more numerous at Concord, Started | Pive, Started six at Concord, In the Pine Swamp I tracked one Some distance in the snow, At length it doubled and under the cover of Some fallen brush passed me within twenty yards and rose behind me, That it did this with desigh ws clearly shown by its long hurried Strides imprinted in the show, I have started one or two Grouse daily of late in the Fresh Pond swamps, The ground has been covered with moist Snow, and-in tracking them I find that they frequently associate with Qail, running and feeding with them, This I have previously suspeeted from the faet that the two Species are so often Started near together. On Concord River one flew from a hillside and ¢cross-— ed the river directly in front of the boat, aE EHC Bonasa umbella. Maine (Lake Umbagog), $578. sept.10 Came upon a flock of six on the vaeasiini : ambridgo S River. They were so tame that I easi y 1 them all, Ss shooting ® ur in suecession with My ri Started five broods of young all about half~grown, Tey were all very tame, Most of them took'to the troes when started and several made curious demonstrati apparently of anger ay my celal ruffli feathers,: jerking their tails, and a and grunting noise. One oF the sae eae closely before my setters point, squatting on turf in alittle openi ng not two yards ahead Saw two large broods of broods on the One brood of road to the Sluice of about a dozen rose an open clearing, going up one 3ethel our team of a popla most reach he ’ A brood of young apparently the mother through the woods hunters here believe that the male Ruf f tly takes eharge of a brood of young, Alva Coolid to-day came across such certain tha né parent in charge was a thinks that these birds regularly pair, the ¢ase with th p Grouse is unanimously j ‘ always find the paired babe Grouse Ld and hea Sé6pt.27. Coming down ed two Grouse from Feed much on the Abundant birch buds, poplar leaves leaves of ? Viburnum opulus and mountain ash, and grass shoppers, etter pointed a brood of field® nearly an hund woods, Bee Sh De aa ee , a a i 4 q & ¢ | i SSD AT ia ei i i a ss 4 a q 4 a ( 1869, July & Aug 1870. July 30. 1876, Dec, 5. ic 9. Bonasa umbella, Said to be numerous but I saw none (Glen House ,N.H,) Heard a male drumming it is said to be numerous here (Profile House,N.H. Started seven, several of which lay very closely (Marston’s Mills, Mass, ) They feed out in the open stubbles and weeds fields here morning and evening, a lmoest as regularly as the Qail (Marsten’s Mills, Mass), 15 Sa | SEE IRE ENOTES Nov, 24. & 25. 1869, Nov, 15. 1870, Apr. 1871. Apr. 26, May 16,— time, May 18, 36, | the end of the Willows, Ortyx virginianus, Middlesex County, Mass, Saw a flock of six running about a bunch of weeds ard brush near the side of the road. They have probably suffered severely during the winter. Flushed a covey of aboyt six in low Swampy woods, One singing “Bob White”, Started a covey of oight; although we marked them closely we could not afterwards find one, They probably were not diminished as much as sup= posed, by the heavy snow of last winter for the “Bob White® of the male can now be heard in all directions, A bevy of about a dozen. Found the same bevy again to-day, Noticed to-day for the first time, the wonderful ventriloqual powers of this bird, Having started a bevy I waited until they had tun together again, and gui- ded by their whistlings, erept up to within about twenty yards, Their loud cries s till continued, seeming to come from a small elump of bushes directly in front of mé, when suddenly they sounded more distant, although as loud ase ver, In a few moments I judged from the sound that they were several hundred yards off, and inercasing the distanee rapidly, but hardly had I started to follow them, when they all rose within a few yards of me. Still in flocks; started a bevy of seven to-day, A bevy of a dozen started in Belmont (Atkinson), Hear’ d the “Bob White” of the male for the first A pair rustling through the dry grass and bushes at literally within reach of the whip as I sat in my buggy. They are always exceedingly tame at this season, One singing “Bob White *, oa B Ortyx virginianus. 1874, Middlesex County, Mass. Sept.25.. A large brood of young about the size of field mice accompanied by both parents. The female ran along in front of our dog risin g and flying a few yards at a time. Oct. 23. Started a small bevy in Coneord; we distinetly saw them alight in an open hucklyberry bus pasture, but al- though supplied with two good dogs, succeeded in starting only one of them, A small bevy basking in the sun in a little shelter- ed nook byvthe roadside, When flushed about half of them alighted in an open mowing field although this was bordered on both sides by dense thickets, Here they lay very elosely although giving out no seent, Started a bevy of ten which lit on an oak knoll in a meadow, He could find only three of them although the remainder were afterwards heard in the very spot we had beaten so carefully. I have seen many clear cases of~ this season of this birds power of withholding its seent. The more-a bevy is hunted and its numbers thinned the | more closely do the survivers lie and the more persis~ tently do they hold their scent, Heard a male calling “Bob White? in Newtonville, Started a bevy of five in Waltham on the evening of A beevy of tén by the roadside, running in single file through a2 break in a Stone wall, Seven of them | Were females, One in the road in Waltham eas of my horse for some though I was going at hour, ily kept along ahead distance without using its wings al- aspeed of at least ten miles an Started a large bevy in Belmont, distance and began to alighted, They flew a long whistle almost as soon as they A large bevy in Belmont Separated when Started, | half going one way and half the other; the wind was dlowing almost « hurricane and the birds that started | @gainst it made very slow progress and alighted within | @ hundred yards, Brought home two wing- amd kept them alive in a ca | ter, Their wings healed p _ loose in the spring, breken birds shot in Belmont, ge through the following win= erfectly and I turned them (Junel4 € | 1876, Sept.28,. Oct, 22, Nov, QO, Dec, 12, Ortyx vVirginianus, Middlesex County, Mass, Started a bevy of ten by the roadside; they took to the Waverly woods where they acted very badly, rising wild and giving out little if any scent, Bevy of about twenty-five in Belmont in the thick- ets at the east end of the Willows, Three which we killed were the largest birds of this speeies that I have ever seen, All lay very close and all gave out scent freely. One sought refuge in a stone wall where my setter pointed it; my companion thrust in his arm and actually touehed the bird before it took wing, Unusually abundant, I seo or hear them nearly every day. Sometimes the male ealls “Bob White” ten or twelve times in succession, without the slightest intermi- sion between the notes, They are very noisy now and their love season apparently at its height; all the fall notes also freely used at this season, Two bevies at Coneord, the birds in one nearly full grown, those of the other not larger than Song Sparrows, While driving shortly after Sunset, a small bevy of Quail crossed the road, flying close past my horses head and pitehed down altogether in some alders, They were evidently flying to roost after their evening feat, St-rted a bevy in the Maple Swamp near Block Island, Tracked a bevy in the snow in the Swamp beyond Block Island. They finally separated about oen half keeping to the swamp the remainder feeding out into the open where [ found them, Found three bevies in the Fresh Pond swamps, One containing fiftoen birds, started in dense cover, flew directly out into the open marshes seattering and alighting in a seanty fringe of bushes bordering a ditch, Here they lay well each bird crouching under the fleeey masses of snow which, adhering to every branch and weed, formed inumerable tunnels and arches beneath, I tracked Several into these hiding places for they usually ran a few steps before concealing themselves, It was very exciting coming wp oa distant track upon a distinct trakk leading directly under a tuft of grass where I knew the bird must be concealed, When I thrust on my boot the Quail would burst up through the snow, sending a shower (of it flying in all directions, These Quail have pro- _bably come into the Swamps lately, attracted, probably, by the abundant feed afforded by the night-shade vines how loaded with searlet berries and the various rank weeds which abound in these covers, Ortyx virginianus. Middlesex County, Mass. (Dec.14,) Hunted over the same ground as yesterday, The Quail now thoroughly frightened, lay like stones when Seattered and even when left for several hours were afraid to call. 1880, Nov, 19, Shot @ bevy several from a bevy at the east end of the Willows (Belmont). Like some killed on the same ground December 14,1875, they were all exeeedingly large birds, and as on that ocagion, took exceptionally long flights and invariably settled in the meadow grass out- Side the bushes where they lay very closely, It was exe ilerating sport pursuing them, In the keen frosty air the fringe on my setter’s tail became hung with beads of ice that tinkled musically as he galloped to and fro across the brown meadow, ne PRIN % ee | s : ° * : rt ’ r b= 4 ‘ ‘ I OrtyxX Virginianay, Said to have been formally abundant on Nantucket but have been exterminated several years ago by a@ Severe winter. Started two bevies; one a very large one, took to the oak serub where we could do nothing with them, At this season the birds spend much more of their time in the woods than in October and are henee harder to find; indeed; although supplied with two good dogs, we actually passed -two-thirds of the bevies here. Starbed four bevies, One containing at least thirty birds rose out of range from the roadside and took to the tangled oak serub, where they would run hun- dreds of yards afterimmediately after being scattered, usually rise out of range, and frequently take te the trees, After hunting them the whole afternoon we killed only twe (Marston’s Mills, Mass.). 1875. June 16, One heard in Stewe,Mass., two others at the feot of Mt.Wauchusett. Oet. 19. A quail which we started took refuge in a house, _ flying into an epen window and striking against a clothes horse which stood in front of the fire with such foree as to throw “horse” and clothes to the hearth. The bird also fell to the floor; the owner of the house Stooped to pick it up when it darted out again through the window and disappeared(Marston’s Mills, Vass, For a more extended account see p.215 ef Journal for 1875). Started several bevies, All the birds killed were fine large ones, with the exeeption of one little fellow about half grown, which, curiously enough, was in company | with a bevy of full-sized birds (Marston’s Mills,Mass.). #19 @ 20. An extended account of Quail shooting on Cape Cod under these dates pp.214-219 of my Journal for 1875). L876, -— Dee. 7, Killed the largest male that I have ever seen, _ He weighed exactly eight and one eighth ounees (Marston*®s Mills, Mass.). . Captain Baxter and I shot into a flock flying, _ @ach of us seleeting single birds and unaceountably kill- @d six « ,with our four barrels (Marston’s Mills,Mass.). A bevy of fourteen feeding on the snow in the middle of a field, forming a pretty picture, Wome were resting Squatting in little groupson the spotless surface others actively running about among the weeds, while one large male climbed up a few inches on @ bending stalk and reaching up pecked at the seeds above his head (Marst on’ Mills,Mass, *y * Pa | Ortyx virginiana, 1882, (July 2). Mr.Ricker tells me that Quail were regularly killed every season near Poland Springs, Maine, Giaeiinaiaacawenv esas 3 q a 5 4 | < P| i | 4 q ae a ene ee ee 4 I a Fe ‘a 4 4 ; 1868, Apr. 9%. Sept.30,. Cet. 10. > Be Ardea herodias. Middlesex County, Mass. | Saw three in the Pine Swamps with a large flock of Night Herons, One flying south, Saw one. One at Concord. One seen in Lexington (C.J.M.). Two seen at Concord (Carter). Shot an immature bird. One at Concord, One at Belmont. Two (Coneord River), On Concord River started four this evening; their picturesque forms loomed in the twilight so that they looked nearly double their real size, 22 Ardea herodias. bagog). Heronry on several a [ae Black Tsland C er wheeling about a on the 3 sf some tall dead pines whi xuriouS appearance covered with the grea ambridge pond in f a LG the dam 24 Ardea herodias. i 1870. } Sept.2=10, Very abundant on all the ponds and Streams; as els- where it is exeeedingly shy here (Forks of the Kennebec, Maine). i 1971. } Sept. 9. About twenty standing ereet together on Ipswieh Beach, Mr.Maynard tells me that he has fever seen them there before, cSt AS cata Bi he i | | | | | i\ Wl a it : i i W i q 2 i i I ; | Bl { } & | e i a | ‘ i | 4 a . i a i = 1 ie iF Ardea egretta, One was shot at Plymouth to-day. 1875,— RPS TTE el | | | May 5. June 23. Oct. 16, 1871. Ardea virescens. Middlesex County, Mass. Three in the Pine Swamp. Two nests in th e Pine Swamp, each containing young about a week old, The female of one nest walked Slowly off among the twigs and took flight in Silence, but the parent of the other was more courageous, alighting in a small tree almost direetly above my head, walking grade- fully through the branches, and uttering a ery sounding like Keow repeated four or five timas in suecession and closely resembling the song of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Her mate was shyer, keeping beyond gum range and reitera- ting a hoarse ae which sounded like the hoot of the Barred Owl, |§= The young when taken from the nest walked with all the grace and elegance of their parents; their Skin was of a light green color seantily covered with white down, Found two hests both of which contained young about aweek old; the nests were built in birch trees, at the height of about fiftcen feet, and were flimsy affairs loosely constructed of sticks (Pine Swamp). They pass over oub garden every evening on their way to the salt marshes, flying swiftly, with the neek Stretched out stiffly like a Duck’s; Unlike the Night Herons they are never seen in flocks, One, the last. One. Five in full breeding plumage. Nest with five eggs slightly incubated, Placed in @ SWinging bireh at the height of about two feet; female remained on the nest till I was nearly under the tree, Four fresh eggs in an old nest repaired. This nest has now been occupied by the ame pair three seasons in Spite of my having robbed this and a second nest of theirs last spring, Both birds showed much solicitude for their eggs alighting near and keeping up their croaking ertes. Started one in a pond-hole surrounded by button bushes (Concord), One, the first. Virescens, Ardea @). cas e Umabgo 7r ig aligne even le ia le Ardea Virescens, q July 9, One fishing on the shore of a narrow channel in the q Bay. He crawled rather than walked along the muddy ; shore with neek drawn in, bearing a striking resemblance to a huge mud turtle. At frequent intervals he would dart out his bill almost horizontally and nearly every thrust seemed to be suecessful (Marston’s Mills, Mass. ). : : i 4 Nycteardoa grisea nivéa, Middlesex County, Mass. Ome in the Pine @mp. Saw a flock of about fifteen, all in full plumage. A large flock; six inches of snow on the ground, Saw a number of them . Sept.26, Heard ene but the majority have left here, They pass the day resting in the thick foliage of the maples, standing most of the time on one leg with the other drawn up under their feathers. Their sight is very nearly as quick as their hearing, and it is useless to try to ap- proach one without good cover, I have noticed that thay seem to see more plainly in the day than in the dark, as in the day time they will very rarely pass over you, but in the evening they will frequently come within half a giunshot, although yo: may be in open sight, They may be easily called by imitating their character- istie ery. Saw the last of the season this evening. One passing over in the dusk of the evening, dozen Saw about a desm during the day. 1870. Apr. 9, One passing overhead shortly after sunset. « 21. 1871. Sept.29, Nov, 17. Apr. 12, 1870. Sept & Oet, 1874, July 21, Cet, Bi. Saw a flock of about thirty and took one. Still abundant. A single bird at Fresh Pond, the last. Saw a single bird. Upon being started from a grove of pines, it alighted in an oak tree in an open field, Very rare; left early on aecount of the severe drought. One on the Assabet River, Coneord, Passing Professor Lowell’s place on the south side I Saw four Night Herons fly from the pines bordering the road, Several times previously this autumn I have heard them among these pines, 1876 15. and all heading towards the Charles River marshes, The evening was cold with blustering north-west wind, Nyeteardea grisea nivea, Middlecex County, Mass, Started five in the Pine Swamp. Their devotion to this favorite haunt is remarkable. A pair in the Fresh Pond swamps. About twonty-five in the maple woods bordering the brook beyond “Block Island*; shot one which was in warn immature plumage. Searched every thicket and pieee of woods throughout these marshes without finding a single nest. about half of the birds seen were immature, evi- dently they were not breeding here. Shot an adult in the Maple Swamp; it was moulting, most of the wing-feathers being fresh ones. It had only one plume and the steel-blue of the back and crown was replaced by the dark plumbeous lustreless plumbeous, Shot one in brown plumage, It was sitting on the ground on the sunny side of an alder thicket bordering Alewife Brook, One of its wings had been broken and had heeled in such a wagner that it could not be used in Plight. The bird was in good condition and had evi- dently established itself by the open brook kept free from iee by th: warm sewerage matter now diseharged into at. The thermometer has fallen to zero during the past two nights and the marshes are frosen solid. In the “Boston Daily Advertiser” for February 12 James Russel Lowell writes: “I have seen them every eVvon ing up to the 12th of February. The largest number I have counted is eight, though there are not doubt more’, They are also reported by J.N,Clark as wintering at Say- brook, Connecticut in numbers, and a flock was seen. at West Newton, December 31, 1875 by Mr.Warren, Visited Prof.Lowell’s place this evening to see the | Night Herons. fhree flew from the pines shortly after Sunset, each uttering its loud Quak as it left its roost, | Started one from an apple tree behind Mt. Auburn, The tree was so loaded with damp snow that it afforded hearly as dense a shelter as when covered with summer foliage, night KE hear them frequently at dusk now, calling to one another as they eirele over the Charles River marshes, On several occasions lately I have seen them leave Prof, Lowell’s pimes at dusk; a few also roost still in what is left of the old Pine Swamp. One seen in the cedars, Watertown, by Frazar. .sovin seeity sebisetsy% -2ae ,yivvod xoselbbi¥ mois ovebh sfodT -qmewe eait end al evit botist] eldseateres ef tayed etitovelt aint of -@¢mewe bot deer eft at ifeg A edt yaitebtod aboow ofgen cit al ovit-ysaows IuedA aiaw ai eew doitw emo tora y*baslel Aeoft bmoyed-doord to eseiq bas Seodoiss yteve berets]? ogenwig etstemnd ofgaie « paibal? tvortiw @edetsm ceeds tuedtquonlt @hoow ~ive ,e1stema: etew meee abtid edt to Med inode teen ote Gakbootd tom etow yor yYiimeb Batisivon esw ti Taw OLQSM ont ai tivds as tod viac hed $F .8etto daet? yaied atedteel-uaiw ed? to t2om eew awots bes fosd eld to evkd-Leete ef? bas omptq ono ,auoedariq evefetianl eseedasie Atab eds yd Beoalqet eit #0 Baitiie eew 3% ~- ,egeaniq awed mi eno iod&@ yritebiod teteids iebis me lo ebie Yanue eff go havo ty hel bate nedotd mood bed agniw ati to end ~toov® etiwoflAé ai been od fom bivoe ti fads . ger & Hove ai befsed «ive bed bas goltihaose boog ai aaw biid edt tigilt eet? sgel Aootd aego oft yd Meads herdaifdssas yiiaeb ofai bentedseibh won testem egatewoe artew dt ye eof mor? edt yaktubh owes of aolist? asd sefteaomrads ext FP 3 -bifoe geeott ote eerletsm eft bas aidygia ows sasq SL yrs te tot “goaidrevbA yLisd aosaol* end al «ote eteve mod? asee ever I* :eetixw [fLewo.! Leaaush aenst I tedmuam sacytsl eT els vO eferte yeds as tedioas tort evael mods aeoe oved I ylotet atokesooo Letevee a0 sedw at [L872 teoot oefs Wei s jaevb te aomiq «*ilLewod ~-quew2 enrd bfo ert ‘to stel ek teseT! yd ,Mwottess¥ ,arsbes off? @i aooe ead Pood ber 8 SE . TGA ve Ye" .£ efnt £6 .gua << ,oe8 8 .tqA > «BoA »oL ,oed See a ae eee scalps tei is i es eect seca ER EE AOT ES iD Nycteardea grisea nivea, Middlesex County, Mass. Started four in yellow pines near Prospeet Street, Belmont. Within the last few years they have almosg deserted their haunts in the Fresh Pond swamps and have sought new asylums in seeluded pine woods on upland, of- ten far distant from any water. The first resort of this chareter noted was Prof,Lowell’s place where they established a Herony several y°ars sinee. In the su- tumn of 1876 they were found among the cedars in Water- town by Frazar; in the same plaee in the winter of 1879 by Spelman; and in April 1879 in the Pine woods on Waverly Hill, also by Spelman, Their wintering here has become an established habit and they may now be found in small numbers at any time of the year, Those that pass the summer are, however, barren birds, and no ease of their nesting in this vicinity has come to my knowledge sinee 1864, Dr.Brewer tells me that «hem in 15341/1); _he visited a herony in the Fresh Pond swamps and found Many nests containing eggsthough the birds were then much persecuted and their numbers greatly reduced, ~ These He- rons are now most numerous here in autumn when there is- an evident migration from ao Sai heron * . " : ° ‘ 3 Ca : a d " wy ¥ r _— * 4 me ’ > 4 # bo] 4 * ® , P ‘ . » * » > ’ 5 « ’ . {> “ ' * a ‘ y { ts . ws ¥¢ 2 oa oy a q Nyeteardes 4 L871, Apr. 13, > @&. | Oct. 4.. 1874, Oct. 8, Nov, 26, 1875, May 22, Botaurus lentiginosus. Middlesex County, Mass. On one being shot at flew a short distance and alighted up to its breast in water. Fired again and wounded it it ruffled its feathers and struek fiercely with its sword-like bill. One (Rock Meadow). One singing on Roek Meadow. It wou ld extend its neck and drawing in its head suddenly, throw it out again with a jerk, at the same time uttering its peculiar Bump, Kle-unk. This would be repeated several times, after which the bird would stand erect in the grass for several minutes before singing again. When I approach- ed it crouched in the long grass. One, the last. Heard a male in Waitham, Shot a male on the Fresh Pond marshes, Shot one (Concord). One, the last. I shot at it and it fell wingsbro- ken. When approached it defended itself with the ut- most fiereceness, ruffling its feathers, opening wide its Mouth, and uttering eries, or rather roars, that could have been heard at least half a mils. On being put down on the edge of a pond it stalked along the shore a little way, then wading into the water struek out boldly bobbing like a Dueck over the waves. It went out several hundred yards but finally returned, One on Roek Meadow, Belmont. Three (Coneord), YThe last (Concord River), setier Shot one which my peinter pointed steadily One shot im Belmont. One on Roek Meadow, ®elmont, SSS | i | i ig Bs 4 ‘ q 1876. Sept.1ll, Oct. 12. ° 13. 34 Botaurus lentginosus. Middlesex County, Mass. Saw one shot in Bird’s Pond, One (Concord), One in Concord sitting within a few yards of the road im an open field; as usual it held its béll point ing nearly Vertically upward. One (Belmont). In the Willows saw one sitting in a bush about a foot over the water, ereet, statuesque bill pointing Straight upward. It remained immovable until it reali- sed that it was seen, then took flight. Ahother, per- haps its mate, was singing on the meadow, va Boteurus lentiginosus,. Rom... proached he peeped at me curiously with outstretched neck and deliberately walked out along the branch precisely in the manner of the Green Heron. Upon shooting him I found has stomach empty. He was proba bly the mate of the female shot May 27. | Shot a male in the Briekyard Swamp. It alighted in & bush where it sat peering at me with outstretched neck withdrawing its head behind the leaves wherever I made a Sudden movement, It was in perfeet plumage. The ston- ach was crammed with small Silverly minnows about two in- ehes in length. Shortly afterwards I saw another male flying high over the swamp with legs drawn up behind, proceeding on the leisurely manner characteristie of most Herons, Still a third rose some fifty yards off utter- ing a loud ¢a9-ca~ca-ca as it started and continuing this ¢ry for sometime in the top of a thiek alder where it alighted, The actions of this bird convinced me that she had either eggs or young in the Vicinity. She was exceedingly shy, taking short flights but always keepint put of range, and uttering her note at frequent intervals, She flew quite strongly, abthough the flight of this spe~ “¢ies seems to be usually f8eble and flickering, Started three from low bushes on the edge of pond- holes, in the Briekyard Swamp, and shot two of them, one (@n adult male, the other a young bird just on wing and evidently one of the brood I heard ¢alling here a week or two age. 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Middlesex County, Mass hide among the tussoecks, When I picked it up, it struck at me repeatedly in the manner of the Common Bittern, and with a motion as quick as lightening, One thrust hit my hand, the bird driving his bill through the skin and draimg blood. The stomachs of both the adult and young were crammed with Coleoptera especially of large Species of Water beetle, Shot an adult female in rather worn plumage in the Briekyard Swamp this morning. Her stomach contained @ umber of large bream, Shot an adult male in the Brickyard Swamp, Have seen none for a long time. In the Belmont Willows one started from the road in front of my horse and alighted in a bush over the wae ter. I approached within ten paces and shot it with a collecting pistol. It fell broken-winged into the water and swimming across the diteh landed on the opposite shore where it awaited my approach without trying to conceal itself in the long grass. When I held out my hand it struek it with wonderful quickness and directness of aim, driving thé points of its sharp bill through the skin, The blow, however, was comparatively feebb . It also ruffled up its feathers like a wounded Botaurus and utt- ered an angry squeaking noise. When perched in the bush es it sat with its head drawn im and frequently jerked up its tail, Its stomach was fairly crammed with white cotton wool,among which were three small parasitical worms, Many larger worms wore twined around the intos~ tines, ¥ =) 4 mac # : ae Gv L ° r } ‘ + & .* . : ’ or ’ ca"t " e () ; il i * J 3 hi ; { Ort 3 } i iH ™ . . hi WI ( pf APM) A 4 i “ ‘ : ’ B°T¢ . WY i ) ‘ a e* 3 £2 i, { eer i ¢ . pf ° se i : «{ « P . ‘ { t +h ra D. i 7 eo ¢ € 4 it i @ Shee’ ° . i | = ” i » e 4 4 aw I 1° . © ! * _ ” 1 . t t ; Vs 7 = t ©2° . Hh — . - I : ‘ a rs, YT. i ie one 5 “f ¢ i \ i ’ R * ii f. r s “7 #) 1880. ee StrepSilas interpres, Maine (Lake A Saw ono which was shot to-day Vi ot Mr. King. Shot a young female on the bar Cambridge where it was yards of some a eres Feeding alone Aegialitis semipalmata 40 near the Outlet by Py oni Pa nm, £ at tHe mouth of the hundred } + arp + PUG WEG hin a Strepsilas interpres. Found in abundanee by H.W,Henshaw, A large flock on Ipswig Beach, 1875 Auge 17.) One on Long Island, Boston Harbor, Its ery is a short rattle of four or five notes run together, Sept.2l,. Bne in company with Semipalmated Plover feeding amo rg _@rift weed on Coatue Point. As I approached it skul- ked off among the grass, crouching and lowering its head, The gunners here call this bird the “eraddoek”, probably from its hoarse rattling note. (Nantucket). One at S-ith’s Point feeding in a large flock of Sandling (Nantucket), A flock of nine flying along shore just over the surface surf, Their flight is swift, their movements in the air exceedingly graceful, They utter a rolling whistle not unlike that of Numenius hudsonicus, but rather higher pitched (Nantueket), Numbers feeding in company with Sandling on the ex- treme point of Monomoy Island (Chatham, Mass.)