An Ornithologist’ s Summer in Labrador M- Abbott Frazar. Numenius hudsonicus , Hudsonian Curlew. Not a rare August migrant. O.&o. XII. Mar. 1387 . P. 3 S. Birds within Ten Miles of Poii,\ de Monts, Can, Cte>meau& Merriam 99. Numenius hudsonius. Hudsonian Curlew. — Rather rare. Mr. Comeau has shot it in August. Bull N. 0. a , 7, Oat, 1832, p, 239 Numenius hudsonicus. Hudsonian Curlew. — One seen at Ingonish. Birds of Toronto, Ontario. By James H, Fleming. Pt . I , Water Bi rds . 105 105. Numenius hudsonicus. Hudsonian Curlew. — Regular mi- grant, not uncommon, May 27 to June 2; the old birds return early in July (July 4, 1904, July 17, 1906), and the young from September 1 to 15, but are very rare. A Peculiar Hudsonian Curlew. — I had supposed that a Curlew with a bill less than 3 inches in length might safely be put down as an Eskimo, but it seems that this is not the case. A bird was shot at Northeast Harbor, Me., September 5, 1912, by Mr. Lynford Biddle of Philadelphia, which was supposed by several persons who saw it in the taxidermist’s shop to be an Eskimo Curlew. Upon writing to Mr. Biddle for inform- ation he very kindly presented the specimen to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. It proved, as he himself had determined it, to be a Hudsonian Curlew ( Numenius hudsonicus) but with the bill, which appeared perfectly normal in other respects, only 2.25 inches in length. This is three quarters of an inch shorter than the minimum given in Ridgway’s ‘ Manual,’ and exactly equals the minimum for the Eskimo Cur- lew. This incident emphasizes the importance of making a careful ex- amination of supposed Eskimo Curlews and not depending