! Five or six Turnstones in nearly every flock of Sand- ling along the shores of Monomoy Island; they were in Superb breeding plumage (Chatham,Mass. ). Rye. Beagh, New Hampshire. Shot animale from a large floek that came into my decoy (Yellow~legged stool) on the Eel Pond marsh, Their flight is rapid and direct, their varied colors Very conspicuous when they are flying. here on pebbly beaches, Note a rolling whistle, They are eommon A single specimen seen, Not afterwards mentioned in my notes on this season. (This ommission was doubtless due to carelessness for I distinetly remember the bird (aS occurring frequently on the Fel Pond every season that I shot at Rye Beaeh, and regularly, in August, on the pebbly portions of the beach, ). . ® i . yes: : z Recaro © enna Monin Squatorola helvetiea. Saw large flocks at Long Island, Boston Harbor; their flight is continued unusually late this year. Took one at Rye Beach August 20, They fed both on the sea beach, atid on the upland pastures near the coast. The markets for the last few weeks have been filled with these birds; I am told by the marketmen that C. Virginianus never occurs in spring, Three or four on Long Island, 80ston Harbor. Shot one on the Coatue Point, My boatman called him within range very readily, The gunmers here eall this species the Beetlehead, (Nantucket). A floek of five on the shore of the harbor were ex- ceedingly shy, but by stalking them cnefully we killed three, Their characteristie positions are identical with those of the smaller Plover, but they run rather differently and much faster, Their note is a-long—dreawn whistle, very mellow and plaintive (Nantueket), One on the mud-flats at Smith’s Point JNantucket), Landing at our gunning house on Coatue Point just after dark we haerd a long drawn whistle of one of these birds flying over the water. Fisher answered him when he passed close to us several times, unseen, however, in the darkness. More than once a low weird, guttural, amolst choking ery immediately suseeeded the whistle, The effect of the whole was very interesting (Nantucket), We killed three yesterday and threo to-day on Coatue Point, Nantucket, On Monomoy Island, at 10. P.M. @ heard the long— drawn plaintive whistle of one of these Plover coning through the darkness and mist from the flats to the west- ward. This species is nearly as noeturnal as a Snipe or a Wodeoek (Chatham, Mass.), Three at Chatham, Mass. The gunners say they arri- ved yesterday, Ten alighted on a small island. I got almost with- in shot before they flew; they presented a beautiful appearance in their perfeet summer Plumage. (Chatham, Mass. ). 43 Squatorola helvetica, os or ee oi ia alll Sg atte a Rye Beach, New Hampshire. 1870. > Aug.19=31. Seen nearly every day on the beaeh, more rarely on | 4 the Eel Pond marsh, Exceedingly shy but easily called ; j by whistling, ; 1872, | July 31. One seen, ! : | i A ug n a " “ & | oe... Bax | * 25. Three or four passed through the “el Pond marsh, | Auge 14, Saw a single bird, Another was noted threeor four days earlier but I negleeted to record the date, | | | \ ! | | | . | | | i | 4 | PEEPS ere : ais . ee: e ] ° 1 E | | k © | | e | Charadrius virginicus. Maine (Lake Umbagog). a a i 2873, | Sept. 2. Saw one near t] 1880. os w+ P sept. 2. Vv 4 at a ¥ ‘ a + Winged = sd ! bs Bit pew an i { fFtly passed ) 4 H the mud—fla 3 Sg T Aum cdhii Hi ne wanderi the mouth of the C whistle finally passing out over the ~~ & 1 H é il Hi shit). bef art- Oe ge ena a me EY isl ihe aa | 2 Wnen tneyy faced us the black | p s Veryo eonspi cuouss I killed all i 2 nt +1 i} four of them re a dulbt Fe : t { Lo. whtsSs feeding:onm + ar at the mouth "ogee mL, Ree 2 a = Ore t : They were very tame, I killed three ra) +} Ofbi | i i Oe 0 ©€3eS2. Net. 2.99 ‘i ji oti wp t + ea > 06% .»8=22 I distinetly heard one on October 17. LY Pant 1871. Sept. 3. Sept. 24. 25. Charadrius virginicus. Hundreds observed by HWQHenshaw, A floek seen by R,Deane. Two (Ipswich). One seen, The young of this species is known here as the “Pale-belly” (Nantucket), Saw a single bird. The gunners say that the flight passed early in September (Nantucket ), A floek of about fifty on the sandy shore of Hummock Pond, At the report of my gun they rose and were making off when Fisher began to whistle to them, They imme- |diately turned and eame baek, passing within long range, when we killed five; one fine adult, four young, All are exceedingly fat, They were afterwards joined by a larger flock when all disappeared over the sandhills. | A third floek of about twenty sitting on a sand-spit flew long before I could get vwithin range, These Plover fly very swiftly and in a compact body, at a distance somewhat resembling Wild Pigeons, The first floek that iI saw passed us in silence, I heard some of the others utter a single low mellow whistle, different from that of S.helvetica, We found their traets everywhere on the sandy shore of the pond, (Nantueket), One on the mud-flats at Smith’s Pond, gery shy (Nan- tueket ). At sunset saw several large flocks flying close over the water at the Harbor at Nantucket. One passing over CGoatue Point at an immense height answered my call with a single short whistle-and imme- diately descended when I shot it (Nantueket ). Rye Beach, New Hampshire. 1868, Aug, Statin September Saw two August 22, By September 1 they became _fumerous, but not abundant, They often came into the _Eel Pond marsh and [I saw one shot there as it was running | over the mud in company with Totanus flavipes. A single bird, the first seen this year, alighted |onm the marsh and was shot, Not mentioned in my notes of this season and, if I _ remember rightly, not seen at all, 1873, NovVe 22, Leese ec aaa aeeaiats ee 1868, Augs 31. 1871. Aug. 1872, Aegialitis vociferus, Arthur Smith tells me that he shot one in Brookline in the year spring of 1873, Rye Beach, New Hampshire. Saw one flying &@bout the Fel Pond, With its point- ed wings and long tail it resembled a Wild Pigeon, Its note was a shrill dee-dec-dee-dee Saw two flying in a flock of Totanus flavipes. Not noted this season a nd I believe not met with, 46 o& ee ee a ptiitiiciedse aumtidarenaiain Aegialitis semipaimata. Middlesex County, Mass, 1869, Sept. 2, A large flock on the shores of Shermon’s Pond (Wal- tham). 1871, May 265, Several on Charles River, 1875, Auge 4,4 About a dozen in an immense flock of Ereunetes on the mud-flats in Cambridge Nook, Fresh Pond, Sept. 6, Shot on the mud-flats in Fresh Pond. 4% ap) 3a) 76 ras ” 7 AID £ € < © ny by 14. a5. s S Wi rd cc Aegialitis semipalmata. 18706 Sept,24. Four on Long Island, Boston Harbor, Vass, 1874, July i. Saw two and shot one, a male which evidently would not have bred this year (Nantucket). 1875, Auge 17. Numbers on Long Island, Boston Harbor. ad Large numbers feeding on grasshoppers on the ¢ lose- cropped turf of the hilly sheep pastures on Long Island, Boston Harbor, Mass. (See Obs.Under Ereunetes). Abundant (Nantucket). Several small flocks (Chatham, Mass,). Very numerous (Chatham, Mass.). Large flocks at sunset flying in to roost on the dry gravelly flat behind the sandhills. (Chatham,Mass.). Rye Beach, New Hampshire. From August 14 to September 1 they were abundant associating with Least Sandpipers and Sandligg and fre- qguenting the beach and marshes about equally. Their motions recall those of Turdus migratorius They ad- vanee by short runs, pausing a moment in an ereet posi- tion before starting again, occasionally bending quiekly forward to pick up something, A moderate flight, A heavy flight mingled with Peeps, Passing in immense numbers. There has been a remarkable flight for the past three days, many hundreds going overhead or through the ' marsh daily. 1872,° July 20s A steady flight all day, flock of eight or ten in- Variably accompanied by several times as many “Peeps’, and occasionally by one or two Aegialites meloda, (Not afterwards mentioned in the somewhat fragmentary notes on this season). i : ‘ . o t . . ° C= os S e - 1 a « e e © . © @ ‘ . . : & Aegialitis meloda, 1870. vuly 3. | Although the birds were abundant, we found but one nest; this was merely a slight depression in the bare sand near the shore, and contained four eggs well advan- ced (Muskegat). Common, breeding,at Muskegat Island, Mass, = " Bis | Common, breeding on the sandhills (Ipswich,Mass,). 1974, June 18. Shot a pair on a sand beach (Marston’s Mills, ' July 7. Found a young bird on Muskegat not more than three days old, The fishermen call this species the “Peblo’*, eVidently from its note, Sept.22.. Six or eight at Smith’s Point. Shot two, both young birds in fall plumage (Nantucket ) A few at Smith’s Point (Nantucket), About fifty (Chatham, Mass. | Rye Beach, New Hampshire. 1866, - } Auge 16,. Shot an adult bird which was accompanied by several young only a few days old, 1868, AUB 20. | Two on the beach in company with Acg.semipalmatus and Tringa minutilla. Their habits are similar to those of the former species from which, alive, they can be only distinguished by their light color. i872, July 26,. During a heavy flight of Waders to-day several of | this species was noted in nearly every passing fioek of Aeg.Ssemipalmata that eame through the marsh, July 11. 25. Sept.ll, long, dry ridge where the ground was shaded by tall pines Sept.29. Philohela minor. Middlesex County, Mass. Saw one in a piece of low woods where the ground was bare of snow in spots, Flushed and shot four (two males, two females) on a low, swampy covert, One of them rose out of range and alighted in an open field on the surface of the snow. Dimensions of a male which was, if anything, larger than either of the two females: Length, from tip of bill to end of tail, eleven and one-fourth inches, From tip of bill to end of mi‘dle claw, twelve and one-half inehes, Extent, 18. Bound a female with three young which were apparent- ly about a week old, She lay on the ground perfeetly motionless, until I got my hand within a few inches of her, then rose with hanging legs, like a Rail, and aftor flying a short distance, tumbled about as if wounded, Shot three, two old birds and one young, well-~grown and active on the wimg, The old birds weighed respec- tively seven, and eight and one-half ounces, They rose at the distance of about ten paces and rarely flew more than twenty yards at a time, proceeding for the most part in a direet line but where the cowrt was thiek, _ dodging about the tops of the bushes, Watched one to-day for sometime; the moment that | he saw me he erected his tail and ran with great swift- ness for twenty yards or more ard then Squatted, They have not changed their grounds as yet, Shot one to-day, It rose from the summit of a Found one in a rather dry maple swamp. Found several, evidently flight birds, on a hill- Side among birehes, One on a hillside anong bireh trees and evergreons, One was shot and several more Seen, the last of the season, The flight birds “coming on*® just before the fall of the leaf were very abundant, amd remained several weeks, But few birds were raised here this year owing to the late spring snows, Shot a male to-day, the first of the season, Young about half-grown but unable to fly; female flew off at the first alarm but showing little concern for her helpless progeny, 1870, Marys 26, Ap?, Fi Te Sept,12, Oct, 25, Nov, 13; i871, Mar, 25, Philohela minor, Middlesex County, Mass. Many here to-day in low lying birehess As we have had several touches of frosty weather lately it is proba- ble that the flight has commenced, Shot one, flushing it on a hill-top among seanty birches, Started seven to-day and took five of them, Al- though we beat the hillsides carefully we found all our birds in low lying bashes birch coverts and runs wet runs, They were all undoubtedly flight birds, They lay: very close, permitting an approach to within a few feet, The majority whistled less loudly than summer birds, Started six and took five of them. Three we found on hillsides in dry bireh covers, two in wet runs, the Sixth in a swmpy maple grove, Took three, one on a hillside, one in the *“runs®, and the third among low lying birches, Started two on a birch hillside, Started two, the last of the Season, on a bireh hill- Side, One of them rose only a few feet in front of the dog and after trying vainly to get through the thick branches, dropped backwards to the ground, and starting again, whistled off with wonderful quickness, One was seen to-day I think at West Newton, Saw one taken to-day; upon dissection it proved to be a female which contained eggs $o fully developed that they would probably have been deposited in a day or two, Took a female that ws on the point of depositing her first egg. Started several in a dense, m oist covert of swamp maples, Started thirteen flight birds, mostly among birches (Concord), Two were seen, One seen in Belmont (C,Carter); they have undoub-{ tedly been here for sometime, ’ meager aes June 17 Sept.20= 213 Octel9. & & 20, Philohela minor. Middlesex County, Mass, Saw one that undoubtedly had young as it aeted very strangely, making a querulous sound and flying only a few yards at a time, Started a brood of four young birds on a high hill covered with tall poplars; there was a heavy rain last night which may account for this; though apparently of full size these birds flew feebly. The weather was sharp for September and started quite a flight of these birds, They took to the al~ der swamps and tuns though a few were found in Llowly-ly- ing birehes, As-many as thirteen were started in a day at Coneord; all were large old birds just recovering from the moult; owing to the drought they have been searee through the summer, The heaviest flight of birds passed through the State, fhe weather was very cold, the thermometer fall- ing to 28. Started five among birches (Concord), A very small male , in Waltham on birch hillside; Sportsmen say that the tail end of the flight is always _ €omposed of small birds, Saw so many signs that I am _¢onvinced that there must have been quite a flight dur- 13, er ale ing the last few days, Shot the last, a very small male bird which we Started in a sheltered run shortly after day break; it had evidently just dropped in from the north as there was only one patch of white-wash onthe ground where it had been sitting and on dissection we found the stomach al-= 1872, Apr, 12, most entirely empty; it was, however, in good flesh though not fat, and whistled loudly as it rose. The country has been frozen hard for weeks and the mereury for days in suecession has fallen to ZOro, A Woodeoek was started from North Market St. near Quincey Market, Boston, early this morning, by 2 trust- worthy and experienced Sportsman, one of the members of the Tremont Club, Heard one sing at Carlisle; it rose from a springy hollow in a pasture and fliying off elose to the ground for about twenty yards, began to agcend ina broad Spiral its wings whistling loudly. Higher and higher it rose drifting off with the wind, its wings still whistling \Steadily and when perhaps a hundred yards above the earbh and nearly lost to sight in the uncertain light it poi- (Sed a moment, then began to descend, The whistling 20. Philohela minor, Middlesex County, Mass. hitherto uninterrupted now became broken or divided into syllables like i chi i -chipperchippe ipp- er, rapidly in reasing in quickness and volume, and pro- bably produced by the wing-beats, the pauses represent- ing intervals of sailing (during this stage of the per- formance the bird was invisible), At length with a Mwhit-wit, it began a liquid, estactic warble much like that of a water-whistle and accelerated in volume and sweetness aS it approached the ground, till at length it ecased abruptly when the bird pitched to the earth, Af- ter hearing him sing several times we rushed to the spot whenee he rose while he was in the air, and concealed ourselves in a large ground juniper just as the last notes of his song died away overhead, when the bird dropped within five yards of us the rustling of his. feath- ers being distinetly audible as he elosed his wings | He immediately began uttering a loud harsh pa-a-ap, which sounded at a distance: like the cry of a Nighthawk, but near at hand had a strange vibrating twang, This was repeated at igtervals of about five second each and usually about thrity times before the bird rose into the air again, It was invariably preceded by a note Sounding like the the fall of a heavy drop of water in &@ cistern, a low ptieul, pt-ul, pt-ul repeated twiee or thriee the last utterenece being given in the same breath with the pa-asap, Sometimes the latter was suddenly choked in the middle of its utterence as if by the bird Swallowing something, After the light had faded alto- gether from the west the song coased, but the other notes were kept up without intermiséion, In the Werren Run, Waltham, I started a large Wood= cock directly under-feot. She flew about ten paces and alighting, began to beat the ground with her wings, | uttering a whining noise like that of a young puppy. Searching carefully among the leaves I found a young bird about the size of a newly hatched chicken squatting close to the ground, It allow ed me to seize it before mo Ve ing but when caught began a plaintive peeping which imme- diately started three others, who setttled off at a great pace their down-clad wings held extended like so many ostriches, all peeping loudly. The old bird now came Up, rumming prettily over the leaves, showing mueh anxiety but never approaching nearer than about two rods, Re- leasing my little captive he started orf after his bro- thers and I left them, | Started a pair in the Warren Run, Waltham, The female tumbled about on the ground beating her wongs frant tieally, They must have had a brood of young but I was unable to find ‘the latter, t 7 1874~ {Jane 23) Sopt.21._ Philohela minor, Middlesex County, Mass, One standing in the middle of the road in the Wil- lows. Melvin has found them numerous at Concord through the summer, rarely failing to start from ten to twelve in @ day. He saw the last one in a Corn-field September 6. Since then they have been exclusively on fall ground chiefly birch hillsides. As Woodcock have been searee everywhere else he is pugzled to know where these _@ame from for they ceratainly were not there in July, Started one at Concord, Started eleven at Concord, Melvin started eight at Concord to-day and the same humber yesterday. Started twenty-one at Coneord and shot seventeen, | We had three double shots during the day, The birds, aS a rule, rose rather lazily but often flew surprising- ly long distances, One very large bird which had been Started several times passed high over a large tract of _birehes where we had first found him, and sealing over the top of sope tall oaks beyond alighted in an opening om the further side after a flight of at least five hun- dred yards, All these birds with the efeception of _ two, were-found on bireh hillsides and as a rule on the very outskirts of the thickets, They averaged large in size and in every instance whistled as they rose, Melvin believes that they run and feed during the day at this season, a theory borne out by to-day’s experience, for our dogs seemed to find seent everywhere and often “readed” birds several rods before flushing them, Moreover their borings and chalk-marks were not eoncen= _ trated in one spot as is the ease in summer when Woodeock is resident in the locality, Started four at Coneord all of very small size, A Woodeock which we started in a ¢lump of birehes bordering a potato dield had been feeding all over this field, as was conelusively shown by the numerous borings ete. At such a season as this when these birds without exception are found on high dry ground, this fact is of especial interest, Started a very large bird on the edge of some bir- ches in Belmont, We fired shots at it when it fell in some alders within twenty yards of us. Upon putting in my setter he followed its traek thirty yards or more out into an open meadow where, to my surprise, it rose apparently as well as ever, Another shot, however, brought it down broken=winged, After picking it up and (0¢+.30). 1875. 17. Philohela minor. Middlesex County, Mass, while admiring its beautiful pkumage and bright hazel eyes it suddenly began to flap its uninjured wing, each streke of which produced a distinct note of the charac- teristie whistle, thus finally settling the question as to whether this sound is produced by the wings or by vocal organs, On April 15 I visited Carlisle to hear Woodeock sing but nome were either seon or heard, Mr.Robbins heard them there three nights in succession, The 8th, 9th, and 10th; he has heard none since. Found a nest in the Warren Run, Waltham, In sear- ching for it my setter first pbinted the male; after mak- img sure that it. did not rise from the nest I started the dog on again and he soon came to another point. Foeling sure of the nest this time I scrutinized the ground in all directions ahead of him in hopes of discovering the sitting bird, I could see nothing, however, but the universal woodland carpet of dry leaves and many tinted mosses with Antiopo Butterflies playing about in the surn- | shine until, taking another step towards the statuesquo | setter, I placed my hand for support, on a small birch | Sapling, when, with hanging legs and a searce audible flutter, a large Woodcock Sprang from the ground at my | very feet and rising straight up among the birehes, whist- ledoff in the usual manner. Looking down there were the eggs Zour in number, conspicuous enough now on their | bed of dry oak.leaves and grasses, After taking a good at them I withdrew about fifty yards and concealed my- | Self in hope that the old bird would return, but she _@id not although I waited there just an hour by the watch, This nest was placed at the foot of a birch sapling on top of a little mound where it was elevated scareely more than a foot above the surrounding water. It was in about the middle of a springy run, The cover though dense along the border of the run was, in the neighborhood of the nest, low and seanty. The nest was composed chiefly of leaves and dry grasses earefully and smoothly arrang ed, and was distinctly hollowed in the centre, A few feath- ers from the Bird’s breast were mingled with the other ‘Materials, The eggs had been incubated about a week The male whieh I flushed first was lying some twenty yards from his Sitting mate, Four young Woodcock accompanied by their mother in tall maple and oak grove bordering a brook, Two of the young rose first quickly followed by the old bird, The whole five were lying close together but seattered in all directions when flushed, Following one of the young birds I started it again when it went orf strongly, fly= ing at loast two hundred yards, At this the mother, who 1875. (June 15) Sept.13, 18, Philohela minor, Middlesex County, Mass. had disappeared at the first alarm, r eturned and fly- ing slowly by with dangling legs, alighted within ten yards and spreading her wings fluttered off over the leaves trying to entice me to follow her, The young were about two-thirds grown; neither they nor the mother whistled when flying, Started three in the Warren Run, all young birds, full grown and in good condition, Two were in thick serub oaks on a hillside, the other in long grass in a meadow, Startee a very large bird under apple trees in Bel- mont. Shot one in the Maple Swamp, It rose without mak= ing a particle of noise, Two at Goneord, one on a bireh hillside, the other among dense alders in a wet run; one whistled, the other rose silently; both were in the middie of the moult. Melvin started ten at Coneord; he considers this the first flight. Melvin started six to-day and the same number yester-~ day (Coneord). Two were seen in Melrose Mareh 12. Goodale telis me that he had one brought to him December 6, 1875, which had been killed in Waltham the previous day. Five started in the Cotton Run by Deane, Searched the Warren Run carefully for a nest my setter found and started a male Woodcock within six fect of where [ took the nest last year but I could find nei- ther the female nor the nest to-day. Hunted again for the Sodeock’s nest in the Warren | Run but could not find it, although the we started the Male in nearly the same spot where he was seen on the | 25th, Melvin showed me = nest at Garlisie. The fomale (Was sitting and three of us accompanied by a pointer dog _approachéd within arms length of the nest without dis- _ turbing her and sitting down in a cirele about it wateh= _@d hor for at least fifteen minutes, During this time she remained perfectly still, the Slight, almost imper- ceptible, movement of the tail and back alone betraying the rapid beating of her anxious heart. Her full dark _@kes, however, regarded us calmly and during all the time H a i Sept,13. 21. 28, Philohela minor. Middlesex County, Mass, that we were sitting there I noticed noticed that she did not once wink, For a moment a stray beam from the setting sun found its way through a rent in the clouds and lighted up the quiet little woodland nook, lending an additional lustre to the bird’s dark eye and deepening the brown tints of her marble plumage, The merry peep of the hylas came up from the neighboring swamp, and a Robin burst into song from the top of a neighboring pine but still the Woodcoek stirred not, At length, cautious- ly extending my hand, I actually touched her tail with my fingerstips, then her back, stroking the feathers gent- ly. Finally pressing down a little so that she felt the weight of my hand she sprang with startling sudden ness direetiy from the nest, whistling loudly as she rose, then dropping to the ground tumbled about among the oak leaves uttering a complaining noise so deep and low that it sounded almost like a surpressed growl. I fol- lowed her a little way when she again rose and made off through the tree-tops, This nest. was about fifty yards from a densely wooda rum on high ground in a little opening surrounded by seattcring hazeland alder bushes. It was rather more substantial than the nest which-I found last year and waS composed outwardly of leaves and lined so thoroughly with dry grasses that the exterior material was entirely concealed, The hollow was rather shallow, the whole nest so small that the sitting bird covered it entirely. The eggs were four in number and the handsomest set that I e¥er seen.,have ever seen, This nest was found April 28 when the gest was complete. Started a pair together in Concord but could find neither eggs nor young, They rose with a heavy whir- ing as loud as, and in every way similar to, that produc- ed by Ruffled Grouse. Started six in “Hall’s*® Concord, Found several lately among bireh and hazel cover on hillsides, Started one in Birches (Concord), \ One among birches (Concord), Started four (Concord). Two (Concord), Three (Concord). Started thirteen among birches in a limited area in Concord, The ground was covered with about two inches of snow which fell yesterday and the whole country is said to have been swarming with Woodeock to-day. But | few were seen afterwards this season, * Pots bs af ot , ‘) aa | | , a ao , £2. ' a aa as 5 f ; i } | (Oets17) | - 19. ¥ 23, 1681, ° Oct. 276 Philohela minor, | Middlesex County, Mass. Started only one in “Hall’s”, Concord, to-day, Found one at Goncord in some serub oaks barely knee high, Started one at Concord, Started one at Concord, Nesbitt started one in Belmont, The last was seen at Concord Oetober 2%,November 27, One which I shot at Gonnord was still moulting about the head and throat, It weighed seven and one quarter _ ounces and was very fat, The fat unlike that of most Waders was of a lucious, melting ygelity like that of the Connecticut Warbler, Started four at Concord in the Space of a few square rods, They were in low second-growth oaks interspersed with a few birches, They were all fine, vigorous birds, rising with a clear, ringing whistle and taking long flights, They probably came in last hight as there were few signs among the leaves where they lay. I believe Woodeoeks, like Snipe, often migrate in flocks of small perties.,- In no other way ¢an I explain the finding of somany-birds in so limited a Space, while neighboring and equally faverable covers rem@ined unoceupied, On the ground where I killed the Woodcock yesterday I could find none this morning, Bordering that covert, | however, is a boated tract with isolated clusters of Sprouts and am occasional leafless dog wood, Here ‘within the space of a few rods I flushed and killed f our birds, They were certainly not here yesterday, Three of the four were males, two of them young birds; the fourth was an adult female, One at Coneord; they are searce this season, During the past three weeks I have not found a Single Woodcock at Concord; nevertheless some of the other sportsmen have shot a good many. One man is re= ported to have killed forty-one in Haverhill in two days, 60 Philohela minor. Maine (Lake Umbagog), e Aune- 5. Among the thickly growing young firs and spruces beBind the mill I started a female with a brood of four young. Which were so well grown that they looked scarco- ly smaller than the old bird and flew equally well. : The ice is said to have gone out of the Lake only three : weeks before this date. i i ee7B. | i 4 Ave. 2. At the lower settleme told that this species hac ting abundant page loway I was eared and was get- ° i "eae On the muddy bank of Cambridge River a aboyt two miles above the dam, I came upon a Woodcock which was feeding fa) + on the edge of the waver. Still further up I found the mud, both on the bank and among the alders, bored in EPA EPC PRE Sy eee he ay SP Ey ty } : i many places by these birds. 1 H ¥ 14, Again to-day, found numerous borings along - * is a ; % heavily timbered of Cambridge River above | Sept.14, i More started among the dense young firs and Spruces behind the mill. | 1874 ' e house, | 4 . starting | probably : } 4 S@pt..a0, | | hin a ihgawy: ‘flutter! and going off Bim : arly through the moult however, : ¥, J . 1876, 2 June 2. Early ] oO over’ wwead at 1 less loud and more Vibrai ; Sharply and ;}at least April 1874 61 oO a 4 7 nt t respond on i Cc s S <3) U ral © u) ie D n ) : paws Pa Ce rt p=) u . , a 5 G o e A ot a "3 4) eS Cc OQ - Sack 3) 0) S © o ‘ e ha Led C rd a3 re) mS oS ay : ® ro ag ‘al ey young Oo srour c & 41VS—-— be | > > oO en} © Q & ro pe Q © © “a! 4 rm 2 en G o i) 4 a fant overaren plly J -~ ch © aH em) pe wm Q oS £ ay = ¢ 4 = a ° @ rt wo - uw e e e e pe a} O $ <) & OD Fr re O ri = 5 | Dar. | MO : © oe rod ol 3 = S ii 1pol 1 3 mound “ by t & pa 2a0 (i Sr t Philohela minor. 1880. Maine (Lake Umbagog), poe road tn a?) ies] © ) sSseribed: it is most Lefreertaln ly. Very £ i” 2H + pertormer. it.was + + Ln oe 4. mit bya Bear. him te _ ~ a d 2cedes each utterence of : i hd S wee Wane Ot ca i Tuna 7 aN a ile use NS oak ‘ An he ect a re, alc “ . ~ I. June 4, Exceedingly abundant here this season; we started a Ligure = 2 aie! d birds easloec Brook this morn Mi ddle Dam yester ahead A river sitting bird and 4 8gS and brought her to camp. “She a A hd Bad short-— | z ly afterwards returned immediately t ; | t The next day an ox stepped in in it and | ‘ eggs. | : “a 4 i ro) | , Sept. 2. | ; 3 ! } 1 | \ i 4 i | 4 | q a“ + 7 | 4. One 6 @ cornfield on Upton Hill, £ i “ 2 7” Pe 3 q Si. One Poplars. on Abbott) .s. had. a IO 881 | VW a a Mayr, | | 4 " : ! iY apout tirty yards away; he flew direetly towards the aay + t I t i : ag \. B = L ao 9 + alee ae i ee ee > ‘ : i Locality was pte Lexet of mixed 3 low Sprates, birehes, j ana WILLOWS with openit at rec i ! i- Fe = tre “Bi gharwakt mes ~ A 1 ¢t 2) ha Wn - ast c 1 - * ‘ : ee anal etl, ni ' i fs i e hau of these birds in September when they. lie con ceale ; C 1Ong top of a | 7 | ] biG, aid ~ yy 4 & smadd. Sp) i Lm Si t leaves: " 14, Heard one singing a numt e ee Gee ein Lng a number of this eve th roadside near Peaslee’s i oe i y i 4 " | ‘ a : 4 ° ae a a Ke Pel 60] 8 © 0) a ® a Ps © us u : ov] 2 ® ei 4y> ai ne a (2) | (a) ao o 42> ie) a Loe! w ao t=. © * : N : a — eN ° St roy Oo ¢ “4 rl re m4 5 : % : x sk Q rd ral z oO © es) P S reo “a ; = > ra B © _ = “2 =e = 3 . : _— - 9) © ed asia ——— . —_ ee _— . . ee ST IT PA PRT SP BTN a eres: “Vind tien bal iain” pa bi it aca hitler 1 869 e July & Aug. 1874, Jan, 24, Mar. de Novwe LO, 1875. Oct, - 21, Philohela minor. IT saw none here but was told by an old trapper, that he onee started one in the Vicinity from the oadge of an alder swamp (Glen House, N.H.). Captain Baxter tells me that he started one late in December at Marston’s Mills. He believes thatthey Winter there, Arthur Smith tells me that he killed a Woodcock about the middle of January last in Brookline, Started it from a spring= hole in an open field where the snow was about a foot deep. It was emaciated and apparently siek. Melvin started one to-day at Concord, and six on the 8th, We found their borings in several cornfields (Mar- Ston’s Mills,Mass.), 64 Gallinago wilsoni, Middlesex County, Mass, 1865. Oct, 10,) About sunset heard repeated harsh, gr ting sounds in the marshy island bchind Mt,yAuburn Se icone a pair of Snipe rose high into the air and flew off towards Charles River, Started two just at dark from a brook running through a meadow, The ground is partly covered with snow and all the small ponds and meadows frozen ever,hard, Shot three, Saw one, Sav one, The day was cold and windy and he rose wild Saw three (Cambridge), With the firet faint light in the east this norning Snipe begar: to fly over the Fresh Pond marshes in large numbers, their notes sounding unusually harsh, and short in the-stillness, The last few nights have been eold for the season, Owing to the excess of water this year the birds are rather poor, The day was rainy and the birds wild, At the first report of our guns all the Snipe in the vicinity rose, and joined one another in. the air until twelve were Flying together, and with them, a Peetoral Sandpiper, They must have kept on wing for over an hour, now pitch= ing down to the me-dows, and sealing close over the tus- socks, now rising hig h in air and sweeping around in large cireles, or perhaps flying out of Sight, only to return again: after an absence of a few minutes, OM Te Fa NTR ot ye Oct: 10, Shot five, The weather was warm and the day still, consequently they lay very close, Indeed six or seve en started by a dog rose like Rails, their legs hanging down, and alighted again after flying only a few yards, A driving rain storm this afternoon; I found the meadows full of Snipe and killed a number. Shot a number this morning, Started one from the middle of the road in Cambridge port. It was probably henumbed by the cold, as it allowed me to get within a few feet of it before rising, 26 While in the Fresh Pond swamps this morning, wai- ting for the coming light, I heard numbers of Snipe fiy- ing about over their favorite retreat, Several were seen to-day on the Arlington meadows, Gallinego wilsoni. Middlesex County, Mass, Shot one to-day, Heard one just at dusk, high up in air, making that weird humming rneise sound peculiar to this speeies, I listened for sometime this evening, to a number of Snipe drumming over a large meadow and heard one, which had just finished drumming, and was probably, at the time on his-way to the ground, utter a shrill hec-hee~hee=hec, On several occasions this spring I have known a male , continue his drumming flight for nearly an hour without the slightest intermission, They seem to prefer fine moonlight nights for their econeerts, and probably extend them throughout the hours of darkness, for I have heard them as late as 10 P.M, ’ | We had literally no Snipe on our meadows this autumn; At Concord itxwas the same, and is quite an unheard of thing there, as their fall grounds are perfeetion for Snipe, and usually furnish the very finest shooting, They must have avoided the state ell together this season, Saw two and too k one of them, but was unable to find the surviver; soon after sunset it began to “drum? overhead and continued it szlong as I remained in the Vicinity. Started upwards of a dozen in the course of the day, Saw about a dozen and took three, Saw four, Saw upwards of a dozen, by All the Snipe meadows being completely dried up the _ ®xeessive drought, the birds were driven to the beds of ditches and streams and the shores of ponds, for foor, _What few I shot were much emaciated, | probably | Shot the first of the season: it had apparcrnily: just arrived as it was apparently much exhausted and very thin, A most careful searchof the most likely meadows r@vealed no traces of others, Three were seen on the Belmont meadows, Started eight on the Belmont meadows and shot five, Started five in the Fresh Pond marshes, Flushed only two birds in a2 hard days tramp on the Belmont meadows, Gallinago wilsoni, Middlesex County, Mass, (Apr.17) Started five on the Fresh Pond marshes, « 18, Started about sisteen in all on the Deadham marshes, Found only one bird on the Fresh Pond marshes, Saw eleven in all on the Goneord marshes, The day was dark and cloudy with an east wind and rain fall- ing steadily, and thw birds consequently very wild, flying about in flocks like so many Ducks or Bay Birds, Saw between thirty and forty on the Concord medows and with Carter bagged twenty-three, Beat the Concord meadows carefully and started only one bird, Four were found in the Fresh Pond marshes and three of them were shot by J,Nesbit, These were the last of the season, The flight,-in this section of the cou ntry, has been unusually heavy, beginning carly and lasting late, We had the best shooting at Concord although we tried Deadham and other noted localities, The Con cord meadows are very large, extending for miles on both Sides of the river, and offering every attraction for the birds, At this season they are covered by a short growth of green grass, and being a lmost perfeetly smooth and level, the bids were very wild there, usually rising out of ramge until driven back inton the runs or broken ground about tthe edges where they frequently lay like stones, Singular tricks are sometimes played by this species, We started one that pitehed near the edge of a broad diteh, entered the water, swam across, and walked into a thicket of bireches on the other side, When we followed with the dog it kept flirting up flying a few yards with dangling legs, and thendropping to the ground and running over the leaves like a Sandpiper, without in the least attempting concatment,. When fi- hally driven out it took a long flight aeross the open and pitehed into another thicket of birches and oaks, Upon being started here it soared directly up like a Wood- cockand was shot as it was topping a high bireh, On another occasion while walking along the river where the banks were high and dry, we came, Jate in the afternoon, to a promontory only a few rods Square which stretched (out into the ater, its surface broken by small mounds and hilloeks, When nearly opposite this, three Snipe Started from the edge of the water, and flying across, alighted on the promontory. Upon going teonthespot to the spot we flushed eight the first rise, and four or five more the second, Of these we killed three or four and marked the remainder down in an adjoining mea- Ae a Cas 3 . 4 x * - . Re : ,* : : ; * i . ! ; . H : ‘ Gallinago wilsoni. Middlesex County, Mass. dow; following them we found the plece absolutely alive with birds and had good sport there until it beeame too dark to shoot longer. _ Two days after thie we visited Concord again and went immediately to the promontory but neither there nor in the meadow sbove could we start a Single bird, We then beat the Great Meadows a mile or more below where we had fair sport through the day. _ Returning in the afternoon it oceured to us to try the promontory once more and scarcely had we entered it when Six birds jumped up and in a few moments, four more: following them into the meadow above, what was our sur- prise to find that also full of Snipe, twenty-five or thirty starting in a few rises, All these were marked down across the river, but in going back to cross the bridge we passed the promontory when six or eight fresh birds rose from it. The next morning we beat this ground again without finding a bird but an accident com- ppiling us to take the noon train home, we were unable to visit-it in the afternoon when, without much doubt, we Should have found it well stocked as before, All three days were warm, Sunny, and perfectly clear, Now whence came these numerous birds? We could mot have driven them up from the meadows below as we killed nearly all that we saw there, and none of the survivers flew in that direction, Neither could they have been driven by other Sportsmen, as none were shooting on any of the rivers meadows on either day, and there are no other Snipe grounds. for miles, Another remarkable faet was that in neither plaee did we find either borings or _ chalk-marks, This showed conelusively that the birds had not been there long otherwise su¢eh Signs would not have been wanting. Moreover neither meadow nor pro-= montory was adapted for a feeding-ground both being of the same charaeter,--dry and covered with hilloeks, Four were shot to-day on the Fresh Pond meadow. Deane heard two passing over one evening in the latter part of August but though September the weather was So dry that only a few Stragglers were observed.- A flight began to-day and lasted till about October 30, The Nesbitts killed eleven birds one day. While on a visit to Marston’s Mills, Cape Cod, I was told by several old (and reliable sportsmen that Snipe winter there regularly in considerable humbers, living in Springy places on the edge of the salt marshes, One (Dearie), One (Nesbitt), Saw one at Concord). Four (Nesbitt), (Apr.16) Mar, 26, May 5-9 Sept.28, Gallinago wilsoni, Middlesex County, Mass. Thirteen were started to-day, eleven of them on the Belmont meadows, On April 12 these m adows were fro- zen hard and net a Snipe could be found, Visited a field near the Reder powder house Medford, which is reported to have been swarming with Snipe yes- terday but found only four or five remaining; the place wes a large ploughed field with a rain-water pond in the middle. Also started fourteen Snipe on the Belmont meadows, All these birds must have com> during the rain storm of the 16th, The frost is not yet entirely out of the meadows, Three in Belmont and twelve ay Wayland, Found two im an old corn~filed where the ground was soft and wet; one flew to an apple orchard on a hill-top, where he lay closely under a small bush pile. Two on the Fresh Pond marshes, one at Wayland, thirty at Concord, A single bird shot at Coneord, One seen in the Fresh Pond marshes although the ground is still frozen underneath. The Nesbitts tell me there was a good flight of Snipe during this time; seven being killed o n the 5th, and more or less daily up to the 9th, Started five on the Fresh Pond marshes, One which I shot at set his wings, sailed about ton yards and dropped into a thicket of tall bushes interla- eed with briars, My setter hunted this closelyvfor at least hal? am hour but failed to find him, In the evening twilight one passed over my head in the Fresh Pond marshes flying with almost inconceivable swiftness, The seaipe of these Snipe sounds much rich- _@r and deeper when they are flying about after dark, tham in the day time, Robert Nesbitt tells me that he | Started a flock of at least fifty Yilsom’s Snipe this morning. They ros* several hundred yards shead and flew direetly out of sight. Saw about twenty-five om the Fresh Pond marshes, They lay remarkably close, six in onc instanee rising from nearly the same plae , giving us time to change shells between each shot, | . h i r 1 ‘ i i es i ; a fia s .- > ears. , « ’ “ é ole 203 ¥ ) a ‘ di iiG e «” * 7:43) fis ° ° e bo as * (Oct.3) 10, Gallinago wilsoni, Middlesex Gounty, Mass . Large numbers on the Fresh Pond m rshes, all, I think flight birds which have dropped in during the night | We killed eighteen. They lay remarkably well, and flew long distances, we started tworn on Spring ground near Hill’s Grossing, One, an enormous bird which I finally killed, alighted in a field of standing corn after being flushed from a meadow. Started three on the Fresh Pond marshes. One whieh I had a good chance to watch was Standing erect in a watehful attitude on a mud bank After a while, every thing being quiéé, he drew up one leg and poising himself on the other, shortening his neek until his head rested between his shoulders, saw for a long time with half e¢losed eyes dozing in the sunshine, Occasionally he would give a quick start, shake his feathers and turn- ing his head on one side apparently listen for the move- ment of some earth worm beneath the surface, When I began to alk towards him he straightened up for an in- | Sant then crouching with his bill raised to an angle of about 45° stood ready for a spring. At every step that I took forward he lowered his body a trifle more and finally, with a hogrse Seaipe,sprang lightly into the ante Started ten in the Fresh Pond marshes, Abundance of signs all over the marshes but I could find only one bird, a gunner whom I met had been over the ground yesterday with similarly poor success, On th iSth, however, he started thirteen Snipe there and six om each of the two following days, Heard two flying over the Fresh Pond marshes in the evening twilight, A Snipe captured by some boys in West Newton was brought to Jessie Warren last week, It was found with its bill literally froen fast in the mud, Started three in the bushy swamp near the Fresh Pond crossing. They were exeeedingly wild rising out of range end flying out of sight. Not the most sheltered ‘Spring-hole is as yet fairly thawed out, the meadows where they lay were frozen as hard as rocks, and the hy- las have not yet begun to peep, Started two in the “resh Pond swamps; probably the Same birds seen there on the Second . Heard the firs: hyla vo-day,. * Gallinago wilsoni. Middlesex County, Mass . One in the Fresh Pond marshes, evidently the same bird seen there on the 10th, The ground in the neigh- borhood was thickly bored, One in the Fresh Pond marshes, I do not think there has been any considerable flight of these birds as yet. The meadows in most places are still frozen hard underneath and no green thing has started anywhere except in gwunny spots on the uplands. Spent an hour or more watching nine in the corner of a meadow near Fresh Pond crossing. My attention was first attracted to them by hearing a Snipe e remarkable note which I recognized as one [I heard uttered by a Snipe on the Belmont meadows -several years ago. Ap- proaching cautiously and peeping through the fringe of bushes I discovered a large Snipe basking in the sun on the top of a tussock and several others within a few yards on ameadjoining mounds, all within thirty yards of me. - Frequently one would doze in the sunshine for min- utes at a time supported on one leg only, the other drawn up among his feathers. Others were preening their plumage, using their long bills most adroitly and frequently passing through them the feathers of their Wide-spread tail, Two or three were always engaged in boring; this interesting operation reminded me foreibly of eel spearing. The Snipe standingv in a crouching attitude with its body nearly horizontal thrust down its bill, never verti¢ally, but invariably at an ineline for- ward of about » The thrusts were made with aston- ishing quickness at least two each second. While thus engaged the bird stood perfeetly still, lunging out on all sides just as the eel spearer does. A worm seemed to be captured once in about a dozen thrusts. When struck it was drawn out rapidly(again recalling the quick hand over hand of the Eel spear) elevated for a moment in the air, then swallowed with a shake or two of the birds head, Occasionally one of these Snipe would flit like a Solitary Sandpiper for a few yards and alight on the iee (the meadow was covered with water to the depth of nearly a foot), standing a moment with upraised wings, then walking in a crouching attiéude to some exposed mound of earth. Once five or six of them walked in sin gle file across a wide expanse of bare ice their crouch- ing attitudes and stealthy steps reminding me of those of @ file of Indians on the war path. This crouching atti- tude was almost invariably assumed when they were walking about, the nect drawn in between the shoulders, the bill invariably pointing downward. When basking in the sun, however, the body was nearly erect, the head thrown back, the bill resting on the breags. At frequent intervals one or another of them would-utter the ery just refered to. It was a rapidly given ¢cup-cup-~cup—cup-—cup-eup-cup, uttered with a slightly falling infleetion and occasiona- lly varied to: kep-kep-kep etc. Once I saw one make a run at another holding his long bill couched nearly hori-~ ettoeliw opsnified . es" ,ytanod xeselbbiv -enge ed? yitaebive ,cedatsm baod deer? edt ai ead -igrean eofd af bavo1y edT A70E edd ao eter? aooe bid hotrod yfitoidde eaw boorted tmidt son ob I -eercatem baot daet? oft ak oO es ebtid esett to tdgii? efdatebieaos yas cood ead eteds bis aoxovl £fLite ets e@ostc seom ai ewobsem eriT -FOY tgeoxe etedwyos bettste eed yoict aeetg on bas Atsemtehau -@hasigqgu edt ao atoge yinee ai to teaton oft at enim goidots® eiom to iwor ae Jaeqe naw coriaetis. yt .gaieets baod faed isem wobsem « eldsinamet @ egiae so yaiteed yd medt of betostiis taxi? s yd hetedés based E emo es feximgooo I doidw eton -qh .oge etsey feTeve®- awohsem tmomget edi so egqiae Yo epais? odd dyvowlt gatqecq bas yLavottuan yaidssotq fo ave of} #2 Bnatesd eqin® egies! s betovoseth I aerasd wet s aidtiw avesito favevea bas doozent s to got ent Yo abtey yo tin’ aidtiw Efe ,ahmvem sataiothsess ao abisy ~iim 107 emtdeme ed@ at-eseb bivew omo yfiaeupott O00 tornio odd ,yfae Bek emo go beotioqque emit s ts Getu ydiaweorg orow ayodse ~2tedise? ein gaoms qu cwetb bas yYftiowbse saom effid yaol siors gatan ,egenuigq ties tioft to excritee?t eft ment dguotd? yaiaaag (li aoupet? ai beysyae ayswis etew eeids 10 OWE ,fted beetqe-6bhiv Cidioro? en bebaimet aoisateqo gadveetoiak eict yymitod goidevote « ai veattbaete eqin? eff .gattsege fee to ati mwob tenidd Letaosived ylisen ws ati gt obs £338 -10% eftilent ae ts yidsiisvai tud , seven ,fLid -notes dtiv ebsm etow atawtit olf « @ tueds to biaw euds eLiaw betosee dose ows gasel ts esemloivup yaider ao suo yaiyaul ,f£fite yfiee'treq boote bakd ors beysyce heree2 artow A. .se0b wesseqa feo elt as taut eebie Ife aed .atenti?t aesoh e tvods ak eono joinp edd eailiecet ateye)yLhiqst tuo aweth saw taemom s 10% begsvete (iweqa Le8 edt to bacd efit to owt te etede 2 din bowollewa aedi , tif? blvew eqéa® evedt Yo eto ¥Lisaokeassed no tdyife bas abtsy Wet s tol teqigkaes yts?. dt¢qeb edd of tetsw dtiw bexovos sev wohaor ed) en: ,agaiw beeisiqy dtiw taomom e yathasia ,( toot ¢ bezogxe emoe of ebubitis yninovots s ai ~ 43, Oct. 12. Nov. 9, 1879, Apr. 26, July 13. s Sept e 30 e Oct, 11. 63 Gallinago wilsoni. Middlesex County, Mass, Nesbitt shot three in the Fresh Pond omape. Seven at Concord, Snipe eight at Gonsoré, One (Concord River). One on the Fresh Pond marshes, Six seen by Spelman in the Fresh Pond swamps. Humphrey Buttriek tells me that several pairs of these Snipe, having passed the summer on the Great Mea- dows (Coneord) and are undoubtedly breeding. On July 4th he flushed six birds, all apparently adults. He has heard them in the evening on many different occasions, Flushed one from a ditch at Block Island within ten yards of the spot where I killed one in 1871. Numbers have been shot within the past few days on the salt marshes bordering Charles River; the fresh wa- ter marshes and swamps are entirely dry after the severe drought. Garfield shot twelve on the great Meadows at Coneord on the 9th, Started three (Concord), S : > a) z e +3 heel i ‘ head * i» #% e by * i. : hed <” A — a wD : rt o 4 oom = ‘ we #4 F * <8, ih « > & a " 4 is +3 “ 'S 3 i" we : Poy es) " U anil ~ : 3 @ st = . “4 t% Go oF ¢ < * 2. Oo = 7 Me ~ nt oe ; oe} = 7 SS ie be ail 6 4 = - % . at - fe ¢ e f et t ‘eo Ge > 4 $ Pat 73 “= 2 $ a) ; 4) : ne 4 z a = ie “ : . i “i ¢ © + : ~ I ne = 62 a! $3 : Me +> m4 C > a = @ ¢ & = Q oS a ; om . a t ves} a . 3 = ‘ * r ft a : at . * . : Ww oe x © eS © » fo - - : c * ~t bined ‘ as 4 few} é Se ‘’ "2? oe. . per x feat : ¢ Z “ ag : = 2 7 z : 2 an te pa = < GS = ee al i : ’ ~ b ’ Y 2 “a 4 = + e ¢ . @ a 4 A ee = be} ‘" 72 uo ee PAN o O GS = i U oS ¢ ¢ ie oO \ > te 2 pee CE he 2 Uc a © mp s ul ALne hing tered el Somet PN Pa eRe ee eh @) oa 5 Umba ¢ Ge I 3 IEEE = ae SS aS t © | =@ © Oo OG K G Om fu -& WWM ° © o ¢ - ~~ Do 00 me . o8) oer WM PP & © 10 48 fa ‘cd (a) © G tsa) fe) ce as Bol © a ~ ry % a Ww i) ee pa | 5 , .@) vw) e a 2] oe ys es e © . ae a n & au} ae t = g E = Ye few} G re) a) © eA D c 5 n9 4 (eH a > a rea} Cob) > EB = ray D e) Y Execee Shot NOrHRing. ¥ I = ce ° ° ° ° e ° er my c pa LO « o>) =) ° Sy O ce) re rl ri YN e re ed me $8) oe An a. ber : * ‘ é pean ioe s S S 3 rb] s ais So Gallinago winsoni, 1870.- Sept. 8, Just at dusk heard the harsh seaipe of one of these flying over a small piece of reclaimed meadow on the edge of Parling Pond (Maine). 1871. Oct, 14, Numerous, feeding on the edge of the salt marshes where fresh water springs ooze out from under a high bank. We also found several in small pond~holes in the woods, They are said to winter here in numbers (Marstorf Millis, Mass.). 1874, Jan, 24, Captain Baxter tells me that Snipe are wintering in numbers at Marston’s Mills, Cape Cod, They freqent a narrow strip of springy marsh extending two or three miles along the banks of a smaihy river, There the ground never freezes and the grass remains green the Winter through, Numbers in their winter quaréers along the riverr (Marston’s Mills, Mass.). Goodale started six at Abbington,Mass, and killied three, all very large fat birds. Explored the winter haunt of the Wlson’s Snipe at Marston’s Mills and started seven birds there. The place merits detailed deseription. A brook, averaging about ten feet wide, winds for several miles through ono of the most tangled swamps that I have ever seen, Tn places it runs swiftly over gravelly shallows, in others Settles in still, dark pools two or more feet deep. It was formally a famous fishing ground for sea trout. The banks are densely wooded with birch, maples and al- ders, from fifteen to twenty feet high, and thickly fes- tooned by green briar and wild grape vines. The swamp itself is impenetrable save by the natural pathway formed by the brook, and even this is choked in plaees by the Vine swigg across from bank to bank, At frequent intor- Vals, springy runs which empty into the main stream, Spread spread about through the adjoining cover; they hever freeze, and to-day I found them as green as in June. Here the Snipe lie and feed most of the time, although they also visit the salt marshes and flats at night when the tide is low, They acted differently from any Snipe I ever saw. As I waded down the course of the brook they would rise among the bushes with a hea- Vy whirring and topping the trees like Woodcock instant= iy disappear. Occasionally they would start from the bank and flitting low over the water in perfect silence follow the course of the brook for a few yards and alight again. In this way I started one five or six times before I got a shot, always driving him on ahead of me. Only one=-~which IT flushed in a little meadow--flew and S¢eaiped in the usual manner. Captain Baxter tells me aa . Sa t i i e € © . , ay “ e e € ie] ° ° ‘ e © ‘ © +3 i ite r* t 1 : é . ._ é . e M * © Ss ¢ : ' : + * * ‘ « t R : ’ P — ‘ | ‘ 5 , + . H , 4 S é ’ Ce @ * a C " i we “ Pe ‘ + ‘ ° fee \ * é . , a 4 ; i ’ ° ¥ t re ¢ ‘ : wt ; , ‘ ® se ‘ é t » > ; ‘ . ~ 4 k 5 ; < 2 - . x bs ‘ . C7 Gallinago wilsoni, that he onee saw a Woodeock here in Januarn, and I ex- amined a Virginia Rail which he shot here November 30, 1872. (Marston’s Mills, Mass.). Hunted the Snipe~swamp a second time and started three birds. (Marston's Mills, Mass.). ase remeeteietet) ! Macrorhamphus griseus. Rye Beaeh, New Hampshire. 1868, Aug. 15,. Saw several small flocks, they deeoyed readily. 1870. Aug.13-31, During this time I did not see a single bird, The | the gunners told me that the flight passed before my arrival, A very heavy flight during the continuanee of a N.E. rain storm, these Snipe (as well as 1T,flavipes) flying during a heavy shower, Both species deeoyed well, the Snipe the better of the two; neither species when wounded sought concealment but stood boldly in plain sight on the mud, tilting as if unhurt. When caught they sereethed loudly, Upon watehing a number breeding I was struek by the resemblance in their motions to Gallinago They fly and feed in company with Totanus flavipes All killed up to this date have been adults in worn breeding plumage. A single young bird shot, Fo ur or five passed, Have seen none before for sometime, One was shot in the gray “winter plumage’, [ This is my reeord, I do not find the bird in my collection and have no present recollection of it_Wm,8.1885_] ° A heavy flight all day, several flocks of fifteen or twonty seen, (See general obs), A number killed were ali young birds! Saw three late in the day (raine; wind south-east), Thomas Philbrick, a trustworthy gunner, tells me he saw Several large flocks on the 20th inst, A heavy flight began about 2 P.M. and lasted until dark, The flocks averaged about cight or ten birds each amd the intervals between the floeks were usually about ten minutes, These birds came through the marsh against the wind, flying low over the ground and very rapidly, usually in a broad extended front. Sometimes Single individuals came in company with “Peeps” which flew in large flocks. Although I had no decoys I bagged | twenty-five Snipe which, without a single exeeption were | adult birds, Cloudy, with pouring rain all day, and | wind strong from the south~east, bee Clear and pleasant; wind east. A few flocks passed | at daylight but none later, Last night, however, about midnight, I was awakened by the whistling clamor of what _tMust have been a very large flocks of these birds passing over the house, ne e © o . e ® e | ° ~ e e ° e . 7 Ms . o . 3 } * ° . i i ° ‘ : 9 er 1 * e t - i ° 4 j ° ° é > a * bet oe 2 : | ‘ A * s ; e ~ s? © 6 - ~ © ° e . « 2 e 1872, {Aug.2) & Sa 4 s. 4 9, ° mm, rd 15, Maecrorhamphus griseus, Rye Beach, New Hampshire, Five or six flocks passed in quick suecession about 2 PM, Clear; wind south-east, Several flocks passed in quick succession about 9 A.M. Raining; wind south~east, Three only in a very heavy flight of Totanus Flavie LOS. A few « ee ‘8 “« & ae ‘ae e A heavy flight in the afternoon, Cloudy, wind north-east, A few seen on the 13th, one, the last, to-day. 1870. July il, 1874, dune 18, 1875, Sept. 2. Macrorhamphus griseus, IT saw several small flocks at Ipswich, Mass, at sunset this evening, The gunners there told me that they had been flying in small numbers for several days. A pair shot while feeding together on a sand beach and another seen, The two killed were male and female and apparently would not have bred this season (Marston’s Millis, Mass.). A flock of twelve on the mud-flats Long Island, Bos- ton Harbor. Two shot were both immature birds, Micropolama himantopus. 1875, Sept.22. Shot one which was feeding in a fiock of of Ereune= tes, on the shore of a fresh-water pond, Its motions were very like those of the Yellow-leg (Nantucket) Bye Beach, New Hampsh ire, One shot by Mr, Dexter on the west shore of the Eel Pond, In motions it ¢losely resembled Totanus flavipes, for which, indeed, we mistook it, It was an adult in Summer plumage, x Shot a female which was Wading in shallow water, In motions, flight, and note she exactly resembled Tota— Bus flavipes. Shot an adult in breeding plumage; it was in a flock of Totanus flavipes Shot one in a floek of Totanus flavipes Two, one adult in breeding plumage, the other imma~ ture, came in together and decoying readily, were shot, They resembled Totanus Plavipes so closely while flying that I mistook them for that species. Their notes, however, sounded a trifle harsher, A discharge of both barrels into a floek of about twenty Totanus flavipes killed eight of that species and one Mi¢gropalama A young bird shot this morning, I do not find this species mentioned among my notes for this year. : B Tringa @anutus, 1867 © . Sept. 3. Two shot (Plymouth,Mass.). 1871. Sept. 9. A Single specimen in gray plumage shot on Ipswich Beach. 1875. Sept. 22, Shot one in fall plumage on Coatue Point (Nantueket). 1878, May - 8. A large flock (Chatiham, Mass, ), Rye Beaeh, New Hampshire. 1868, Aug, 27. Shot three in gray plumage. They decoyed readily, sailing as they came over the stools, Their eall was pill, pill-willet /d7 1871. Augs 19, An adult male, still in the breeding plumage, was shot. (Specimen in my collection). 1872, Not mentioned, and I thin k not seen at all, Tringa maritima. Middlesex County, Mass, 1871. Oct. 30. Henshaw shot one this morning, on the extreme end of Whittiemore’s Point, Cambridgeport. A few days previously T bought one in Boston Market, which I was assured was from Newburyport marshes, 1874, Mar, 12, 1876, Apr, 12, Tringa martina, Twenty-four received from Grand Venan; very fat; Stomachs filled with fragments of a pint crustacean; plumage far thicker than that of other waders; flesh less rank in smell, On one of the larger ledges in Mace’s Bay near Point Lepreaux,N.3, we found an immense flock of Purple Sandpipers. Letting the boat drift within ten yards of them we watched them for a long time as they fed in per- feet uneonecern, At length we shot into them and killed fifteen with three barrels, At the report the seattered bunches on the rocks around collected together into a flock of at beast three hundr ed, Their flight was exceedingly rapid and very like that of the Sandling. On the wing they uttered a short guet, guet, while feed- ing, @ low conversational twittering, Their movements were slow and they held their head and bill in very much the same position as the Sandling,. In faet they reminded me most strongly of that bird, As the tide rose they collected on the higher rocks in perfect masses, Thomas, the Light-keeper, tells me that they are much more humerous in winter than now; he rarely sees them aly where exeept on this isolated reef of roek, A small flock passed the end of the Point (Pt.Le- preaux,N.B.). A fiock of about fifty on the ledges in Maee’s Bay, all so shy that it was impossible to get within gun shot (Pt .Lepreaux,N.B.). Visited Pig Rocks off Swamsecott to look for Purple Sandpipers. These rocks lie about s mile from shore in the open ocean, When we reached them the tide as nearly at flood and we found only two exposed—oblon- ebliong rocks exposed, about one hundred yards apart, and of nearly uniform size and shape. Their sides rose nearly vertieally from the water to a height of perhaps fifteen feet and their flat tops were covered with snow, Each was approximately twenty yards long by ten yards in widé@h,. At low tide they :re surroun- ded by a considerable expanse of ledges, covered with a Slippery coating of seaweed which I covld see under wa~< ter, and on the topa of the higher roeks when these emer g ed for an instant in the rolling swells, On the first reek we found nothing but a Black-backed Gull, standing erect on its snow-capped summit boldly outlined against the sky, As we approached the outer or eastern island, however, I diseovered a number of Purple Sandpipers hud- dled together on its nearly vertical sides where they were well sheltered from the cold wind, My boatman | remarked that he should have mistaken them for English Sparrows and they clung to the surface very much as these birds cluster on the sunny Slope of a roof on a blusterirg day, - Occasionally one would stretch his Wings above Tringa maritima. his back,, then deliberately fold them again, otherwise they seldom moved, It was a most interesting Sight, that of these hardy Waders perched high over the water With a snow bank above them and ice surges incessantly tolling beneath or breaking in the glistening spray on the half exposed ledges, Their stronghole had been well chosen, for it is rarely calm enough in winter for boats to approach the spot. They are said never to leave these holes except during heavy easterly weather _when the surf sometimes breaks completely over them, After watching the birds for a while I fired into them and secured seven with two barrels, Eight were and these after flying about for a few minutes alighted on the other island where I killed three more, The re- maining five then became very shy and I left them, These Sandpipers flew swiftly in a dense cluster, usually just over the crests of the waves. Once or twice they tried to alight om one of the ledges that were beginning to be uncovered by the falling tide, but-the surf seemed to frighten them, and after Standing for a moment with raised wings they would whirl off again over the sea, When flying they uttred a short quit which closely resem bled that of the Sandling, On the Gray rocks they looked nearly black, Onee after they had alighted in a eluster in a flat ledge at the base of-one of the rocks they scattered about and began to feed, I noticed they walked slowly and deliberately; indeed, 211 their move- ments seemed sluggish, On dissection I found their stomachs filled with small shells several of which are whole, Jeffries tells me that he has occasi onally seen them on the mainland during a heavy storm , but at other times they remain on the Pig Roeks, When freshly killed the basal third of the bill is reddish orange, the terminal two»thirds dark brown, these colors shading into one another at their point of contact, The tarsi and toes are stout, fleshy, and brownish-orange in col- or; the itis is dark hazel, {Swampseott,Mass. ), Tringa maculata, Middlesex County, Mass. 1874. Get.- 5. Shot one on the Fresh Pond meadows, 1875, Oct. 9%. At Concord, started a pair from the edge of #he a pond of rain water in a ploughed field, Oct. 13. Shot one on Great Meadows (Concord), Se ee PP = Common, usua oie) KI LUG. p , £ ae ae Geom Se Oc Re TE a eS eee: 1871. Oct. 18. 1875, | Sept,29, | 1g69, | Aug 221-28 = 1870. | Tringa maculata. Numerous on the salt marshes (Marston’s Mills, Mass). One on Coatue Point,Nantucket, Rye Beach, New Hampshire. Saw numbers on the Eel Pond, Their flight is rapid, call-notes harsh and low. They occurred rather numerous- ly during the last of August, usually singly or im pairs; but sometimes in flocks of Totanus flavipes. They were rather shy but when approached would sometimes squat like Snipe. I saw none on the beach, By September i they were nu merous, Found sparingly. The heaviest flights are said to pass later, Aug.13-31. Saw them daily, singly, or two or three together; 1871. July 27. sometimes in company with Tringa minutilla and Freunetes. Nome seen on the beach, A moderate flight, A good flight during a north-easter, They came in Singly, or in pairs, often in company with “Peeps”, and alighted freely on the mud-flats,. They uttered a strange guttural note when flying, Shot four, one of which was actually so fat that it could hardly fly. Three or four individuals flying in nearly every one of the numerous flocks of “Peeps” and Aeg.semipalmata that passed through the marsh to-day. These Sandpipers (Temaculata) decoy readily. T have not seen them in flocks as yet. One that alighted among my decoys was so tame that I walked to within ten fect of him,it. Unusually numerous, flying for the most part singly or in pairs although one flock of eight or ten was seen, Se Saw a flock of ten on the marsh to-day, Saw one, A considerable flight, certainly more than I have ever seen before in one day. Hot with light south wind, Meas ii o Poy Ps * © 8 © e » -. ~ : : % e 2 2 | * | ° © ” " ° © 6 ¢ ® ° © a 4 " an = i : St | ¢ ~¢ : i beak i 4 ¢ al H , t ’ ; : S| 7 : - ; i : j : : aa “ 2 : -” $ 4 a v } . he ° | - ‘ : ‘ ; s ’ « s ? " ~ . « Leal « cs - 4 © ; ' ; t . ® ‘ ; m | © | ' o q . ® | ' H 4 ! 4 | i } / ce | i » ' ; $ ee Ses eli Mette ad a i a ets ScnalanisiNrad acids ] a Tringa maculata. Rye Beach, New Hampshire, Another heavy flight, this species only second in lumber to Totanus flavipes, of which hundreds passed, Clear and one of the hottest days of the season; dead calm most of the time, A moderate flight, occasionally good-sized flocks being seen, ray ae Ly GO c ¢ K a lar al OF a“ mee LS TE Scilla rec aio ERAS ook slant ts feacdan nessa ficteenbss ADs ee ACN: Gitedabi cielo 1871. Sept, 9. 2875. AUB. aT. Sept.22, 1868, Aug. 31. Tringa bonapartei. Three o four seen on Ipswieh Beach, Shot an adult on Long Island, Boston Harbor, Its Zip-, Zip is unique and unmistakable, Shot one on the shore of Hummock Pond(fresh water) (Nantucket). vw Rye Beagh,New Hampshire, Shot one in a flock of Sandlings and Least Sandpi- pers, Its motions resembled those of the Least Sand= piper. It was on the beach, ‘ Took one; it is apparently a rare species here, Saw three, Several in company with “Peeps”, Several single birds, About a dozen seen, One shot, Saw a Flock comprising as many as seven or eight birds, all of this species, STE RE STS SE Tringa batrdi, 1881. male in the adult ani Plumber he shot it in a flock of Peeps on Plum Island ,Mass, Gordon il. Aug. Tringa minatilla, 1868, Middlesex County, Mass. Three. Shot fifteen on the Charles River marshes, Flight Wery swift and irregular. Call note a mellow tweet. A large flock of Peeps on Charles River, A flock of about thirty on Charles fiver, Large numbers on the Charles River marshes, for the most part seattered about singly, although I saw one flock of a dozen or more; they lay close in the long green grass like Snipe, Still abundant. 1875. May 22. Large flocks on the Charles River marshes, Cambridge. Aug. 24. Shot one on Fresh Pond. It was in company with Erounotes. Sept. 6, Shot one on the mud~flats of Fresh Pond, June il. A single bird in the Fresh Pond swamps on the brook near *Block” Island, Heard the calls of others passing ever our place this evening, and have noted them several evenings previously, ee : ao = . é xt a > & se > . . 2 et . 5 a a a = ~ : s S ~ o 4 Saeed os 3 . ‘ a a . ¢ . e ite lus so i acoph a F R ri “ ic 2 vw 2 14. 9 Kb 9 2 O 3 ad ° c) ™ $ : e ™ oO € 9) rP> oa 2 oe) ee oD S # W Pe CO XY 2 3 s & & s s ss ral tal | >> 2 a) s Ei & w Pe = Rhyacophilus solitarius. 1880. : ; rous alor « (3) eroue! d LH | i i | s 17 Ryacophilus solitarius, diary, | | | 1866, — Auge 30. — Saw three along the course of a brook (West Ames bury | | Mass. ). : 1867. | Oet. Fe A pair in edge of a fresh water pong (Plymouth,Mass). i ‘ 1870, ;| Aug. 2. Saw one descend from a great height and alight on a _ log on the shore of Profile Lake,N. . It immediately went fast asleep and remained motionless for several | hours, | 1869, — . i July & | Aug. Upon arriving at the Glen House, July 20, I found i three of these Sandpipers on the neighWor ing mili-~ ~pond. I supposed that they had either eggs or young but on ti Shooting and disseetimg them found that they had not ap- | } parently bred this year, The next day several more had il y _ teken their places, and these being killed others appear-= | a ed a few days later; thus they continued to arrive dur ii ; ing my stay and I was convineed that they were already i Migrating, When driven from the mill-pond they often | flew directly into the forest where they would alight on some feilen log and remain until all became quiet again, | (Glen House,N.H.). Rye Beach, New Hampshire. | } 1868. i Aug. | Shot the first August 17; afterwards they were socn i daily, usually in pairs, on the Eel Pond marshes (brack+) | ash). i i871, | 1 Sept. 1, A single record for this season only although I | | find a note in my diary of one shet on the Eel Pond | August 8. li | | | | Aug» 2. | One shot on the Eel Pond (Recorded in my pocker dig) \ “& 206 « e e « ee ( « “ a « diary) on e ae - . a a 3 Red 4 ? ‘ ° ' + ; * 3 a oka : = laa get ' P ab id : >, * G y ~ . © e | ' q 5 | j j e 4 . " e j e ~ . | ‘ ~. t . : : ' } e ti . : q t | Totanus semipalmatus, 1876, May 6, Three (Chatham, Mass,). , | - 15. An adult female shot at Chatham, The gunners say that this bird used to breed abundgitly here on Monomoy Island (Chatham, Mass, Rye Beach, New dampshire,. : li 1) 1866, i Augs 17, Shot one, which I did not preserve. 1871, i Aug. ll. A single young bird eame to the decoys readily and i was shot, ' | } * 7%. One came to the decoys and was shot, \ i Aug, 13, A young bird shot on the Eel Pond marsh, i i | | 1868, Apr. 30, May i. 1869, Apr. 20. 1870. 6, -Mear Fresh Pond, It was quite shy and appeared per- Actiturus bartramius. Middlesex County, Mass, Saw one, It flew in a singular manner, now quiver- ing its wings like a Spotted Sandpiper, now sailing like a small Hawk, It alighted in a meadow and also on ploughed ground, but it was too Shy to be shot (Belmont). Shot a female, probably the one seen yesterday. Heard one whistle just at dusk, Shot one, early this morning, in an apple orchard fectly at home among the trees, flying through the bran- _¢hes without the slightest difficulty. One in a pasture at Concord. It was very shy and active but I finally succeeded in Shooting it; it pro- ved a female, with the ovarius so much developed that the first egg would have probably been deposited within a week or ten days. I hear them passing over our place nearly every morning. a9) | ISG = é bes} ; tne wie 2 = « an ° iu e 42] * a yp ~e — — 2 Ww ‘ 4 a. © *@ . m2 f C3 > . fe. 4 bas! ns 4 md =~ 4 = * = ~ & ” “ . rs . a 3 « 1872, June 1, 1875, Auge a7. | Sept,22.. Actiturus bartramius, Saw a apir from the ear window (New Gloucester, Maine. ). A fow om the bare pastures on Long Island, Boston Harbor, While driving across one of the extensive Commons on | Nantucket I diseovered an Upland Plover Sta'-ding motion-= _dess within fifteen yards of the wagon, I stopped the horse when it did not fly but skulked orf Slowly through the grass and onee squatted closely for an instant, It evidently imagined itself unseen. I finally shot it Sitting; it was so fat that I eould not preserve the skin, Rye Beach, New Hampshire. From August 17-30 they were seen frequently, passing southward in small companies (rarely more than five or Six) at a height of several hundred ya-ds. On moonlight nights I often heard their mellow call=-notes as late as ii PE, Seen almost daily, passing over; but few alighted on the marsh, Throughout clear moonlight nights their ¢all=-netes could be heard at almost any hours Heard the first this evening about 11 P.M, flying overhead. It was a clear moonlight night. One alighted on the Eel Pond marsh, A steady flight for several hours early this morning, mostly of single birds passing over high in air, A steady flight all day, the first for sometime, aS usual these birds passed overhead,well up to. August 3, one; August 6, one; August 19, a very heavy flight early in the morning. ® uw * e + — « = 4 » * . ; oe & e Tringites sufescens, Two taken by H.W.Henshaw, Two in a floek of “Peeps”, feeding on the edge of a fresh-water pool on Long Island, Boston Harbor, I shot one, when the other flew to the closely-cropped sheep pastures on the hill above, Here I chased it apout for a long time without getting a shot, It invariably Stood motionless in a very erect position until I began to appreagh when it would rise and after °lying a hundred vees yards or more alight again. Its flight was swift and-errati¢e¢; onee or twice it rose to the height of ohne hundved feet or more and performed the most surpri- Sing evolutions in the air, finally darting in Zig-zag lines to the earth with almost inconceivable rapidity. While flying past the fawn color of the under parts was conspicuous, It uttered continually while flying a sin- 8le hoarse, short note very like that of fringa maculata. The stomach of the one killed was crammed with grass-— hoppers, Picked up a dead one on the hills of Long Island Boston Harbor, Rye Beach, New Hampshire. A pair of birds which I took to be of this species flew about over the marsh uttering a mellow whistle en- tirely distinet from the rough, croaking note of Tringa maculata which they otherwise resembled, Shot one, ‘It ¢ame into the marsh in company with @ Tringa maculata A single bird came to the decoys and was shot, Not seen this year, ee o ot » ec a Pi t % . ’ 4 & 4 rs ~— > ~7) “ 3 : >" @s ° . ’ " * et tt nee + ‘ - * i; a - at we ! ' e _ . : i ; : ’ m * ; ’ > 2 ~4 > ~ - i ; : . rs ‘ | , | © > . : e “ ’ _ i " . i . . P July 13, Aug. 8&8. Sept.26, _ Oct. 13. 1869, Apr. 24, May a. Tringoides macularius, Middlesex County, Mass. Found a nest with eggs containing partially developed young. The mother ran along the ground for some dis= tanee but did not imitate lameness or employ any other like art. Saw one but they have probably been here for sometime Found a nest with one egg. About the pebbly shores of Fresh Pond in companies of two or three all old birds. Chiefly on the Charles River marshes now but a few Still linger on the shores of Fresh Pond, Saw one on Fresh Pond, but they are getting scaree, Saw one shot on Fresh Pond, the last. One, One at Shermeams ans Pond, Waltham, upon being hard pressed by a Hawk (Accipiter cooperi) dove from on wing and disappeared beneath the surface when the Hawk return ed to his perch, The pond was perfectly smooth, and the Sandpiper must have remained under at least half=a~ minute, On returni ng to the surface it remained a few minutes sitting on the water, then with diffieulty rose and flew to the shore. Seen at Newton (C.J.M). One, Found two nests on the Island both with nearly fresh eggs (Muskegat Island), One on the River at Coneord, Several. One (Fresh Pond), Several at Coneord. aS AS RISASLg. AraC cee Rie eS ° ee é “ “/ ay cage Oe © on a * + . — 1¢ * tend a bunt ¥ ar e “ an ® ce os Tringoides macularius. Middlesex County, Mass. Nest with two eggs in Lexington. The female star- ted directly under my feet, tumbling about for a moment, then, with dropping wings, tottering legs, and all the feathers of the rump erected in a eurious manner, ran about twenty yards when she was joined by her mate, both standing motionless and silent watching me with evident apprehension, Spite BRS Tringoides macularius, 1868, - Aug. 5. Saw one on a small stwpeam among the Franconia Mts, (Profile House, N.H.). 1869, July & Aug. Found it quite common, breeding, at the foot of Mt,Washington, and discoveres& a brood of young scareely a week old, om the shore of a mill pond in that vicinity. (Glen House,N.H.). 1870. July 28, As far as edge of clearings never on either side of the lakes in the noteh (Profile House ,N.He). L874. July 12. Numerous on Appledore Island, I%les of Shoals, whore the young were running about over the hilly pastures, 1875, July 20.; Breeding abundantly on the Green Islands, near Port- land, Maine . May 7s A number (Chatham, Mass.). 1872, (8 AUB 1Z. ° a7. Numenius longirostris. Rye Beach, New Hampshire, Early this morning a large Curlew, whieh I took for @ Sickle-bill, passed over the marsh, high up, uttering a loud shr@iking note at frequent intervals. One passed through the Fel Pond marsh this mornfing. One passed through the Eel Pond marsh this morning flying.in company with a Hudsonian Curlew, Ws hh 1875. Augs 17. Sept.22. 1871. Sept. 2. Numenius hudsonicus, Saw one on Long Island, Boston Harbor, Two near Smith’s Point rose out of the grass within twenty yards of our wagon, Uttering a rolling whistle of five or six notes, Their flight is rather slow and very like that of Actiturus They are easily: de- coyed by an imitation of their whistle (Nantucket). Near Smith’s Point, Nantucket, one started from among some moss and peash grass on a sand flat, and alighted again within twenty yards of our wagon, Squatted in precisely the manner of a Snipe. While driving across a sandy tract, Sparsély covered with wiry grass I discovered one of these Curlews stand ing motionless-within thirty yards, Stopping the horse I shot it where it stood, Like the one killed the oth>or day it was so fat that I could not preserve the skin, (Nantucket), Rye Beach, New Hampshire. Found two on the pebbly portion of the sea wall that divides the marsh from the beach, At first they were very tame but after one had been shot the surViver kept out of range flying about in a great cirele and ut= tering a whistle of three or four mellow notes, Finally it rése with great swiftness to the top of a sandy knoll where it Stood in an upright position for several minutos. Three flocks passing southward over the ocean, One passed over the Eel Pond, One passed over the marsh flying in company with Numenius longirostris. ! ¢ . 6 ° ii) } ® 1 2 il . > i . ‘ t . i e - f r i > 7 \ ® He Re res 4 ee J | > Hi! a , re . a oe a e d » oO 8) 8) el 1880. Sept.2s, 131 Phalaropus fulicarius. Kid ted».three adult maie and immature fem Pare ees fer Ont b along the water’s edg Phalarope and were As they ran along the in the water, they con a Goot-like motion ar bled backs and tid head were nev rapid, ands my guide said: 1 t ¢ two survivers Snowed a narrow ¥asywhite as + yperboreus. 1874. Ga .@) 4 he ra TA vO what Z28ome' er , wat fa) cL ¢ UG 2 ec 1881. pe ware) Od ve wera = ti rT 1870. Aug, 24. Steganopus wilsoni. Rye Beach, New Hampshire. Saw what [ took to be at the time, a Hyperborean Bhalarope, but which I now believe was a Wilson’s Phala- rope, on the Eel Pond, It was very tame allowing me to approach within a few yards as it alternately waded ard swam about in the shallow water near the shore. Tt was about sunset, and [ had no gun with me. Shot a single bird, a: adult, I think, in gray win- ter plumage (the specimen is in my collection). It came to the decoys with a large flock of “Peeps” flying very swiftly like a Sandpiper. My attention was par- ticularly attracted to it by its short, harsh ery which sounded to my ear not unlike the seaipe of Gallinago wilsoni. Rallus erepitans. 1875, May =~ One captured alive on a vessel off Boston Harbor May —~<, i881, Nov. 10. As I was crossing the cause way at Philips Reach @ bird started from the bank and skipped over the “loat- ing Vegetation into a dense bed of tall reeds; it was either this species or a Gallinule. eS SANA CG ADEA AP Rallus virginianus,. Middlesex County, Mass. Shot a female. One in the Brickyard Swamp making a variety of odd sounds, one a harsh chatter, another e« song precisely like that of the Spotted Sandpiper, but in a lower key. I shot the bird and found it to be a female, Shot two males and a female in the Brickyard Swamp. They skulked through the bushes, under cover of the mea- dow tussocks, and were difficult to flush. Their song resembles the syllables ke~ke~ke~ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke, begin- ning slowly, running together at the end, and uttered in @ Snarling tone. A female permitted me to approach within a few feet, then rose without the slightest difficulty, and with legs drawn up flew some distance nearly as swiftly as a Snipe. Saw one building. Found several nests to-day. The first which was built of dry grass and placed in the top of a tussock, contained six fresh eggs. The second was a bulky affair about fifteen inches high and raised between the stems of some alder bushes; it contained nine fresh eggs. The old birds skulked silently away from both of them, but the female of a third which contained nine eggs near— ly hatehed suffered herself to bo touched before she would move, and afterwards came up within a few feet of me walking up the branches of some briar bushes and utter- ing shrill cries. Male singing. One started by my dog took a long flight with legs drawn up, flying with great swiftness and Zig-zaging through the bushes almost exactly like a Snipe. Shot one and heard another sing. One, Heard several in the Fresh Pond swamps. | Found an old bird followed by Six young apparently several days old and covered entirely with black down. 1870 May 38. Heard numbers. 1871. Apry19, Heard about a dozen all of which must have arrived last night as there were none in the swamps on the 17th. 4 B RD Rallus vVirginianus, Middlesex County, Mass. A female pursued, and finally caught, by my dogs absolutely refused to fly but repeatedly swam across a wide brook and when hard pressed, took to diving, re= maining under water a minute or more at a time. 1872. Apr. 17. Found one in a little isolated briar patch in a mead ow, Three of us with three dogs , were actually unable to foree it to take wing although several times we nearly caught it in our hands, 1874. Sept.22,. Swarming in the Fresh Pond swamps. At the report or & gum dozens cry ou t from all parts of these watery retreats. Have not seen one this fall although I have hunted the Fresh Pond marshes daily. Shot two in a bushy swamp near the Fresh Pond cross- ing; they were unquestionably migrants as none have been seen in these swamps since August. Near Block Island, and in the Brickyard Swamp Rails of both species were fairly swarming this evening. In one little meadow interspersed with thickets of bushes, there must have been dozens of each species and I frequers ly heard four or five calling at once. The Virginia Rail has only two notes that I am acquainted with. One which I think is the song of the male is a rasping note repeated a number of times in quick succession in a de= seending scale, It is indescribable and I ean only com- pare it to a certain complaining sound made byv a hungry pig. The other is a shor t seream of alarm, Several on Roek meadow, Belmont. °*. Ble Searched the Fresh Pond swamps thoroughly but the om ly Rail seen was a single bird of this species, The meadows are unusually dry, a faet which probably accounts for the absence of these birds from their favorite haunts. Started only one in the Fresh Pond swamps. It rose with ease drawing up its legs and flew nearly as fast as @ Snipe, " In the Fresh Pondswamps I came upon a pair of Vir- ginis Rails that evidently had a brood of young. Both old birds were very beld, approaching within ten Feet and reiterating a single angry squeal resembling that of a startled pig, I could not find the young but upon withdrawing a short distance distinctly heard their fee- ble lisping as they called to one another or their par= ents; this ery was indistinguishable from that of the young Carolina Rails heard last season, Rallus virginianus. 1875, 4 Middlesex county, Mass. (July 28) Shot a young bird in that curious intermediate plu- mage common at this season, Ost. 7. Nesbitt showed me one whieh he shot in the Fresh Pond swamps to-day, Our resident birds usually leave earlier and our migrants come later, One (Fresh Pond swamps). One shot by Spelman in the Fresh Pond swamps. One male (Belmont). In the Fresh Pond swamps Spelman has seen numbers of these Rails lately, in moist but not wet thickets where we find Connecticut Warblers, a cs a . : ms at Rallus virginianus, 1874, Jan, 24, Captain Baxter tells me that they are wintering in numbers at Marston’s Mills. 1865, June 10. Oet. il. 1867. June 4, Oct. 22, 1868. Apr. 25. May 65. . 7, Porzana carolina, Middlesex Gounty, Mass, Nest with six eggs (R.Deane). Watehed one for sometime. It walked slowly along the margin of the water continually jerking its tail up- ward amd once flapping its wings. When it came to any smail inlet it usually waded across instead of following the shore, Found an egg ready for laying in the body of the bird. Shot one in the branches of a low bush when it alighted after being flushed, balancing itself for somo~ time awkwadly, with partly spread wings, before it se+ cured a firm footing. Watched one for some time it walked easily over some floating Vegetation, with its neck drawn in, jerking its tail at every step, and now and then stooping to pick up something. When I showed myself it did not appear Startled although I was within ten yards of it, One singing in the Brickyard Swamp. Saw 2 male in the act of singing; upon starting him he flew only a few rods and began to sing again. One singing in the swamps. When flushed it flew a few feet and alighted, swimming across a broad ditch as gracefully as e Duck. The song of this bird is very deceptive seeming to come from a much greater distance tin _ than it really does. The weather was damp and cloudy this evening and I heard at least a dozen birds singing Found a nest coptaining nine eggs built in the top ' of a tussoek, Found a nest containing seven fresh eggs; it was raised in a clump of tall grass to the height of about Heard the ke-se, ke-se of this bird to-day. Shot @ number in the Fresh Pond swamps during a rain storm. Several of them started like Snipe, drawing up their legs, and after flying very swiftly for hundreds of yards twisting and doubling, pitched headiong into the grass. - Others flew in a straight course with the legs extended bhind, the head and neek stretehed out in front, looking very like small Ducks. The Virginia Rails acted in a similar manner, eSttifo1se susstot genes ,yiauop xeaolbbi¥ .(eased,.®) ene xia déiw te0t goofs yiwole hediew $F .emitemoe 10? emo bedoter ~qy Lint eté yaddiot, yifevairaoe tetsw ers to aipism edd Yas of emeo ti aon? e@yaiw ef i yatqqel? ooto bas bisew giiwollo? lo haetani eaotse bebaw ylisvev Ji tekai Lfseme .or1orfe ont eft to ybod oft al gatyel tol yeooet BRO Ge bauo04 bu td +i aernw dewd wol 2 to sodemetd eft at eno todd ~omoe tot TfLoett watoueiec ,Bedeuwlt yaied tette betdgils «oz $i Gtoled ,anaiw beetqa yliueq Atiw .‘fbewiws emis eyattool m1it s bere emog te¥o yLiese heiLeaw ti emis omoa tot emo bedotav ati gadvgot ,ci aweth deen ati dilw ,toktetegov yaitsol qu teiq of gaiqoode aedt bas wor bas ,qote yueve te Liss “seqqe tom bih +2 TLeoaym beworle I aed¥ «ga idsemoe ti Yo abtey aot aiddiw exw I dguodtie boliists .gmews bueytoin edd ai yargate ead mid gniduate aoqu yaigeke Ye tos odd ak ofem 2 wse .aieve maie of aeged bie abot wet © «lao welt od welt. ti. bedeu{?. sed? -sqrewe oft a yotpais om as dotib bsotd s aactes yatertiwe ,betdigife bas geet wel 6 yiov af bated abit Yo gatoe od? tout s es Yin teosiy ait eenstath tetse%, dovm s mott estes of yaimoes ev is yeooh Ybvolo bas gqniab eew tesitsew ext «@e0b yfiset ti aadd gatgnie ehitd nesob & teael is bused I bas gataeve eit qo’ ere at t£tud aype emia gainist@qoe Jaen 6 bauo® eoeant s to atw ti jeappo deet? aevee yainietaos igen 8 braved fnods to tdeked edd of easty [ist io qunfio 6 ai beais't .@erloni eviews yyebh-ot bakd eile To ge~od ened edd biel aie & gaitwhb aquswa baod deet! eld mi techn s ton® qe yaiweth ,eqia® off botuste meds to Istevee -orose ahotbavd ro% yidtiwa yrev @eiyf{t 190fts bas ,agol rieds eft of@: gaolbeed beretiq ,gaiiduoh bas yaitedw? ebisy ‘to apet edt diiw eamos tdyiette s ai wolt atedii0 »2283 ,taotl ai tuo bereteise doom bas beed ert ,baidd bebnesxe bojes elie siainytiV eft .atewd Lfemea exit yrov gatdool ~remaen telimia es ai x@L ont eLE «300 *VOSL oennt -S& .¢90 Porzana carolina. 1868, Middlesex County, Mass. (Sept,12) One feeding on a mall island, walking in a slow, pompous Manner, moving its head like a Pigeon and jerking the tail rapidly. One, Heard several. Nest with thirteen nearly fresh eggs; in a tussock nearly surrounded by water. Heard numbers in the swamps this evening. They have doubtless been here some *fime. One nest with seven fresh eggs, another with four; both birds left their nest on my approach as I found their eggs were warm, Nest thirteen eggs, six fresh, remainder well advan- ced. Nest with two eggs from which the young birds were struggling to escape; remainder of brood running about near the nest; parent no where to be seen, Shot an adult male which was so enéased in fat he could hardly fly. 6, ¢ One heard in the swamps(By Beahe and Carter). ¢ 19, A male singing. Oct. 26. Six seen. 1874, June 24, — A female in the Fresh Pond swamps with a large brood of young which were calling continuously for food im a harsh querulous voice. When the mother discovered me, she uttered a sharp ery which silenced them at once, although after a moment or two they began calling again, I shot one which was squatting on a floating lily-pad, It had a blood-red knob or protuberence on the ridge of the culmen near its base this shrunk away soon after death. The remaining young were led off by the mother into a thicket of briars where I could not follow them, Shot five in the Fresh Pond swamps .stiforse saaxtoT me - ‘ ht of _ : . = 4 : , £ 4 ‘ = % 3 = + . yi — ts; bee — tie s . * sid a - = ; ’ fee 4 " ° 4 4 + : bed > : 5 i ao © . — |{ ? > } € = a a = E = Serer: = = ———— = = = Bae Tg SARTRE es ae : = ——— ana ba io} ea ¢ Cygnus americanus, 1871. Oct. 20. Captain Baxter tells me that he shot two wild Swams here some thirty years ago in a fresh water pond, (Mar- ston’s Mills, Mass, 1876, Feb, 24, Mr.Joyee telis me that he saw two at-Newport,Ver- mont, om Lake Hemphomagog in Oetober 1860, Anser albifrons gambeli. Mr.Joyee tells me that he is sure that this Goose not oceur in sew England, SAT reaus perboreus. Bernicla canadensis. Middlesex County, Mass, 1867, Oet. 22, A floek of seven alighted in Fresh Pond this morning. _ When they first came if sight they were flying high,ap- | parently intending to pass on. But one suddenly left the rest and honking most musically sailed down without _@ Single wing-flap, then wheeling just above the water, alighted among some Herring Gulls. It immediately began to wash and dress its plumage, The others after flying around in cireles for sometime joined it, | About an hour later a boat put out after them when they rose high in air in great cireles and started again on their way south, | An hour afterwards a Single Goose returned and was shot while swim!ing elose in shore, 1868, Apr, 17, Fifteen migrating northward, Oct. Five passed over Fresh Pond this evening, Fifteen flying over Fresh Pond. | A large flock in the Fresh Pond this morning at day— light. 1869 Apr. 2. Two flocks flying northward, Oet, 28, — Five alighted in Fresh Pond this morning during a | Snowevexe, storm, Nov, 17. | A large flock migrating, Ser, as | A large flock migrating, S Three large flocks migrating. Several others weon within the last few days. Saw a large floek in Fresh Ponda, Nov, . | None seen or heard, an unusual oecurrenee. 1871. Apr. 21. Floek of twenty migrating, Oct. 14, A large flock miguating. Nov. 20, | Three large floeks migrating just in advance of a snow storm, 30. Five spent mest of the day in Fresh Pond, si Tinie Ane Berniela canadensis. 1875, Middlesex County, Mass. A flock following Coneord River. A large floek seen flying over Cambridge Yesterday. 1376, Mar. 29, A large floek, high in air, drifting northward be- fore strong south wind, honking and gabbling musically. Sisters eC ER AD Metres gine ss eee eg Si eee Naaee OT eo REIS cece prea SS a RES Es MBP I Tae PRS DE ERED ETS OETA aS OTERO Dib IEE 1867. Oct. 7. 1874, Nov, 24, 1876, Mar, Apr. 28, 14, Bernicla canadensis, Flock of about a dozen (Plymouth,Mass,), At Eagle Hill, Ipswieh, just as the sun was setting this evening wild Geese appeared from seaward in extra-— ordinary numbers; flock after flock, many flocks con= taining over a hundred birds, came in over the land, sailing in cireles on set wings, many alighting for a few minutes on the closely ¢ropped she ep pastures of the great rounded hills, The place seemed not to their liking, however, for all soon rose high in air and resumed their journey southward, As many as five hundred were frequently in sight at once and they kept up an incessant gabble and chatter, The day was eloudy and windy with frequent snow squalls. Yesterday there was a heavy snow storm suececded by rain and hundreds of geese are reported to have been found in the woods in an exhausted condition. Four in single file, high in air, heading northward, The leading bird was conspicuously larger than any of the others, of which tie last was the smallest (Dedham). Early this morning two Geese came in from seaward, flying close to the water, and alighted off Point Lepreax | NeBs One swam directly ashore and climbed upon @ rock, The others, more suspicious, kept swimming about out of range, I stalked the first without much diffieul ty and killed it with Number 6 shot. The other started off but when I began to imitate its honk, came back and cir- ¢ldd about me, out of gun-shoet however, eee gee age Pe a eee LES See ee Te teins Seen ge ieee ee epee A ee = isis BSS a RO gece TE SE SPL BAIR 2 2 HRT ahs Si PERE ERE AC POE EAE CE a erp a ne CS a Nee Pe TE NS A TO a Oe Ap 1867, te 6. 1876, re 14, L7. Bernicla brenta, A flock of fifty (Plymouth, Mass.). Several large flocks passed to-day Pt. Lepreaux,N.B.). A steady flight all »forenoon (Pt.Lepreaux,N.B.). A heavy flight passed to-day, at least one thousand being seen, (Pt.Lepreaux,N.B.). Ah extraordinary flight, beginning at sunrise and lasting till noo. Hundreds of flocks passed, few of whieh contained less than one hundred birds each, They uttered a confused and rather feeble gabble, much less musical than that of the Canada Goose, They flew about fifteen feet above the water , usually crowded close to- gether in dense clusters, They flap their wings almost precisely in the manner of the Canadan Goose (Point Te~ preaux,N.B.). All theSeoters easily pass these Geese when flying in the same direetion and quickly leave them far behind, (Pt. Lepreaux, N.P.). They fly in a long line broken by irregular e¢lumps and clusters (Point Lepreaux,N.B.), Two or three flocks passed this morning and later in the day we found an immense flock Sitting on the water in Mace*s Bay, Here @ Single bird was discovered on the rocks above high water mark, I landed and crept to within shot of it when it rose just before I fired, with a single quick Spring like that of a Black Duek, Upon pieking it up I found that its under mandible was gone,--fairly torn out by the roots, This was probably done by a rifle ball and evidently only a few hours be- fore (Pt. Lepreaux,N.P.), A flock off Thatcher’s Island, Mass, Several small flocks,Chatham, Vass, A few (Chatham, Mass.), A gunner here has ten live Brant which he uses as decoys, They were all shot last month and their broken wings-are now well healed, They become tame in a few days and are a very beautiful bird, Their notes are a Babble, a quack very like a Duek’s but a little hoarser, and a hiss like that of the domestie goose, Their mo - tions are essentially Goose~like, but they are more grace ful than the lagger Species, running rapidly and easily on land, They feed readily on corn and green grass, (Chatham, Mass.),. Anas beseas, hh © S ont aa x] fh o o a o o G i) ” a4 9 bs] a ad 9 © ci aa] no c © 4°) hy tet & ba) i) be 20 ~» G 20 ont e << was probably a female of this species, Middlesex County, Mass. Anas boseas, 1876, Fob, 24, Mr.Joyee tells me that he usually hears of about half a dozen Mallards being shot in Plymouth Coun*y,Mass, each season, usually in September, Twenty years ago they were ncarly aS cammon as the Black Duek, but Since that time have been gradually and Steadily dimin- ishing in numbers, ee! AEE HES = = a : FSP MEATS Sanerie 2 Sd RSE eee eS ar 3 - Mar. 27. 1869, Apr. Apr, Sept.15, — Oct. 8. 5. 8, Anas obseursa. Middlesex County, Mass. One, the first. Numbers at Coneord feeding on the meadows in eompany with the Wood Ducks, Shy as usual, Two, Abundant on Coneord River in flocks composed of paired and single birds. In windy weather they desert the river for the small sheltered ponds where I had ex- ecllent opportunities to-day of observing their habits, having them frequently within two yards of me. Here, _uneonsious of danger, they threw off their usual watechful- ness and stiffness of carriage, some with heads emersed and feet kicking in the air, searching the bottom for food, others chasing one another about with flapping Wings and loud quaeking, while those already paired kept _@ little alo@fsailing along side by side and uttering @ low whistling grunt similar to that heard from our do- mestie Mallard, Ween the flock took wing the mated birds flew in pairs, the pairs twenty or thirty fect apart, but all keeping the same general direction. Saw five at concord. Five were seen on Fresh Pond. Two large flocks on Fresh Pond, Two at Concord, Abundant at Coneord, Mass (Melvin), Numbers at Wayland; they were apparently mating on wing, several drakes often chasing a female high up into the air, doubling, twisting, and circling about, frequent ly coming down from a great height with set wings. They are said to breed numerously on these meadows, Saw about sixty on Concord River. The water was all over the meadows and extended far back into the woods (So that we paddled for miles through maple and pine swampS, occasionally croosing flooded meadows transformed into beautiful little ponds encireled with dark pine foli- age. The Ducks were scattered everywhere through these places but were very shy. Several large flocks were sitting on the elevated portions of the river meadow, AS we approached they would stand er wi stretched up. j erect with necks Sai ety Saracen ae Sse i ieee eeepc eee Si Fd Rie i A ST a es ab RTS TEES SSE SES TIED iMate er Anas obscura. 1875, Middlesex County, Mass, (Apr.22) A pair flying over the Maple Swamp. ° 23, Four in a birch-enecireled pool in the Warren Run, basking in the sun, occasionally playing about on the water and chasing one another. Occasionally one would beat the water with his powerful wings, ehurning it into foam, then another would begin, and sometimes all four would be thrashing away together making a tremenduous noise. I repeatedly saw a drake swim rapidly around his mate (for they are evidently paired) apparently pay= ing court te her, Occasionally one would quaek three or four times but never very loudly. They spent much of their time in preesing and arranging their plumage. Two this evening flying low down over Bird’s Pond, Four seen by Frazar on Ro¢ek Meadow, Belmont. Four on Cambridge River. Oct. 29, A large flock on Coneord River. 1881. Oct. 20, Saw four twiee in the same place in Coneord River. « 21, The same four Ducks rose again this morning in the same spot; as we returned late in the afternoon two more had joined them (Concord), Passing through the Sudbury Marshes this evening afr after dark we occasionally hear the hoarse quack of a Black Dueck, startled from its feeding ground by the flaps ofour sail or the splash of an oar, For the most part, however, the only sounds that broke the silence were the rushing of the chilly east wind and the seething hiss Of thickly falling rain drops on the dim expanse of wa- ters around , a ae ee FSSA SS ESS EOD A EO EN NE ea Ed CPST EES ERIE AON Se a = 2 urro 1868, Feb. 8z/ June 19, 1870. July 11. Aug. 5./ Sept.2-10, 1875. Sept.23. 1876, Apr, 12. 1868, Auge 15, | 1871s July 30.) Aug. 4e | “ 9, Anas obscura, Two at West Amesbury,Mass, Saw about two thousand (Plymouth ,Mass,). Barge flocks on the oeean(Plymouth, Mass. ). Found the tracks of one leading direetly into a muskrat’s hole on the border of a muddy pond, Probably the bird had been wounded (Plymouth,Mass.). Numbers in the market said to have been shot at Ran- dolph,Mass, Saw one rise from a marsh in Warren,Mass, One (Ipswich,Mass.). One on Profile Lake,N.H,. Nearly every pond about the Forks of the Kennebec, Maine, held one or two flocks reared in the vicinity. They are said to winter in large numbers at Nantuck- et spending their entire time on the sea and feeding on the flats. Started sixteen from a fresh water pool not over ten yards square on the shore of Hummock Pond, Con= ecealing ourselves we awaited their return. Shortly af- ter sunset’ three Dueks passed us but the flocks did not come back, The sunset was superb and greatly enhanced by the fine view up the pond and out over the foam-fleck- ed ocean, with picturesque sandhills looming up against the rose-tinted sky. (Nantucket), A pair feeding among sea weeds on a rocky reef near Point Lepreaux,N.B. : Rye Beach, New Hampshire . Saw four oj: the Eel Pond. The gunners say that they breed in fresh water meadows in this vicinity. Saw one and am told that they were seen here three weeks ago, Saw two, probably resident birds, Two flocks, one of six, the other of three birds, came in from the sea and passed out to the south, They Anas obseura, Rye Beach, New Hampshire. eamethey were eVidently migrants, Five alighted with a flock of Te&l and fed with them for an hour or more, One seen July 26; four, August 8; two, August 9; four, August 16; and several August thirteen August 15; 23, 24, RARER sommes Tks —— BSP SRS AH aN ee SER aR eee Foe ae ae i terse ie epee nee eee I Chaulelasmus streperus. 1876, Fob,24, Mr.Joyse is not certain that he has ever seen this Duck in New England. 172 Dafila acuta. © Jnass, 1876, Bites Feb, 24, Mr.Joyce tells me that he finds this Duek not unecom- mon in Mass, [It is universally known among the Massa~ chusett’ gunners as the “Gray Duck”, (¥73 Con tvidiy, Coat, Whip wrreing( Teer doy") a form cael see ee ort ow Port : wroton ) on Urn aT Ada ¥ Nee ee age ia be Cawus (a He wen/ who ire gD -ncehivit sgn Mer eniag i es Lh ientaan de Legarnet Unad, J wernt oe fr &S n 1876, Feb. 24, 1871. Aug. 19. Sept, l. Spatula elypeata. Mr.Joyce tells me that he finds this Duek not very uncommon in “Vassachusetts, although it is never numer- ous, Rye Beaeh, New Hampshire. A young female in good plumage shot in the Eel Pond by D.C,Freneh, It was swimming neaf the glassy margin and was very tame, Both eyes were obseured by a white, skin-like film that had apparently well=-nigh destroyed the poor bird’s sight, I shot one, a young bird, whieh I found in the Eel Pond at Daybreak in company with six Blue-winged Teal. — q q = cs c ‘ ' o ec ; (a = i a 1] 4 : ’ . : } ' « : e & 4 : Pa H 7 e ee ~~ e § . i ; © & i o 2 Querguedula discors. Middlesex County, Mass. Saw an adult male flying over the Briekyard Swamp, Shot a male in the perfeet breeding plumage in the Briekyard Swamp, He was floated motionless near the middle of a small pool and was alone, The white cres- ent before the eye was very conspicuous in life, Sept.19.. These pretty little Dueks have been very abundant here this autumn; I have shot many on the Fresh Pond swamps where they frequent the smaller poids holes and even ditehes, rarely visiting the larger sheets of water They huddle close together while swimming, and feed by immersing the head and neek like the mallard. At times when swimring they jerk the head with every motion of the feet, They rise from the water with a single quick spring, and when fairly under way fly swiftly. When about to alight they invariably cireled several times around the place and finally plump down almost exactly like a Snipe. They quack like a Duck, and also utter a harsh g@alae, but their commonest note is a soft, whispering twitter, Shot one, One shot on Fresh Pond, the last, 1871. Oct. 4 One on Concord River, 1874, Sept. 29, A wing-broken one which fell in a brook eluded my dog by diving, so suecessfully that he was unable to cateh her, One of her wings was broken but as she swam under water I distinetly saw that she used the other; after a long dive she would often swim for some distanee on the surface with her head and neek stretched out flat and her body so deeply sunk that only the line of the back was visible. Two on a mud-flat in Fresh Pond, It is said that thay are the survivers of six that appeared there this morning, 1876, Aug. 30. - Maynard found a flock of about a dozen in a little pond in Waltham (on Shade St. opposite the Gore Place) and Killed two of them, Sept.1li, 1879. Oct. 10. A single bird on Concord River, Saw two shot in Bird’s Pond, 1881, 176 Querquedula discens, Middlesex County, Mass. A flock of three on Concord River. They wepe Very shy but I killed one of them, Found the two seen yesterday in nearly the same place to-day. French tells me that they apppared on Fairhaven Bay October 8, when there were seven of than. In the course of a few days four were wounded, all es- caping by diving and taking to the button bushes, The remaining three have been seen a number of times sinee, This is a late date, Several hundred on Concord River in flocks ranging from five or six to eighty or ninty individuals ( I counted seventy-five in one floek). They were nearly as shy as Blaek Ducks and exeeedingly restless, flying aboutv high over the meadows, and often scaling off over the woods, I never saw Teal here in such numbers before or found them as shy anywhere. A heavy easterly storm has prevailed for two days. Lin 4 Léeing: z ° nol 2} ra e © un ; & ° ia Oo (ep a. 2 n a i oe os ‘ C DS Ve} es @) 9, 49 yy fe) erquedula 7 Qi ¢. aS 20 © © a a A oO KA = Y aS we 4 7 oS f (an —5 oer, 2 n OWT they r . Ca 1 ° ° ) JI ©: i su =) ro é ° ti e 38) ° sD 4 oO > 9) sl et 2 ri rel fu “ la discors. Querquedu 0% z L3é e - ° a t a eS Wri ral @y cs Co ee PP © is? OH Ee] Y m 48) ie AY bk a 0 4] = 8 O & yond and ) Get ACO U Ee { Y Al- Outlet: ’ ry S 1871. (Sept.2) 1872, Querquedula discors. Rye Beaeh, New Hampshire, Three came in early this morning but they were so shy that no one could get within shot, Ohe or two birds Slightly wounded have alighted on the oceam this year after being shot in the pond, Not seen at all this year although I stayed as late as August 26, sn ae = Pen RT rae ees Se oe ee ee 1871. Aug. 20. 180 Querquedula discors. Shot one on Long Pond, Nantucket. It was in com- pany with two Wood Ducks. a Rye Beach, New Hampshire. A flock of about a dozen, the first, From this time till August 28 bhey came into the Eel Pond every morning, Three on the Fel Pond, A flock of twenty-six on the Fel Pond, They were very tame, When several were shot the survivers still refused to leave the pond and more than half were finally killed,- The wing-broken ones took to the shore and hid closely. A flock of nine in the Eel Pond at daylight. They passed they forenoon in nearlyvthe same spot tipping up their tails and kicking their feet in the air as they explored the muddy bottom, About noon they were joined by five Black Ducks which fed with them for an hour or more, Finally they were fired into, three of the Ducks and one Teal being killed, The Teal after a few wheclirg flights alighted again but shortly afterwards left the pond passing out high in air to the south, An hour late they returned and alighted near the shore, all burying their heads in their feathers and apparently going to sleep. During the remainder of the day they stayed in the pond, occasionally taking short flights but quickly returning to the pernd-agetnvater,. On the following morning they were still in the pond but they were very shy and om the first alarm passed out to the south and were seen no more, Two alighted among my Teald ecoys when [I was absent from the stand, They were shy and although I pursued them for sometime I failed to get a shot, Clear and cold. At daybreak found two flocks of Teal on the Fel Pond or rather on its bordering marshes now flooded by the overflow of the pond. The larger flock containing about twenty birds was fired into by a gunner who sculled an open dory to within twenty or thir- ty yards of them=-and missed every bird when he shot, They all rose high in air and passed out to the south, The smaller flock, consisting of six Teal and a Spatula @lypeata, although only a few hundred yards away, did not fly at the report and I killed them all in three shots. Later in the morning another flock of four came into the pond, Nettion carolinensis. 1867, Middlesex County, Mass. Aug. 14, Saw three Teal whieh I took to be Green-winged on Concord River, Mass, The following day (Aug.15) saw about a dozen of the same species and shot one, which, however, eSeaped in the rank meadow grass. 1868, Apr. 4. Started two from a small brook. Sept.12. Shot a young male. He was swimming near the margin of a sméll pond and looked much larger than he really Was. S 8. Shot one that came down to my live decoy, Oct, 10. Saw one to-day. He lit in a diteh but rose before I could get within range. . 19, Shot one this afternoon, | Shot three this morning; an adult male and 4 fehale AY amd a young bird. The pond was entirely elosed with ice, except a small channel in which they were swimming (Glaecialis Pond). Deeoyed two almost within gunshot when they became alarmed at something and would come no nearer, | Shot one of two that lived on Sherman’s Pond, Wal- _tham, for the past two or three webks. They sit rather higher on the water than the Blue-wings and rise with greater ease and rapidity, Their flight is very swift and elegant and like most other Dueks, they always cir- cle about a place before alighting. Their notes are Varied: The most ¢ommon is a very singular twanging sound resembling the syllables“haink*®; I have also heard them utter a loud ery just before taking wing precisely simi- lar to that produeed by a domestie hen upop being sudden- iy seized, e Te The surViving comrade of the Teal shot yesterday was not in Sherman’s Pond this morning. 1869, Apr. 10. A pair on Fresh Pond. I tried to approach them in @ boat when they rose out of range and left the pom. 1870, Sept.22, _ One shot on Fresh Pond, | Cet. 4. | = The last wa s shot on Fresh Pond, Unusually abun- dant this year. 1871, Sept, 6, +63 BOTS z6© 10 x .* jas @ Saal ~ | a ry hed ay * g i Bo! iv oO ¥ i Onto Nettion carolinensis. Middlesex county, Mass. An immature bird shot among a flock of tame ducks on Fresh Pond. I was told by theif owner that it had lived with them for ten days, even walking up a steep bank to the house where they were fed, Shot one which rose from a ditch in the Fresh Pond marshes. A large flock of Teal on Concord River were probably of this: species. A female shot in the Fresh Pond swamps by Nesbitt. 1880. Oct, 29. One on Concord River. ANGIE ERE AVG aR AR OA CLITA GE Sa Fonction rns He = = — s : : : SRE EET 3 ‘ . oo : — - srmsattaess sere IRA in a ee ee ee 1880. awe) aG fe) e illed ratsasncatentae Se ete beer ees Pee ee 184 Nettion carolinensis, 1874. Nov. 4, One shot in a brakish creek on the adge of the salt marsh (Marston’s Mills, Mass.) . 1867. Oet. 26. 1s8és, Apr. 43. | 18. July 25, Sept.19,. Aix sponsa,. Middlesex County, Mass. Shot a drake in perfect plumage in one of the pond- holes in the Briekyard Swamp, Cambridge. A female shot from a flock of seven in the Fresh Pond swamps. Shot a fine male this morning; he alighted in a flooded maple swamp at the foot of the ridge bordering the Pine Swamp, and sailed over the water very gracefully every now and then uttering a very loud oe-cek, His Stomach contained a quantity of pure white sand, and a hazel nut. The Wood Dueks at the Fresh Pond Hotel have stood the winter tend well, although kept in an ex- | posed pen made of slats; they are now quite tame. Saw a pair on a small flooded meadow; As I approach ed they walked into a elump of trees on the edge of the Water where I shot the female, A male was shot; but as its tail was worn down al- most to a stub and the plumage very imperfect I suspeet that it had reeently eseaped from confinement, A female was shot to-dav, Shot a young male in the Brickyard Swamp. His body was well feathered but his wings had only pin feath- ers and he was unable to fly; he must have been bred im the Vicinity. His crop was distended by the seeds of Various water grasses. They have been abundant here this autumn as several broods were raised in the swamps, For several weeks past they have regularly left the Brickyard Swamp in small flocks just as the day was dawning, and again at sunset, taking flights of a mile or more in a Southerly direction, then returning and pitching down again into their fast- nesses, These consist of a number of broad ditches, over-grown with bushes and joined together by narrow strips of water, Here they may be found at almost any \time of the day, although they visit the larger ponds under cover of the darkness, While watching some Teal ‘in rout Pond to-day I noticed a movement in the bushes, and a superb Wood drake sailed out closely followed by ‘another drake and two females. They joined the little Teal which with feet kicking in the air and heads under Water were feeding on the bottom, and the floek closing together began swimming along the margin of the pond, ‘The Wood Dueks then landed and after dressing their feath ers and shaking their tails sideways, precisely like tam Aix sponsa,. Middlesex County, Mass. (Sept.19) Dueks, launched into the water again and approached the place of my concealment. I got the two males together and killed them both at a shot; the females did not fly at the report and I secured one with the other ‘arrel,. i The drakes showed to great advantage on the water es- it pecially when the sunbeams, penetrating the bushes, rest- ed on their superb plumage. This flock kept up a eon- tinual twittering almost exactly like that of a flock of free Sparrows but I could not tell whether it was pro- dueed by the Wood Duek or the Teal, The Wood Duek when flying utters a loud o-@lerk, o-ciark very like the scream of a Guinea Hen, One flock which I started suddenly, honked like geese as they rose. The males can be readily distinguished from the females while flying provided the sun is shining. A flock of four eame in to my live decoy on Fresh Pond just as day was breaking. * 26. A flock of three flying. They are getting searce. Oct. 10, A flock of about a dozen, evidently migrants, eame _ imto Fresh Pond this morning. They were readily decoy- ed by some tame ducks but only one was killed, Two in the One. Upwards of fifty om Coneord River. The meadows are overflowed offering extensive feeding grounds, Dur- ing the night these Bueks visit the ploughed fields in great numbers, leaving the soft ground covered with their foot prints; through the day they feed on cranberries in the meadows, Several which we killed had their crops filled with these berries. Abundant on Coneord River; shot several, The drakes are now in perfeet plumage and we saw no immature birds. Had a good chanee to watch their habits, Wen in thick . grass or bushes they frequently allowed our boat to pass within a few yards of them without moving, and on several i occasions we found it impossible to start a flock which Wd we had just seen alight. i} Two on Sherman’s Pond, Waltham, Shot three on Smith’s Pond. Two which were only wounded made out into the pond but when pursued by my dog dove once or twice and disappeared, Melvin tells me that he has had them ciing to the roots on the bottom lor after life was extinct, oR ERS LGD a PE 1871. Apr. 29. 4872, Apres 3. 1874, Sept.30. 1872. Apr, 3. 1874, Octe 18, 1875. Oct. 423. water preeming themselves 187 Aix sponse. Middlesex County, Mass. Numbers seen on Coneord River by Melvin, About twelve of both sexek on Concord River, Shot a very fine drake in the Fresh Pond swamps, Killed a pair on the Assabet River, Concord, at the hemloecks, and saw many others on Concord River, On: the Assabet River ,Concord a pair of Wood Ducks (the drake a superb fellow) eame rustling down the steep bank among some alders, and alunching out into the water sat motionless for a moment within good gun shot of our boat; the next they took wing and flew up river, but within two hundred yards the maie alighted in the water and landing, seuttled up the bank into the bushes, When we ¢ame to the spot he rose directly from the bushes, On the Trout Pond in “Fairyland”, Concord, I surpri- sed a pair of Wood Dueks feeding close under the shore and after watehing them for sometime, killed both at a shot. They were very playful, repeatedly chasing ono another about, lashing the water with their wings. Their crops were distended with red-oak acorns, which produced a rattling sound audible at some distanee when the bird was shaken, Reaching the Trout Pond in “Fairyland”, Concord, just before sunset [I found that little sheet of water un- usually beautiful. The rays of the setting sun glan- eing through the pines on the western side, threw por- tions of its surface into shadow lighting up others and strongly tinging the golden-yellow birches on the eas— tern shore, Trout were rising in all directions, some of the larger ones sending their rings fairly from shore to shore, In the woods chipmunks were “chucking® on all sides, and in the breathless stillness the rustle of every leaf stirred by their merry seampering came dis- tinetly to the ear, Suddenly overhead I heard the light | Silvery whistle of wings and the next moment a flock of ten Wood Dueks came hurdling down over the pond, I shot _imto them wounding one which alighted on the further extremity of the pond where it was immediately joined by four others, As I was exposed to their view I eould do nothing but sit perfeetly still, until, at length, they rose and disappeared over the woods, Three of the five were superb drakes and as they sat on the edge of the their feathers in the last rays of the sinking sun, their briliant plumage was displayed to unusual advantage, Aix sponsa. Middlesex County, Mass. 1876, Oet. 16, Started a pair from a peat hole in “Hall’s*, Concord; and shot the male, a drake in perfect plumage. 1880, Oct, 29. Shot one on Concord River. i | i i i | { See a SSS SSS SS SS Oe ee eee Se tere ene See ne re AFRO PE TOT ass a 1S ere I shot them both, Aix sponsa, Px) © ret rr) 3 ° © F | ~ ad © ° LI 2 cS ® G ow je's) Be S T ae) © i, iss) g o Ay Co 00 ce be o. ha ed iy) Oy << of Long Pond,Nantucket. Fulix marila,. @ Feb, 14, A fine adult male in the market from Cape Cod, Mar, 26, About forty Scaup Ducks in the market from Cape Cod were all of this speeies, Fulix affinis. Middlesex County, Mass. A flock of four came into Fresh Pond this morning three of whieh were shot, They came in readily to a live Mallard decoy, but were rather shy of a boat, Two came into Fresh Pond this morning and were shot, Twok one of two that came into Fresh Pond this morn- ing. I seulled within long range without much diffi- culty, and after shooting one the other would not leave the pond, although it became exeeedingly shy. They swam rather low in the water frequently lying over on ohe side pluming themselves, The only note~that I heard from either of them was a low harsh ¢groak. They rose with rather more ease than most “sea-dueks®, and when fairly on wing advanced with great swiftness, While flying the markings on the wings showed with great distinctness. An adult male killed on Fresh Pond, Shot two on Fresh Pond, both typical affinis. R.Deane started one from the ground in the hemlock grove bordering Fresh Pond, A male on the Assabet River, Concord, feedingamong some rushes, He was very tame and we paddled within ten yards of him before he would fly. He sat very low in the water and as he swam kept twitching his tail from side to side with great rapidity. His head and neek looked proportionately large and thick. When he rose he trailed his feet along the surface for a few yards then raised them up behind extended back under his tail, Fulix affinis. A fow sent in at intervals from Cape Cod. Two fresh s pecimens in the market sent in from Cape p this morning. Fulis ecollaris. Middlesex County, Mass. Shot a young male in Smith’s Pond, He was swinming close in shore and looked nearly as large as a Blaek Duck, He dove once, remaining under water only a short time. Fulix collaris. 1876, Feb, 24, Mr.Joyee tells me that he has seen only one New Angland=shot specimen, a fine adult male which he killed in 1872. > £ ER ERE RAE PETE TAY Se aa er RE Re ee TE Oct. 24, Aethyia vallisneria. Middlesex County, Mass. A floek of eight Ducks which I took to be of this species came into Fresh Pond this morning. I seulled within thirty yards of them but owing to an accident, did not get a shot. Two were adult males whose chest= nut head and necks, white backs, and black tails were all conspicuous in the sunlight as they floated buoyantly on the dark water. Deane afterwards got a shot into them and wounded two which dived $0 adroitly that he lost both, / ¥ has Mas Mae Be AGA, "en Pikidey bNAAL hi tel, wy ae / Gi c Buwrr2 tm / IV A, Aethya vallisneria, Mr.Joyee tells me that a few are occasionally shot in Plymouth Bay, a : SS ee = == os = SSS aes = z Eas = Saga TE [Eee See Ss Ss SE SSS SSE ES RL PET LEE SE TL ET EO DRPILL TE Sao ee ras we = ASCE ST ETERS a Ee — ——— mi . enn rte net te nnn ure oe reece neneemeraenreneerenst neonate I WH © > Oo ae hm < f , ae C he : ws € de © at ul = 1 ay a : 4 ®D —< = 4 rc O° & ty = © © ca) ® ~~ Ss e) e ~- Pa) Oo La) © ha fan} Uj ee a & & a QO om ~ an 1882. Aethya americana. a cS) Fa] (=) n orl » Fa © © n fo © > 3) & Y @ G © & » @ & Pe) ro) & n Fema eal © ~ © cs) P> © a} ° & England. New in arses Tanead ties OSTEO RE: a sasee ge seme Bucephala islandica, 1875, Novy. 21. oe Cory hasa young male in which the white lunate spot on the head is indicated by a faint tracery of light Spots. 1876. Apr. 1a. Saw two adult males at Easrpott ,Maine. i al if i ii | AM | Oct, 27. Buecphala americana. Middlesex County, Mass, Near the middle of Fresh Pond I started a flock of these Ducks before daylight. The pond, smooth as a mirror, lay bathed in the silvery light of the moon, while the eastern sky was beginning to be just touched | with rose. As they left the water the mingled rush and flutter of their wings was distinctly audible and a few _moments later the clear whistle of their wings came down through the still air as they circled over the pond, growing fainter each moment as they passed off towards the south, The cffeet was indeseriba bly fine, A flock of six in Fresh Pond. Too shy to afford a shot. Shot a female on Fresh Pond. seulling to within long range of her in an open boat. She was shy and restless, At Concord, smw eleven near the French’s landing, an adult male at Egg Rock, and numbers near Ball’s Hill; we found it impossible to approach them in even a brushed boat. The noise made by their wings when flying could be heard a long distance, Six on the Assabet River, Coneord, about half=a=mile above Egg Rock, and numbers on the meadows near Ball’s Hili, About a dozen on Goncord River, ericana =) ro) ie a! ie) ou p ry 1 Chis iLles iil nd Broo! a ers) Bucephala americana. 1872. Mare 27, Examined about a hundred whistler from the Quebce rapids, Caiada. At least 90 per cent of them were adult males, some, however, showing traces of brown in the gree: of the head. The remaining ten pereent were most ly immature males, there being only two females in the entire lot. There was not a single B.islandica among them. fly Rather numerous here. They higher above the sea than any other folw here and may be easily distinguished by their conspicuously large heads and rapid Wing beats. (Pt. Lepreaux,N.B,). Bucephala albeola, 1867, i Middlesex County, Mass. Nov, 27. Saw one (the same) probably, as that seen on the 23d) on Spy Pond and was told that it had been there for a number of days. It floated lightly on the water and would swim for some distance without diving, then stop. and disappear with the quickness of thought, remaining under for a remarkably long time, It would continue diving in nearly the same place till its appetite was Satisfied, and then float about idly for a long time, cleansing and arranging its plumage, When fired at from “out of range” it swam quickly off without diving. On being pursued in a boat it would dive several times, and then, although the water was almost perfectly smooth, nothing could be seen of it for perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes, when it wuld appear, perhaps sitting unconcerned ly on the water in nearly the same place in which it went down, or else in some different part of the pond. Once I cornered it in a narrow-mouthed cove but it dove and soon reappeared in the centre of the pond, 1868, Oct. 20. Shot a young male on Fresh Pond, « 24, Several on Fresh Pond. Oct. 21, Five shot on Fresh Pond, They were tame and easily approached in an open boat, 1870. Nov, 3, Shot one on Fresh Pond, the only specimen seen there this autumn, a q U} a 1 ed Cc Buchphala albesla. 1872. Jan,.Feb. A few specimens, most of them males in adult plumage, sent inton Boston Market from Cape Cod, Histrionicus torquatus. Mr.Joyer tells me that some three years ago his dog, @ traihied “toler”, drew in a flock of about twenty Harlequin Dueks at Ducksburry. It was Sunday and he had no gun but they swam to within a few yod@ss of him and as there were several fine drakes among - them he feels sure of his identification, Reeeived 2 fine adult male from St.John, New Bruns= wick. Its flesh was dark like that of a Scoter; the neck turned over the head with some diffieulty; it evidently would not have bred for a long time, A pair seen by Thomas early this mor ing diving close to the rocks; they soon left (Point Lepreaux,N.B8.). The stomach of ar adult male send me by Manly Hardy, contained two large Snail shells in which were the bo- dies of the snales themselves, deadbut quite fresh, Nov. 5. 1e7l. Oet. 24, 1875, Nove. B8e Harelda glacialis. Middlesex County, Mass. Two came into Fresh Pond this morning in company With ocight Rudy Ducks. They were very tame one alight- ing within shot of my boat by the side of a duck that had Bust been killed, while I seulled within shot of the other without any difficulty. Ap A flock of seven adults, came into Fresh Pond this morning but did not alight. A female killed on Fresh Pond this morning by Fra- Zar, Harelda glacialis. They float very deep and when swimming earry their bills only an or two above the surface. Point Lepreaux?N.9 Bale Thomas killed one in nearly full breeding plumage the only one in that condition in a large nmiumber seen to=day. Numbors @t Pt.Lepreaux,N.B. A heavy flight to-day at Point Lepreaux,N.B, Many in changing plumage and several fine drakes in the black summer plumage (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). Shot a drake in winter plumage (Point Lepreaux,N.B.) Their flight is peculiar and at a déstameconce distinguishes them from any other Duek. Tt is some- what erratic, and accompanied by a certain “dip* to the wings ; sometimes the wings seemed to be moved indepen- dently of one another (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). Two old drakes in winter plumage swinming close in under the shore, They are ex ceedingly graceful birds on the water, moving about with great ease and carrying their lo ng tails rather high, Like the Coots they al- Ways open their wings when they dive, and make an irre- gular Splash as they disappear. The Loons and Shel- drake dive very differently and much more gracefully, leaping almost elear of the water, and cleaving its sur- face so skillfully.as to leave only a faint ring behind. (Point Lepreaux , N.B.). They invariably skim close to the surface of the water and their erratie flight reminds me somewmt of a Petrel’s (Point Lepreaux,N.5.). Several large flocks in Swampseott Harbor. I was struek by the resemblanee, while flying, to the Passengor Pigeon, A few at Marblehead riding the waves just outside the breakers, Somateria dresseri. Near Boon Island, Isles of Shoals, seven Eiders (three males and four females), passed the steamer; the coloring of the drakes is very conspicuous, Numerous at Point Lepreaux,N.R. Two or three large flocks passed, one containing at least seventy-five birds, They flew close to the water and usually in a long parallel lime, like the front rank of a regiment of soldiers presenting a most beautiful — pearance, the drakes appearing almost entirely white (Point Lepreaux,N.P.)e Two or three large flocks passed to-day (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). Several large flocks passed (Point Lepreaux,N.P.). Their flight is heavy and invariably close to the surface of the water; they flap their wings slower than the Coots but not as slowly as the Brant (Boint Lepreaux, N.B. A fine adult male (Chatham, Mass.), A floek of eightvin a large bed of Coots, Sever= al of them were fine Drakes (Chatham, Mass.), Somateria spectabilis. 1875, July 21. Saw four or five at Willey’s Portland, all taken near that city last winter, Aedemia americana. Middlesex County, Mass, An adult male came into Fresh Pond this morning. At first when pursued by a boat he would rise and flying low oVer the surface of the water would alight again at some distance. At length reesiving a wound in the wing he took to diving, swimming long distances under water, and exposing only a portion of his head when he came to the surface, He was killed the following day. 99 Q * Q 3 I ‘ J) ° QOee 1872, Jan.& Feb, 1876, Apr. 12. Oedemia americana. Abundant in Boston market from various localities in mass, A large flock near Point Lepreaux,N.e « I shot down one which immediate ly dove and was not seen again, At Point Lapreux,N.B, they were flying all day in multitudes and the water in all direstions was covered with great beds of them, A heavy flight during the morning (Pt. Lapreaux,N.B.). Spent much time to-day watching them through a pow- erful telescope; they are deeidedly the most active and lively of the Water-fowl here, They have a frequent habit of rushing around on thesurface of the water, ap- parently walking on the tips o® their toes with their bodies perpendicular, uttering incessantly the while, a very loud and curious note. This steals in over the sea from all directions and may be often heard when the flock producing it is too fa r off to be seen, Tt has a peculiarly plaintive melancholy sound; eSpecially as- when it is heard as it was last night long after darkness has set in (as late as 10 P.M.). This, as well as the other Coots, is an exesedingly graceful bird on the water. It st etches up its neek much highe» than the 61d Squaw, (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). A floek of five flying past the point, uttering a peculiar low mur muring (Point Lepreaux,N.8.). A heavy but intermittant flight all day, few alight- ing on the water, Thomas tells me this is always the ease whem they are flying steedily. The present spe= cies is still much more numerous'y represented here than either of the other two, (Pt.Lepreaux,N.B.). To-day for the first time, this species was much outnumbered by the Surf Scoter. It is a less graceful bird on the water carrying Ets nee and head more stifly and at times strikingly résembling its fresh-water name- sake Fulika americana. It frequently elevates its tail almost vertically. When diving the whole flock dis- appears almost simultaneously. When migrating they al- wayS pass close over the water their long lines following the undulations of the waves (Point Lepreaux,N.3.)+ Only a few seen to-day; the greater number have evi- dently passed, while the migration of Surf Sceoters is how at its height, and that of the velvet Seoter just beginning, (Pt.Lepreaux,N.8.). 2 as $ e ° @ ‘ a8 ¢ © * a | © ra © ne é ° = S Ne é t ¢ « “ : ait * , an | 4 " aa obey? t | eet s i pet r nA . i J ‘ ! “ ! ! ~ i 4 e ! * * ' ! head e ° ! é “— @ : ~ rs * — & | ¢ . 3 : ge ‘ | a i on i a * | ; am & i e by . . - ‘ ¢ | wt » | . eg ¥ | a> 4 e 1 . ry * > ¥ ‘ee . . oJ ° ° - l * ' 4 1868, Octes 13. 1870. Oet. a7. Pelionetta perspicillata. Middlesex County, Mass, A single young bird shot in Fresh Pond this morning; the weather of late has been clear and cold, Shot one on Fresh Pond. As I seulled up to it, it sat with its head buried in its feathers apparently aSleep, although it was broad daylight at the time. A flock of cight on Coneord River near Ball’s Hill. I shot three including an adult male and female, the for- mer the only adult male in the flock, They were very tame, allowing me to paddle within good shot of them but, as usual, exceedingly tough and hard to kill, The body of the female was eneased im fat of a deop orange color, Pelionetta perspicillata: 1872. Fane& Feb, Among hundreds of “Coots” in Boston Market from the coast of Mass., I have been unable to find a single specimen of this-species,. 1875. Oet. 2. A large flock flying high in air above Wood’s Holl was composed entirely of afult males of this species, Among the multitudes of O.americana, passing Point Lepreaux to-day this specics oeceurred in the proportion to one to four of the former, (Point Lepreaux,N.B. ). While watching a flock to-day through a powerful telescope I distinetly saw several dringing sea water, elevating the bill in at each swallow in precisely the manner of a hen. (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). Numbers migrating in company with the mueh more numerous QO,americana, (Point Lepreaux, N.B.). An extraordinary flight of Coots this afternoon, beginning about 2 P.M, and lasting till dark, the ma- jority being of this species. Thousands upon thousands were continually passing, stringing out in long lines, elustered together in masses, and indeed marshaled in almost every conceivable form, all streaming along shore to the eastward, In a cove west of the Point at least two-hundred were collected vin a bed ef on the water. I watehed them for a long time through a powerful tele- scope; with the exception of a single pair of O.america na all were of this species, the males very beautiful in their full breeding plumage, Again I distinctly saw them drink salt water, elevating the bill almost verti- cally at each sip. The peculiar murmuring note seems to be uttered by this species as well as the Common Sco- ter for it came incessantly from this flock. T noticed that these Coots always opened their wings when they dove which they did with an irregular splash, They are much more graceful thar either of the-other species when swimming, (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). A steady flight during the forenoon, Shot sever- al, The male is a beautiful bird when freshly killed, its bill variagated with vivid blood red shading into carmine, white, and a large bloteh of glossy black; the feet are very deep carmine and blaek, These birds are generally shy of a boa’ but a flock will oceasionally come within a long range, They are extremely tenacious of life and we heard the shot strike many that did not fall. Others dropped their feet at the report and leaving the flock settled on the water, but when ap= proached they usually dove so persistently that we rarely secured them, (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). 224 Pelionetta perspicillata. 1876, (Apr.18). TI repeatedly heard this species utter a short que, gue, guac when flying. The flight of all threespecics of Coots is identical. Any of thom will easily over- take and pass the Brant, quiiekly leaving the latter far behind, A flock presents a very pretty appearance as it approaches swiftly over the sea, at times flying so low it is lost to view behind each swell (Point Lepreaux, NoB.). A very heavy flight beginning at sunrise and ceasing ay 1 PsMs Most of the flocks containing a few Melanet— ta velvetina, (Point Lepreaux,N.3.). About half of the numerous Coots that passed to-day were of this species, most of the remainder Weing Vel- vet Scoters, We saw one immense flock on the water, at least five hun@ped floating in clusters with seatter= ing ones between, the whole covering an acre or more of surface, A flock of these Ducks approaching swiftly over the sea presents a very beautiful sight, the heads of the males appearing snow white, The diserepeney in in the sexes among this and the other two species of Coots here is remarkable; flocks of twenty or more are frequently composed entirely of males and it is rare to see more than two or three females in the largest flock, Possibly the females migrate later than the males, but this cannot be true of the Common Scoter, for its migration is almost af an end, To-day ten of these Ducks strung out in a long line passed within long range; I aimed about twelve feet ahead of the leader and wounded the last but one in the file, It flew some dis- tance then dropped in the water, when the others came back and alighted with it. AS we approached all flew except a male, evidently the mate of the wounded female, The latter at length dove and, although the water was as smooth as glass, we did not see it again. Where it went to is a mystery, for these birds, so far as I have ob- served, nmevor swim with only the bill above water as it the habit of some of the fresh-water Ducks when wounded, (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). Rather less numerous than either of the allied spe— cies in a bed of several thousands Coots congregated just outside the surf at Ghatham, Mass, (See Obs.under OQedo~ mia americana), 1867, Oct, 16.$ 1868, Sept.30.. Erismatura rubida,. Middlesex County, Mass, Shot a young bifd in a small pond-hole encireled by button bushes in the Brickyard Swamp, Cambridge. He dove at the first shot and raising only the top of his head above water watched me while I reloaded, Just as the day was breaking a flock of at least thirty of these birds came into Fresh Pond and, after circling around it several times, I was obliged to pull on to them without the slightest eaution in order to get the first shot. After discharging both barrels at than aS only two or three birds flew I supposed that the re- mainder must be all wounded and pulled into the midst of them when I soon discovered my mistake for they began to seatter in all direetions although many allowed me to | get within ten feet before leaving the water. We killed the greater part of this floek before the survivers would leave the pond. I noticed only one old bird in the whole number, Shot several out of a large flock that came into Fresh Pond, Two young birds hsot on Fresh Pond this morning; the last few nights have been cold which probably star- ted them along. . Two shot on Fresh Pond this morning, Fare Foden a dati Shot acnumber from a flock that came into Fresh Pond this morning, They were very shy but as they would not leave the pond most of them were killed. Numbers on Fresh Pond, but they were so Shy that it was impossible to get within shot of them, Three on Fresh Pond, | Ghased a floek of five about Fresh Pond all the - afternoon, TBhey were so shy that I shot Only two of them, although they could not be foreed to leave the pond. | Shot one on Fresh Pond this morning just as it was getting light. I was attracted to him by his loud-harsh ¢alic -netes which were entirely different from the “quack” of ie: the Blaek Duek or the cry of any other species with which ‘IT am acquainted, | One Shot on Fresh Pond, Shot one this monning on Sherman's Pond, Waltham. | The pair to whieh this bird belongs have lived on this | pond nearly all the autumn. For an hour or two in the _ Morning they fed near the shore, diving where the water ws Was about six feet deep, but during the greater part of _ the day remained in the middle Sitting elose together, | @Ad not changing their position for hours at a time, el RASS I LO Pa TE Erismatura rubida Middlesex County, Mass (Nov.16) Saw two on Smith’s Pond, Arlington. Shot an adult male to-day, the last of the season, Saw to-day, on Fresh Pond, swimming in an opening in the iee a small Duek, which as far as I could make omt through my glass, was a young bird of this species, Qbservations: The Rudy Dueks have been veryabun= dant on Fresh Pond this autumn but searee on Spy and Smith’s Ponds where they usually shoot large numbers of them. In the first part of the season they were tame and unsuspicious, but those that eame dater were shy. When a flock eomes into the pond, if they are fired at from a distance and missed, they generally leave at ones, but if one or more are killed the survivors remain in the pond during the remainder of the day. They rise with diffieul- ty, oWing to the small size of their wings, but when fairly underway fly with wonderful swiftness, skimming along close to the surface of the water and seldom circling before alighting as many Dueks are wont to do, although when very shy I have occasion ally seen them ¢irele about high in the air for Sometime, and afterwards descend to the water again, When they strike the water they close their wings and the woight of their heavy bodies causes them to Shoot over the surface for several yards, They sit rather low on the water and swim with extreme rapid- ity, indéed it is very hard to overtake them unless you. have a light boat, When feeding, if two or three are together, ome will remain on the surface a few moments after the other has disappeared, in order to make sure that all is right, and then, lowering his head, he disappears with the quiekness of thought. Upon Shooting ome that had just ¢ome up from one of these dives I have frequently found its bill full of a Species of fresh water shripm, about an ineh and a half long, and of a bright searlet color. They very seldom take to diving when pursued in a boat ur less they are wounded, although when a flock is Scattered or when a single bird is hard pressed they will try diving. In a short time they will become very expert at it, showing only a small portion of the head above the surface, Five shot on Fresh Pond this morning. Saw a flock of about a dozen on Fresh Pond, af ai a) a Fresh Pond this morning, , 15, Dec, 28, 1871. Oct. a 21. 23. 18él,. Oct. 13. Erismatura rubbda, Middlesex County, Mass. A single bird taken om Fresh Pond. Easterly storm yesterday. Shot the last to-day. They have been rather scarce on Fresh Pond this autumn, Ve y few were seen in 0e- tober although we had much frosty weather, but Novembor 2d, 3, 4, and 5, there were shot respsetively each morn= ing cight, two, ome and eight. The weather was not so cold as some we have had and there was no apparent cause for this flight. They seemed much tamer than usual this autumn and not a single bird that alighted on Fresh - eSeaped. On one occasion I heard one utter a noise like the squeaking of a rusty hinge. In diving they made use of their wings as well as their feet, as I proved by watching a wounded bird, They bleed very very freely when wounded, Several dozens in Boston Market said to have been shot on Cape Cod a few days sinee, A single bird was taken on Fresh Pond, Saw them in the market from the western part of the state as ear~ ly as October 4d, Six were shot om Fresh Pond, the last; have been usually searee this fall, Shot a young male on Concord River, He was float img near the middle of the stream and was very tame, Skin entirely free from fat; flesh very tender, dark red im color, and having a strong musky odor, Lamb killed twelve in a single morning on Fresh Pond lately. Is Lo ¢ i ub rl fay) hy 4 a> % Erisn Mergus americanus. Middlesex County, Mass. A flock of about thirty eame into Fresh Pond about Sunrise, alighting noar the middle. Two that had been feeding near shore swam out and brought the stzangers back with them, The floek seattered over a ¢considera- ble space along the rocky shore near the Tudor boat-house, Some taking to the land to preem their plumage, others half-swimming hafl = . Nt SF PNT EES a g : L . baer | co + ¢ - . 2 ~ e t -s - << - ; | / 7 at Sa ea io eae 0 cq el noult Y i. Wt do Cal 7 a a amc 1) SE ee ee ee Oe re a ee pe Te ee tee ae ee ee Mergus americanus, Sept. 6, A flock of eleven on Moxie Bond, the young barely able to fly; we were told that they bred here every year. (Forks of the Kennebec, Maine), Mergus serrator. Middlesex County, Mass. Saw an adult male on Fresh Pond. T got very near it and saw it distinetly. It was alove swimming close in shore under the hemleek hill. I shot at it ,when it deve, afterwards rising and flying out, SE ec ee acne ae ae ee 1872, Jan . 1875. NOVs 22, 1876, Apr, 4&3, Mergus serrator, A female bought in Boston market has blotches of black coming about the head and neck. A few at the mouth of Ipswich river, Passing all day in flocks containing rarely over twenty individuals, They string out more than most oth- er sea fowl and also fly much higher above the surface of the ocean (Point Lepreaux,N.8.). Several immense flocks passed to-day (Pt.Lepreaux?N. Big) « fhey seldom alight near the Point, indeed [I have Seen nohe on the water so far (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). A good many passing to-day; they invariably fly much higher than any other Water=fowl, and usually in single file (Pt, Lepreaux, N.B.).-: Three alighted in the Cove west of the Point here I watched them for a long time through a powerful glass, They dive like Loons, giving a forward leap so that the whole body nearly cleared the surface, and leaving only a faint ring on the water where they disappared, One of them ceaught what looked like a small eel and apparent- ly had mueh trouble in swallowing it, swimming rapidly about and shaking it violently in his bill. (Point Le- preaux,N.B.). Their flight is always about the height of twenty yards above. the water and very swift, the strokes of the wings exceodingly rapid, (Point Lepreaux, N.B.). Numbers (Chatham, Mass.). Saw many flying, as they usually do here, in largo loose flocks arranged without any apparent order of sys- tem, (Chatham,Mass,.). - ; a - : - e ~ : & a an i ‘ 3 3 € . “ : e 6 o : thy, - 7s e ’ Q ‘ “ ‘ G j : , ‘ . * ro ee. ' I e : ‘ * } ‘ ° P o oe & % i ‘ BE G? 5 - ! ‘ . - § « E - A , e e ° . be « « ; . ; : * Lophodytes eueullatus. Middlesex County, Mass, Shot one just at dusk from a flock of six or sevon SsWinning within a few yards of the shore under the shel~ ter of an iee house. Saw four on Fresh Pond for the last time this year . As they have been rather plenty ther: this autumn TI have had abundant opportunities of watching their habits and the following is the result of my observations. The Hooded Merganser makes its appearance here as soon as the night sets- begfn to be cold and the ice to form around the edges of the larger ponds, and remain till the water is entirely covered with iee, They usually fly at the height of about fifteen yards and when in a large flock are eontinually changing their positions, now flying in a broad extended line, and now in an irregular body. When on the water they swim lightly and grace- fully but not nearly as fast as some other Ducks; they are so vigilent that it is almost impossible to approach within gun shot of them; indeed they almost always fly the moment that they pereeive you evem if you are far out of range, If at all apprehensive of danger they they keeping cruising about with their heads raised but if overything rem&ins quiet in their Vicinity they soon return to their former oceupation of diving in search of food; when two or three are feeding together, first one disappears with the quickness of thought, then another and another until all are beneath the surface but they Soon emerge in nearly the same place and after swimming a short distanee together, dive again. They invaria- bly alight near the shore--that is to say within a few | bods of it--and it is very rare to find them swimming at (any distance from it, but they will sometimes swim out _imto deep water when they pereeive a team coming. The y appear to affect equally gravelly and muddy bottoms and in general feed where the water is about eight £Bet deep; but om ome oe¢casion I saw four of them walking about on the shore where there was only an inch or so of water. They rise with some diffieulty striking the water vigor- ously with their feet, and proceed some distanee before they attain any elevation b fly with wonderful r light closely resembles that of this bird except that the wings are quivered as with | most Dueks, They usually move like most dueks , but I have seen them, where three or four wer following each other over the still water of a sheltered cove, nod their heads exactly in the Manner of the Common American Coot, Shot a young female near Block Is kand. It was fol- lowing the course of the brook and flying low down, Lophodytes cucullatus, 1869, Middlesex County, Mass. Nov, 11, Shot one on Fresh Pond, seulling up to it in an open boat. a One on Fresh Pond, One on Fresh Pond, For the past two weeks they have been frequently seen in Fresh Pond usually in small flocks or two or three together. They fish here in shallow water and are rather shy of any one on shore but easily approached in a boat. Unless wounded they never attempt to a es= cape by diving, but invariably fly, leaving the water with some diffieulty, They are excecdingly restless, rarely feeding long in one place, even when undisturbed. 1871. Oet. l7. One shot on Fresh Pond, Nov, 27. A flock of about thirty flying over Fresh Pond, i876, Mar, 23. Two small Ducks on ConeordRiver were apparently of | this species. 1880, Oct. 20. Shot a young male on Concord River mear Ball’s Hill, It was rather fat and exeeedingly tought and hard to skin. 29. One in Fairhaven Bay;very shy: cor It A Oo 93S OTi \ ~ GBM ig @ | casa wow 4 ne ON j=_Va d River; ured, reenish Key s etio} > ambridge g re) oO n ®O Pp p> a 9 we a4 2 SO eg Lop Graculus earbo, 18764 Apr.a4, Five passed the point to-day the white patehes on the throat and flanks showing plainly, {Point Lepr eaux, N.B,). Nov. 24, “ 14 oe Graculus dilophus, A y oung*bird shot while flying over Fagle Hill, Tpswic':, Meny flying about near Point Lepreauxgn.B, all high in air, Several large flocks flying about, They resemble: Brant on wing but fly differently (Point Lepreaux,N.B. ). A heavy flight of migrants passing northward to-day (Boint Lepreaux,N.5.)! Numbers flying about as usual. Their flight, ordi- narily, is exaetly like that of a Loon, from which they can be readily distinguished, however, by the thieker neek and darker coloring, Sometimes they sail in a half circle or mount straight upward, giving a dozen or more quick beats of the wing like a Nighthawk rising to Boom, Frequently one will-thus rise Suddenly from a Plock passing steadily along, Their alledged resem= blamee t Brant does not strike me; the form of a large flock, however, is nearly the same as that of a flock of Brant, They flap their ings different-and their shape is radically different, (Point Lepreaux, N.B.). Rhynchops nigra, : 1874, July 7. The fishermen say that the Blaek Skimmer used to breed abundantly on the Muskegat. They described the | bird accurately and call it the Sheerwater, A Hi | i i at Hid i{ ij Hil if Hit f Hy | rf 4 i Ht H Hil if " i Hid | { if if i Larus glaucus, Saw an immature bird as we were pass ing Cape EFliza- beth, near Portland, Maine, Among some thirty large Gulls fishing close to tho wharf at Rastport, Maine, were several of this species, whieh with Larus leucopterus, made up about one-quarter of the total num>-r, the remaining three-quarters being Herring Gulis. Soveral also followed the steamer all vhe way from Mt.Desert, keeping steadily along siae in Lt. wake, Oivem coming Very near and Breedily picking up any kind of fish which we threw overboard for them, They seemed to me lighter and more graceful on the wing than the Herring Gulls but the difference in size betwoon the two species was only appreciable when the birds were very near. Larus leucopterus. Middlesex County, Mass. 1866, Dec. 29. Saw a small, pure white Gull on Fresh Pend which Tf took to be this species, It came very near me and T saw distinctly that its primaries were pure white, Oy ee v 1876, Apr. ll. Larus leuecopterus, Among a flioek of some thirty large Gulis-in EFast- port Harbor, Maine, this species and L.glaucus were about equally represented,the two together perhaps forming onoe- quarter of the total number, the remaining three=quar= ters being Herring Gulls, This species as well.as the Glaucus seemed to be lighter and more graceful on thw wirg than the Herring Gull, The differenee in size between the three was only appreciable when the birds came very near, seve al of them followed the steamer all the way from Mt,Desert, 1868, Nov. 19. 1870. Dec. 26, Larus marinus, Middlesex County, Mass. Several on Fresh Pond with Herring Gulls, A pair of adults chasing a Herring Gull. Larus marinus, 1874. NOVe 204 Near the mouth of Ipswieh River numbers of these Gulis, all immature birds were flying about, They were readily distingusihable from the HeswingsGubasi Herring Gulls by their large size and the conspicuous blaek bar on the tail, They uttered a ery which somewhat resem= bied that of the Red-tailed Hawk and chased the Herring Gulis whenever the latter seeured food, Mar. 42, Four received from Grand Menan, Easily skinned; upwtfaéat; in this respect differing from Leargentatus; Skin covered wth a dense coat of down, almost as impene-— trable as felt, 1875, Nov. 22.. Several at the mouth of Ipswich River. 1876, 6, Numerous at Chatham, Mass,, all immature birds, ye sd mR et od et Lah bead POTS SES OAD, Sen ese ES Larus argentatus. Middlesex County, Mass, 1867, - Nov, 20, Four on Fresh Pond; I watched them till it became so dark that I could see them no longer. I believe they pass the night there but they usually start for the sea long before dark. 1868, Mar, 19. One flying over Fresh Pond which is now open, Apr. is. About twenty on Fresh Pond. Oet. 24, One on Fresh Pond to-day the first this autumn, Nov. 15. The Gulls now Visit Fresh Pond regularly evern morn- ing, and will continue to do so till the water freezes They ar ive just as the sun is rising, and remain all day unless they are driven out, swimming about in the middle if it is calm; if the wind blows hard they pass most of the day on wing, They are very shy and if a boat puts off from the shore they rise in wide circles, frequently until they are beyond the reaeh of vision, and disappear. Dec. 88 Hot a young bird om Fresh Pond; he was sweeping . along close to the water, 1869, Apr. 15. They have been very abundant on Fresh Pond all this spring. Saw the last to-day. Dee, -- | Common on Fresh Pond during this month. 1870. Jan, 23, Upwards of one hundred sitting in a close body on the Iee at Fresh Pond, Mar. 10. Theyb have been abundant throughout the winter and Still continue so, Apr. %. Still abundant. * 12. / Saw several. Noveé Dee. The fly to Fresh Pond from the sea every morning. 1871, Jan, 4, Saw several geres of Gulis floating om the sea a few hundred yards out (Chelsea Beach), Feb, 6, _ The iee having been removed from a small portion of | Fresh Pond principly in one of the coves the Gulis found if aut directly and now eome up from the bay every morn- ing. a ee (Mar.10) Larus argentatus, Middlesex County, Mass, Still frequent Fresh Pond in large flocks, Saw sev eral to-day sail sgainst an exceedingly strong wind for several hundred yards without a single flap of the wing, and very swiftly, Saw several on Fresh Pond, One was seen om Fresh Pond (H.Russell), Three were seen on Fresh Pond (H,Russell). Went down in the harbor among the shipping for Gulls where we found them comparatively umsuspicious, After Shooting down one others came to the reseue till we killed four, This, however, was the only occasion, before or sinee, when I have known this occur, Saw one sail down to the ice from a considerable height in a beautiful Sweep, drop its feet, and alight, closing its wings without a Single flap, They resort to the basin whenever the ice breaks up, @Specially at high tide. This morning several hun- dred were fishing there for the garbage whieh forms their ehief food, Sitting on the ice among a small group of these Gulls were several Crows with which they seemed to be perpetually quarrelling, running at them with half opeh wings in a curious manner. In the air, however, the Crows had rather the better of it, chasing the Gulls about on every opportunity. The Herring Gulls fish in the following manner: Flying at the height of perhaps thirty feet above the water they course gracefully about umtil they discover Something in the water beneath whon they poise for a moment over the Spot, flapping their Wings quickly; then with a graceful sweep, drov to the Surface beneath, and as they pick up the morsel with the bidl, drop their feet into the water trailing them along the surfaee for a fev yards before they rise, While poising they occasionally shake themselves Violently with a single quiek vertical flap of the wings, 23. R.Deane saw them repeatedly take up mussel shells high into the air and drop them on the beach to break them, following them immediately down and eating the ex pesed contents (Revere Beach), Eee ee Sa ae epee ae a aa ee i SN i ee Te = —EE———————EE ox 2 RO = é 3 OD 4 i a QO ; 1 & 2 ‘ a ; rn = iS Pe ¢ rs t ¢ Cc 4 4 S pe 2c 45 sa fe ¥ a aoe : © ba ny ny 4 en © e 5 a ae @ f ag re] er a * od J te 39) © O vd so orf ’ + ~ 4 , uu ae hea a O & Oo : iA] Ss PP © é eae KI ~ DT @ aS = o J © MA aS 148) os eH oO an) het an) ay) — we ° e N wt rl 8) e ry el 0 Ne =) Lees Dd ott) < oO SOUPS ATAU ASS eas op per bo ne 18745 June 18, 1875. duly 206 Sept 22, 1881, Mar, 26, Larus argentatus, One in immature plumage (Marston’s Mia@ls, Mass.). _ About one hundred, ali immature birds, on Green Is- aands, near Portland,Maine, Numbers at Smith’s Point both adult and young, (Nantueket). : Numbers fishing in the harbor, (Nantucket). Large nm umbers at the mouth of Ipswiech River, About twenty in the harbor at Fastport, Maine, fishing close to the wharfs. At Point Lepreaux this evening they were making a great outery on the water as late as 10 P.M. calling loudly and ineessantly. A heavy flight of these Gulls migrating eastward along the coast during the afternoon, (Point Lepreaux N.B) Abundant at Chatham, Mass., most of these seen being immature birds, One brought down with a broken wing bit savagely, and like a snapping turtle hung on to anythink that was placed within its reach, even allowing itsef to be thus lifted from the ground, (Chatham,Mass.). Shot three from a Brant Box, My boatman decoyed them within range by using a pair of Gull’s wings which he skillfukky opened and shut by compressing and relasing the museles; the ef*ecet being that of a gull flapping its wings on a sand bar. (Chatham,Mass,). Grossing the Fast Boston Ferry om my way to Revere Beach, I saw hundreds of these birds and wondered if they Spent the night in the harbor, T is was definitely set- tled a few hours later, At Revere Beach during the half hour preeeding sunset I saw them arriving in a e ontinuous stream and settling on the water, They flew low over the sea and all from the direetion of Boston of course following the coast line, By mw nset there must have been nearly a thousand collected in a vast bed about mid- way between Nahant and Revere Reaeh, This bed was cer= tainly half a mile in length the birds floating in about four or five parallel lines, On the dark blue sea it looked like a great bank of snow, ° 253 Larus delewarensis, 34875, Sept,24. One in the harbor at Nantueket, Larus atricilla, About twenty=five pairs breeding on the island, Nest quite large and bulky, but withall neat and even, composed of dried grasses arranged in cireular form, pla- eed usually in the beds of tall rank beech grass, that grew upon one side of the island; some, however, were found on the ivy ridges, among the Terns, but never any on the bare sand, or the sea beaeh,- Number of eggs Varied from one to three (Muskegat). About twenty-five pairs breeding on MVuskegat, Nests mostiy in beds of tall, rank beceh-grass on the west ond of the island, some, however, ‘in the stunted ivy with those of the Terns; all Neatly eco nstrueted of @ry grass circularly arranged, Eggs from one to three . All the-birds seer were in perfecet adult plumage. When &@ nest was approached the pair to which it belonged would come overhead sailing about justi out of gunshot in per= feet silenee, When we were within twenty yards of less, however, they would burst out into their shrill laughter which was immediately taken up by others all oVer the island, These outbursts were an infalable _ @uide to the Vicinity of the nest, for they were never uttered till we were close to the latter. The flight of these Gulls is graeeful and beautiful, They would often sail in pairs at a high elevation, reminding me of eagles, They were very shy But when one was killed (its amée and sometimes several others would hover over it. Their usual eall-note is a loud a-ha, Their Shrill laughter is both unique and Startling. We never Saw them fishing near the island but they frequently alighted on the sand bagzin company with Terns, The latter seemed to regard-them with dislike always chasing them while flying, About a dozen on a sand bar in company with Terns, They proved shy, rising high into the air and sailing in eireles, uttering the usual wild laughing chorus, (Mar- Ston’s Mills, Mass.), Several flying about with the Terns hear the mouth of the Harbor, (Nantucket), During a visit to Muskegat saw only three specimens but found a nest containing three eggs, (Nantucke:), About twenty pairs breeding on Green Island, Casco Bay,Maine. After I had killed Seve the remainder collected inte a loose the strong wind with just sufficient their position, remained in the rest of the afternoon, o their wild laughing ery, ral of their number, body and breas ting flapping to keep the air over one Spot during ceasionally bursting out into Many paths and little op en— o AJ = “ t ° r€ | 1 aO st * L ® - re % » > 4 F ~~ = “ ® . ‘ : » © . 2 fig PY ' & < —s F “ ; ) : ’ > Pi - ty | ~ ‘ i 742 ei ’ « 4 = et ae ' 5 z . " ry foe é » YE? p A 8 € ls @ i é 2 2D 2 * € e a ‘ ree ; € Lise *y 7 7 } c Pe § ta 3 . : ” P j £ 4 cy s L ! . ‘ r ; i 2 2 . ' + p= s 2 * a 4 2 " at ‘ ' ® pL . A ¢ *o , : P au = s ! . , 4 ° . f° e ; ° ° | * > 7 - Hy iy £ - P| ; bed ‘ o , i » t r ” i | . - ‘ é * a Larus atricilla, 1875. (July 20).ings were trampled down in the tall grass by these little birds, but no nests were found, The Gulls here seemed to be on perfectly good terms with the Terns which on Mu kegat are ineessantly harassing them, Sept. 22, Saw one at Smith’s Point. (Nantueket). Larus philadelphia. 1870, July 11, A small flock at Ipswich, Mass, Shy . 1875. Nov, 8, Reeeived four freshly killed specimens from Nan- tucket, 1876. May 17.) & flock of about twenty on a sand spit (Chatham,Mass) Rye Boaeh, New Hampshire, 1868, AUB. -- Seen daily during the last two weeks of August, flying southward over the sea about a mile off shore, They flew in a nearly straight course and very Steadily, Seldom turning aside or stopping, In stormy weather they pass closeréaa in and sometimes alighted on the beach, ecnbaaeclaa 1875, Feby . 4 Xema sabinei, Secured a specimen ‘rom this rare Gull from Mr, Diamond of Brookline, who shot the bird in Boston Har- bor September 1874, It was sitting on a mass of floating seaweed and was very tame, inasmuch as the Sailing party -passed within a few rods of it before it was discovered, It was holding a small crab-apple in it bill. When shot at and wing-broken it made its way off along the surface with such speed that it was with diffi- eulty secured, oad 8 so a oe - 209 |} Sterna caspia. | 1871, 1 Sept, 9, Several seen fishing just outside the breakers, per- i haps a dozen in all, A wing-broken individual was caught if on the Beaeh. (Ipswich), 1873, | Nov, 22, Arthur Smith has an adult whieh he shot at Bear’s 1 Head, New Hampshire, early in September 1873, iy 1875, Auge 23, A flock of about a dozen large Terns flying high in air over Long Island , Boston Harbor, were probably of this species, They uttered at intervals a single loud harsh ery somewhat like the honk of a Goose, Sept .24, A flock of five or six came into the Harbor at Nan- i tueket and fished sometime near a Point, They alighted Hi on deep water repeatedly swimming about for several min= i utes at a time, Their flight and plunging was preciso- 1. iy Similar to that of the smaller species, They uttered a raucous hepk somewhat like one of the notes of the Roseate Tern but much louder and hoarser, 1876, May 6. Several small flocks at Chatham, Mass, Some apart i by themselves, others among Herring Gulls, They sat on the sand bars exactly like the smaller Terns whieh H they ot herwise resemble but I think their flight is more i rapid that than of any species which I snow, i ad Te Saw several to-day (Chatham,Mass, ). = Saw several (Chatham,Mass.). it Sept, 9 Purdie had one in the flesh from Hingham, Boston Harbor, It was a young bird, | a JC . ‘ 3 - “4 ‘ z ® } ° . 2 “ ° ‘ P 1874, July - L. 260 Sterna maxima, Shot a pair in the harbor, They were in-can- pany with Roseate Tern for which we mistook them, The The female had evidently just finished laying and had the incubating spot on the breast well-developed Their notes seemed similar to those of the Roseate Tern, Both birds fell wounded and bit fiercely when seized raising the long occipital feathers into a crest, They had black tarsi and webs, the under-surface of the latter mottled with yellow, (Nantucket. ), e tn = = : Sterna hirundo. 1868, Middlesex County, Mass. Sept.il. One on Spy Pond cireling about over the water; when it caught a fish it invariably carried it a few yards be- fore swallowing it. « 14. One shot on Fresh Pond, Ie ene eer SEER OA BAS FSS PETE IRB STR SS ATIC pI Eh ATM, DIRE 1870. June 20= July 2, July a, 1874, June 18, 263 Sterna hirunda. Abundant fishing in the bay during the day and in the afternoon leaving for the southward in flocks of five to thirty (Plymouth, Mass.). Breeding on Muskegat in vast nu mbers with S,macrura and S.paradisea, Multitudes were continually in sight hovering over their eggs or des:ending to them, scaling about elose over the ground like Swallows ,or plunging into the sea for figh. They were very shy, invariably rising three or four hundred yards ahead, and hovering above up just out of range, keeping up a deafening clamom If one was shot the others instantly beeame silent and gliding down to the fallen bird from all sides on set wings, poised a few feet above it redoubling their elamor. The more birds killed the more excited and enraged the survivers bccame, If one were missed or slightly woun- ded, they would at onee disperse or seale off with it. On the Short-eared Owls they waged perpetual war, fbllow- ing them in perfeet ¢leuds whenever they appeared on the Tsland, Their eries are a short hoit, a harsh, peevish tirarrr, and, wheh chasing one another, a rolling tr-tr- tr-tee-tee. Theyv are peaceable, seldom quarrelling. Large clusters frequently collected on the bare spaces of sand where they were very shy, Always nea‘ and care- ful of their plumage they invariably elevated their tails in walking over the wet sand. Even the plumage of the sitting birds was beautifully clean and free from stain, We could istinguish this species from the Aretie Terns only by the color of the bill. It was impossible to es- timate the number of birds breeding here but the e must have been many thousand pairs, We found but few eggs containing embryos and not a single young bird, Thousands of nests om the island; some large and composed of dry grass or ivy twigs, others merely a slight hollow in the seaweed at high water mark, or in the beach sand, They seemed to prefer, however, the inland ridges where among the stunted ivy they bred in company with S.paradisea and a few of Ch,atricilla. The number of eggs Varied from one to three, but the latter seemed the regular number, The nests were usually at least a rod apart, though occasionally nearly touching. (Muskegat Id.). About @ hundred on a sand bar near High Ground: they were apparnetly mated, each pair sitting close to- gethera and also flying together. I saw a number flying to) about with small fish held erosswise in their bills; they will not breed for sometime,however, When sitting on the sand bars they had a habit of raising their wings over their backs and exposing them to the breeze, (Mar— Ston’s Mills,Mass,), ta = a @ . % . 2 f ; id Arr te A Frye Ue ASP, ji Sterna hirunda, Rye Beach, New Hampshire. 1871. i (Aug.30) During a heavy fog a number of these Terns passed through the marsh, One alighted among my Teal deeoys (wooden “stools”) and was shot. 1872, Aug. 12, One shot on the Eel Pond, ad a5. Three seen on the Fel Pond, 1874, (June 26). > 2, July 4. ® 4. %, om. | 265 Sterna hirundo, A few seen aS [ was erossing the vineyard Sound, and swam as I approached Nantucket, Watehed a number fishing along the shore at the base of the Bluffs, Several dove so near me that I could dis- tinctly see them under water; they deseended a foot or more below the surfaee and sometimes swam several feet before emerging. I could not make out whether they used their wings or not These Terns collect in swams over the shoals of bluc-fish, the latter driving small fish to the surface where the birds see them.seize them, A flock of one hundred or more Terns hovering over the water, dozens plunging down together within a radius of a few yards, presents a most interesting spectacle, On On the average they seem to cateh a fish in about onee in four or five plunges, The notes of this species are: a harsh vibrating ery which seems to express anger or impationee, and a soft satisfied chick, (Nantucket). A pair fishing in the manner of a Gull, skimming along close to the water, and picking up dead fishes with out diving, This species very rarely alights on the water unless wounded, The flocks on the sand bars pre- sent a most beautiful appearance, the black of the crown sharply contrasted with the pearly blue of the mantle. The paired birds invariably sit close together, those along the waters edge washing or prumping themec) ¥en, When a new comer alights among them he is greeted with loud cries of welcome, I have repeated seen a wounded bird whichb had been taken into the boat, immediately begin pluming and arranging his feathers, This happenod to-day with one that had both eyes shot out and a wing broken, The bones of this as well as allied species will bend to almost any extent without breaking, Both sexes incubate, as is shown by the three bare spots on the breast and abdomen, It is diffieult to seeure good Specimens as blood flows profusely from the slightest wound, (Nantucket), Flew all day in multitudes elose in shore under the Bluffs, They invariably fly to the westward when the wind is in that quarter, and often continue doing so for days during whieh none were seen to return until the wind changes to the eastward when they pour back in « steady stream, During these flights they rarely stop to fish by the way. When there is but little wing they are flying about in all directions, usually some distance from shore, (Nantucket), Breedin- by thousands on Muskegat. As I walked ovr the sand hills elouds were continually rising four or five hundred yards ahead, coming directly towards me and cir= eling about high over head, keeping up a deafening racket. If one were shot hundreds would eolleet over him in a few minutes. If a gull appeared they would immediately ' give chase-and continue to harass him as long as he re- mained in the pheaee air, Although the eggers say that that begin to lay about Jume 15, we did not find a single | | ee 4 & A ; : é + . 4 “Fs + . : obs « | t : ; é ® a 3 c g ° . ia : b> ‘ ° 4 t ‘ | . keel : test 6 : © ar - @ G . ye Y ® r ¢€ a . rs q ny ' J ° J “ . t - { 4 ; @ : 4 : ; P 2 e C 4 Lf s ~ eC rO ee + wy © : I ! ; 1874, 266 Sterna hirundo, (July 7), young bird to-day, A marked change has taken place in « 27. 1876, : May 16, 1868, Aug. 29, 1871, July 28, Aug. 26, this colony since my last visit in 1870, and the number of birds at present breeding on the island does not ex~ ceed five per cent of that found then, (Nantucket), About six pair breeding on Green Islands , Maine; they were very shy (see observations under Arctic Tern), A flock of forty or fifty huddled close together on @ Sand bar, many lying down, a few floating in the shallo water washing themselves. When standing the body is exactly horizontal and the bill nearly so, I shot a num- ber, most of them young which were in the proportion to about one to three adults. Their note is similar to that of the adult but shriller and more querulous, Thoy followed their parents about » Squeaking loudly for food. (Nantucket), Swarms of them ay Smith's Point, at least five hun dred being seen in one flock, (Nantucket), Large numbers at Smith¥s point, shot 2 young bird barely able to fly. The habit of carrying fish about in the bill, is a veru general one; I saw both young and old going it to-day, (Nantucket. ), On Smith’s Island thousands of Terns were sitting along the water’s edge, EVery now and then they would rise altogether, in a great sn owy cloud and after a few whells settle again (Nantucket ). Numerous on the Vineyard Sound between Nantucket and Wood’s Holl, Shot a pair perched on the poles of some wires fhey are the first that have been seen here (Chatham,Mass, Rye Beach, New Hampshire. Saw one to-day, and numbers a few days later flying south over the ocean with Larus philadelphia, On stormy days they often passed through the Fel Pond marsh, One seen on the Fel Pond, They are very abundant a mile or more off shore, flying steadily southward in large, loose floecks-and small parties, rarely pausing or turning aside to feed, « “ Pr icii ie] R « 268 Sterna macrura, Quite scaree as compared with the other two. Bred in a separate colony on a strip of perfectly bare sand, Eggs laid usually in a slight hollow, either an accidental depression , or one s eratehed by the birds, but some- times they were deposited on a perfectly smooth surface, The usual number was three, but in one nest we found four. Common breeding on a bare sand bar apart from the 'Wilson’s and Roseate Terns, Habits precisely like that of the Wilson’s Tern, (Muskegat Island,Mass, ). A single specimen killed by Maynard on the sand neck at Muskegat,. About fifteen pairs breeding on Green Islands, Casko Bay, Maine. I concealed myself in the long grass and in an hour'’shot six, There were about half as many | Wilson's Terns on this Island, the difference in the notes of these speties is Slight, and although I noticed the ery of each bird particularly before shooting it, I am not sure that I could distinguish it in all eases. I should say,However, that while S.macrura has all the motes of S.hirundo, that they are harsher and more ran- caus in the latter species, I could not detect the sligk test difference in flight or actions, Neither these hor the Wilson’s Terns would hover over one of their kind that fell on land, although thet did so over a Gull that dropped in the water, The Arctic Terns when woun~ ded were decidedly Vicious and bit my hand foreibly; this I have never Seen the other species do. Both sex- eS of the Wilson’s and the Aretie Tern incubate as is shown by their bare spots. My boatman found a young Tern which I believe to be the Aretie on the Beach at the foot of the Cliffs; T&t kept up a querulous ery of hun= ger or distress, and when put down appeared unable or unwilling to walk, ! 1 | 1 | 2 ? * 4 - . “4 te ~ ; ® > § ; mo © if ty ‘ ‘ 9 . . . é . % ted ; ; eo ' t = € . she] * ad — 2 ¢ © . aA a rn ° . . * © 4 » 6 . > Piss & shed ; t ™ " y ’ ‘ ; ‘ “A FA ‘ Pi = ‘ | - P oo ¢ ss Pe . : 1870. July 1. 1974, June 26, «& Bo, | 269 Sterna paradisea, Bred in company with Lehirundo, but were not nearly so abundant, NeSt perhaps on the average a little more bulky, but otherwise quite similar, Never found them near the beach, however, as with the other birds, but al- ways on the ivy=covered ridges, (Muskegat), Not nearly as numbrous as the Wilson’s Terns but Still abundant, Easily distingusihed from the other species while flying by the long graceful tail, harsh note, and slower, more direet flight; mingled indiserim- inately with Wilson’s Tern (Muskegat Isiand,Mass.), Among numerous Terns fishing along the shore below the Bluffs this species was in the proportion of about one to every twenty-five Wilson’s Terns, It looks smaller than the Wilson’s on the wing, the tail longer, the back pure white, Its wing strokes are also slower and more gracefully performed, [ts ordinary note is a soft mellow hew-it slightly like that of Aegialitis somi- palmatus (Nantueket), Shot eleven and could have killed many more at tho mouth of the Harbor, I identified three notes, the com- monest a mellow pheu like that of the Purple Martin; the second, howmit; the third, a noise exactly like that produced by foreibly tearing a Strong pieee of eotton cloth, This Tern is rather shyer than the Wilson’s and as a rule will hover over dead birds of only its own SpecieS (Nantueket), These with Wilson’s Terns flew all day close to the shore literally in Swarms, during a heavy north-easter. We killed thirty-three of the present species. (Nantuekot. Mueh more abundant on Muskegat than in 1870 » and now representing certainly one half of the colony of Terns breeding there, Saw several at Wood’s Holl, Several about the Bay (Marston’s Mills, Mass.). About twenty pairs apparently breeding on the largor of the Green [slands near Portland, Maine; they were so shy that I did not sueceed in killing one but I am sure of my identification as they repeatedly uttered the cloth ripping note. They kept apart from the other Terns and Sometimes started off together flying in a close flock, : ye Lesed 270 ; Sterna paradisea, : 1875, | (Sept .22) Among the swarms of Wilson’s Terns at Smith’s Point, i we found a few of this species and shot two young in the fy beautiful fall plumage. The young uttered a peculiar twittering note, and also a mellow heu of the old bird. Both young and old were exeeedingly shy. (Nantueket), “ 25, A few at Sm th’s Point. ‘Nantueket). Sterna antillarum. July i. A single pair flying (Muskegat Tsland,Mass,),. ° 11. Found four nests on the Ipswich sandhillsin the _ space of a few acres, The nests were slight hollows in the bare white sand; two of them contained three oggs each, another two (all fresh) while in a fourth was a young bird a few days old and covered with white down, and an egg nearly hatched, Addenda 1870 from F.3,Atkinson, . “ A small colony on the Ipswich Sandhills. Found four nests in an area of two or three acres, The eggs lay in slight hollows in the bare sand. Tn three of the nests they were fresh, the fourth eontained a young bird Just hatehed and one fresh egg. Greatest number of eggs in any nest three, Birds rather shy, hovering ever the breeding ground » Making a great noise. All that I shot were females, Their flisht was extremely graceful, notes a harsh croak and a shrill oit. When flying they looked no larger than Swaiblows, They did net hover over dead or wounded co mpanions, 1874, July 4, Nine flying about the harbor near the wharves, They Look muech smaller than the other Terns, flap their wings more quickly and continuously, plunge from higher eleva- tions (usually about thirty feet), and if they miss their aim rise quickly and drop again, frequently making three or four plunges in half a minute, Hen poising they flap their wings quickly like a Kingfisher. When one was shot it companions paid no attention to it, passing by without Stopping, even when the bird was woun= ded. Maynard tells me, however, that they do sometimes hover in autumn, They have two notes, one loud and high pitehed very like that of the White-bellied Swallow, the other a seolding chatter resembling that of the Wi- Soen’s Tern but weaker. (Nantuekes ), May ¥%. A single bird (Chatham, Mass. ), ° 1s, Large numbers on a sand spit (Chatham, "ass. ), * 17. About one hundred pairs preparing to breed on Vomomoy | $hand Island, Their ordinary note is Killic, killic, killie, but when chasing one another they utter a loud harsh ery resembling the cloth-ripping one of the Roseate Tern. Sometimes a pair would shoot over the beaeh with set wings, inclining gracefully to either Side, the male uttering its cries incessantly. At such times they fiew with arrowy Swiftness, reminding me strongly of Chimney Swifts under similar conditions, Like the Chimney Swifts three individuals are frequently seen flying together, When flying over the water they closely resemble Swallows except in color. Sometimes three or four fishing over @ school of small fry fairly seem to dance in the air with delight, Occasionally a single bird will come along, flying slowly with a very jerky motion, but usually | their wings are moved very gracefull : > y. I saw man ass- ing to and fro with fish in their bills. ee ill q / “ pal “ ay 2 teal Naw fad ‘ > an) ; ©. - ' _ ¢ « 4 : bs 4 ; 3 272 | Sterna antillarum, 1876, (May 17) They settled on the sands at low tide in large flocks, sanetimes mingling with Sandling. On these occasions they were rather shy, flying before T got within gunshot. (Chatham, Mass.), Tydrochelid } f FE een a en a a nC ee ee ee 204 Hydrochelidon surinamensis, 1868, Sept. i» An adult shot on the Eel Pond (Rye Beach,N.H.). 1875, Sept.25, One in a flock of Wilson’s Terns at Smith’s Point. (Nantucket). | | | | f | | ! ! | ! 1867.6 Aug, 30, 1876, May 6. “ ave Stercorarius parasiticus, One chased a Tern, forcing it to drop a fish that it had just caught (Salisbery BeachnMass, ) One (Ghatham, Mass, ), 265 Five or six at Ghatham, The gunners here eall them “Sea Hens” and also “Geedy Hawks”, the latter probably & corruption of “Giddy Hawk, They usually together in pairs, The flight is different from that of a Gull’s, the wing strokes quieker and firmer, while the bird often sails in cireles like a Hawk, We repeatedly saw them pick up food from the water, when they drop their feet and in his respest other respeets perform the action precisely in the manner of 2 Gull. They were perfect- ly silent, The gunners say that they can bo readily caught with = hook and line (Chatham, Mass. )» Sola ‘ Q | ° i « i “t © : . bor | “a | = « “ 8 o% &. © : | ¥ G 4 2 . ; . af Ps Sd Beri rn & : . _ ; . ° e « . a & } t heed x . i Lie . ‘ e a ® ¢ q ° 03 © 2%] sd ° ih e e o + o oa i , ig J Oceanites oceanica, 1874, : July 11, Abundant between Portsmouth and the Ehes Isles of i Shoals, in company with Leaeh’s Petrel, Flight swift, ; Skimming and exactly like that of a Swallow, They lit- erally walked on the surface of the water, taking long Strides, holding the wings horizont lly one half-spread, but usitig them only apparently to the keep their balenee ite In this manner they would often proeeed several rods, ied picking up something by the way, Hy: | ot ae lt as 1871. ! Middlesex County, Mass. i Oct. 8. Shot a female in Fresh Pond. [t came in just as i the day was breaking, and after flying about low over : the water for a few moments, alighted and began pluming itself and sipping the water. It was very tame, Stee | Cymochorea leucorrhoa, it ) Cymoechorea leucorrhoa, 1874, duiv ii. 5 Petrels between = x Numerous in company with Wilson Portsmouth Isle of Shoals, and | i 1 | i i] 279 I Podiceps holbolli, i 1867, Sept.4. Shot an adult in breeding plumage. It was swimming ¢lose to the beach and was very tame, several shots boing fired at it before it was finally killed. (Plymouth,Mass) | 1974, : | Feb, 23, H,B.Bailey secured a specimen at Wards Island, Bos- (| ton Harbor, [It had been killed there about a week pre= a Vicusly, | Feb, 24 Goodale has one which was caught alive on Boston Harbor, Mar. 29, A specimen shot &t Fox Island on the coast of Maine; | and sent me in the flesh by Mr,Hardy, had the iris plain yellow; the bill dark brown with the basal half of the lower mandible and sides of amxilla at base, dull yellow; inner side of tarsi and toes, blotched with orange; Mi) the gizzard distended by the usual ball of feathers. Mr.Hardy calls my attention to the bare space on the inns | Side of the carpal joint which he thinks is produced by ie the birds using the wing in walking or rather flapping i along the ground, all i ! ! i A +a 1) ss te Ea | ‘ ZS 2 re e re) . a8) © 5 n Se] 4D bay | © C | yO | ww ™ - ay ” ma .. | 2 c | cs | cau) | at © | > = | i o | ) } qd ra © bus PY Podiceps cornu we = 281 | Podiceps cornutus i 1881, dan, 3, Two near a rock at the entrance of Swampscott Harbor were very shy and acted egactly like Bied—billed Greebes, = = ETS j ! ! i | 1869, Oct. Nov, 1871. Sept.15.5 Oet. 30. 1874, July 21. 1876, Sept.27. 1879, Oct, 6, ll. A2. | Pond, where he has been seen daily for nearly a month, Podilymbus podiceps. Middlesex County, Mass, Three (Fresh Pond), Shot two on the Glacialis, one an adult with a blaek _ throat pateh, One (Fresh Pond), Several on Fresh Pond the last, They are exeecd-= ingly difficult to shoot diving and orly showing a por- tion of the head above water and often disappearing all- _ together, however smooth the surface may be, apprehensive of danger they float lightly showing more of the body than many of our Bueks, When not It is difficult to foree them to fly; when they do so » however, they r ise rather awkwardly but when fairly started proceed swiftly with the neck stretched out to its full length the head continually turning from side to side. Abundant on Concord River during the past week, Tre Stomach of one which I examined contained a bream nearly five inches in length besides the invariable pellet of feathers, One has taken up his abode in a certain cove in Fresh — He is so exeeedingly shy and cunning that no one ean shoot him, Three (Fresh Pond), They have been abundant for the past two weeks, One shot at Concord to-day has been seen in the same place in the river for a month past. It was very fat. Saw one swimming in Charles River, Waltham, Shot one on Coneord River. It was rather tame, Five on Coneord River, pany. I paddled within sho and killed ome with each bar three playing about in con~ iy I watehed them rrom the They were active and playfu ming about, ing there as freely as Showing only the top of his head when he two that I killed had the irideshazel, the M Podilymbus podiceps. Middlesex County, Mass. (0¢+.6) | hazel,, the naked snik around the eye yellow, The stom. achs contained the usual balls of feathers, That of one in addition a nearly perfeet and undigested fish about two inehes long; of the other fragments of what I took to be small mussel shells, ° 20, Saw no less than eight of these pretty little Greebes on Concord River, Three were in sight at one time, Most of them were shy and took to diving before we got within range, When not apprehensive of danger they float high on the water and look larger than they really are. One which we saw some distance ahead sail- ing in mid-stream, dove and did not appear again, Oppo-~ | Site the spot was a dense growth of button bushes grow ing in shallow water, Suspeeting that the bird had Wy Sought shelter among them I paddled quietly along the edge scanning every inch of water. At length I diseov- ered the little fellow within two yards of me, His body was not submerged but it was flattened on the yater and his head and neek stretched out level on the surface, Under the shade of the overhanging foliage he looked like a Withered lily-pad, only the twinkle of his bright eye betraying him. As long as I continued paddling he ree mained motionless but after we had passed £:c stopped and turned my head quiekly when he instantly dove, leaving scarcely a ripple, | 1880. k Oet, 29, Two on Goncord River, looming on upn the surface | as large as blaek Ducks, | 1882, ‘ Oct. 22. Two of these Greebes have haunted the River in i) _ front of the house for the »ast two weeks, They can be mi | Seen at any hour of the day floating in mid-stream or di- | Ving near the beds of weeds, At a distance they look as i large as Ducks but when approached simk lower and lower until only the head and neek are Visible, Further down the river, I came upon two others to-day. One of them i rose with a large fish held crosswise in his b@ll, and apperently tried to swallow it but its companion pressed | it so closely, attempting to steal the prize, that it was i _ prevented from doing so for sometime during whieh the pur- Sucr and pursued skurried over the surface, half: swimming ial half flying, and Constantly doubling and turning, | 1882, Sept,.28, Numbers on Concord River, sly and wary as usual, floating bueyantly on the water when at a distance, show- img only their necks as we approached, and finally sink- | | ing beneath the surface and afterwards raising only their | heads to watch us as we passed, = ' » a Oo , “i y © * i F . o ] > |} } ° 2 > t A ’ ~~ = * : + 1 é - : 8 4 . 4 “4 ; . « & « Of . | | g ¢ I i ¢ I « ind x Sa ww U Lcvw Ci rae) m aa oO »eO 1s Feed hy oO © c & © re aN) Podilymbus podiceps, i 18754 | Sept,23,. One in a small fresh-water pond, I crept within good range and fired both barrels at him, Instead of diving he fhapped off along the surface, making for the middle of the Pond, Whe:. at a safe distance he stopped, and floating high on the water, and uttering a low mel= lew honk, almost like thatof a Goose, (Nantucket), Naa acne li diay 71 tein a at lait daa ke aN CDE ARR BR eee, | 286 Colymbus torquatus, Middlesex County, Mass. Oct. 3. One on Fresh Pond, 1869, | May 65, One on Fresh Pond this afternoon, We had a heavy rain storm yesterday, 1870. | ; Nov, 23, One in Fresh Pond this morning, After pluming if ' and washing himself for an hour or two he flew out, if | 1975. : i 7 Apr. &. Shot a Loon on Concord River., We saw him some i distance ahead but he looked so small that we took him to be a whistler. Brushing the boat we paddled to- wards him, As we approached he turned and swam direete a ly for uS, probably taking the boat for a small island, if and actually coming within thirty yards of us, Ahthough Hy in good condition he weighed only six pounds, He was in nearly full plumage but still moulting, 1879, May 5. Saw two swimming together near the middle of Fresh Pond, | i * 6, The two seen yesterday were in Fresh Pond again this ll morning. S Te Ae : A . - . 4 > 5 ae * “ red . * « , a & : > : . 1873, June 15, ‘ ies > Lake af many Loons, Shot ghed el water; Lm tae0,. [had ito- IT a erore captured? 0a r ound fo: + aa PA wa & ~P £ pi ; <0 ~ (o) “ Se i ad eed rea cae See 1867, Sept,27, 1868, Aug. 16, 1870, Sept.2-10. 24g e 1876. Apr. 14. Colymbus torquatus, Very numerous, (Plymouth,¥ass.), Several to-day, but as late as September 1 they had not begun to “fly” (Rye Beach, N.B. ). Commo n on all the ponds and lakes here. We heard their eries at all hours of the night but seldom in the day time, (Forks of the Kennebee ,Maine ) e At Rindge, New Hampshire, a few miles north of the Massachusetts line we were told that Loons breed Season on Some neighboring ponds, every Saw two at Poimt Lepreaux,N.B, to-day, A number at Point Lepreaux,N.B, Numerous at Chatham, Mass, , ealling frely. Numerous , one ealling (Chatham, Mass.), ! | | | | | ! teed Lene? fatal an Seine tone Me ‘ tut “4 : * s re towel I - ‘4 ® © * ot “ ‘ we 7 ay . ‘ 4 . * & an + as ¥ *> ‘ . 4 olel roy ~ t ' t ry ° ¢ aA 2 be 2 ‘ a « e e 6 © os b * . © Colymbus arcticus, 1876, Apr. 17, Mr.Thomas, the light-keeper at Point Lepreaux,N.B,. i assures me that he shot one of these birds there several years ago, | | q q | j | 1 1874. Nov, 20. 1876, Apr. 17. Colymbus septentrionalis, One in the river at Ipswich was very shy diving a long distance ahead of us, Saw several flying; they look much smaller than the northern diver and the neck appears Very Slender, (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). 292 7 - = aoe 2 SS SS Mergulus alle, 1871. Middlesex County, Mass, Nove 15. A heavy easterly gale prevailed all day, with dri- | Ving sheets of rain and the highest tide known for years, Driven before this storm multitudes of little auks sought refuge in the fresh water ponds and river all along the New England Coast, In Fresh Ponds they were killed bu dozens, coming in us ally by two’s or three’s but some- times in flocks of thirty or forty. They were very tame although sometimes restless, Several were killed with li the oars and others caught alive, They floated lightly on the water frequently rising eree t and flapping their wings. They were continually dressing their plumage, | turning nearly over on their baeks to do this, When | Shot at and killed they invariably turned over on their i backs and floated with the white breast up, If missed 1 they usually flew to the other end of the pond, When | one of two or three was shot the survivers usually dove coming up again within a few yards; but the largest i| flock when fired into eommonly left the pond, Their i powers of diving were apparently limited, for they did \ not remain under tegd long, and rarely swam far beneath ‘| the surface. Their flight was slow, rather labored and, i as several of our gunners remarked, strikingly like a i Wood-ceck’s, They rose from the water with little dif- ficuity. On Charles River in Cambridge they swarmed, Many were killed on Mystie Pond, Arlington, and large numbers on Punkapog Canton, They were taken as far i up the Merrimac River as Lewrenee, on Chituate Lake, iy and in short nearly every pond and river within twenty Miles of the coast. On Concord River they occured in large flocks and were much exhausted many being picked up dead, Some were seen alive there as late as the 19th, Several shot on Fresh Pond the 16th and 17th had their Stomachs filled with young Alewifes, Only one out of twenty-seven which I skinned was fat, while the majority were fairlyimaciated, Many were picked up in an exhaus-~ ted condition in fields, meadows, and even city streets, i In Canton seven were found Swimming in a puddle in a far- 4 mers barnyard, 4 1876, | Fob, 24. One picked up in exhausted condition in Lexington February 21 by a farmer, Nov. 20, | A heavy north easter, the wind blowing a perfect gale all day prostrating telegraph poles, over throwing - / Shaky buildings and doing much damage among the shipping. | Rail fell in torrents from day light till weld into the Bight and the country was flooded, In short this storm was nearly a counterpart for that of November --, 287/--, and similarly was accompanied by an imroad of Little Auks (On the 2ist, 22d, and 23d a few were seen in this vieini- ty and one or two shot, The floek was reported on Mys- _ tie River, I did not hear of any taken very far inland, ‘ " : C « is . i _ ~ had ‘ ; . tad ‘ i , 294 Merglus alle. 1876, Feb. 24, Mr.Joyce tells me that this bird occurs regularly in plymouth bay every winter, and thatvit is always com- mon there at that season, 295 Uria gryllié. 1876, Apr. 12. Numerous at Point Lepreaux,N.B., scattered about singly on the water. All were in adult plumage; they were exceedingly shy and rose easily from the water, flying close to the surface exactly like an Old Squaw, but faster than ahy Duck of my acquaintance and zig-zag- ing a little at times, - 18, Watched a pair through the glass for sometine; they made a clean dive like a Loon, leaving only a faint ring on the water, (Point Lcepreaux,N.B.). ° . They invariably skim close to the surface of the water inclining to the right or left every few yards and alight exactly like a Coot. (Point Lepreaux,N.B.). 296 ra <5 < aca oe = < eee x ae Se ens re Wie < —— ee a —- 7 ci 4 Ue 4 — x Se ks = a Se = = rt, Soe ae ee =o SS Se eee = er ae ee ars Ee ance SS ge Pe cif jp. S— ie arco Ca ¢e ce } yoy aay ain SOUL ANP Tels \rcompeerey, ees iieay ee wi Ree ACN te cle eM Thin ah ey Laue eee tae om Tae ion i ey on enone mer bo fe igee SieTeN VOT Ny py HONE eel ; TINT Phy Tal 7 6. i} rays en] PAY eth Hee A AI ates kb AF ey ih} (oh Ra I) (eM! 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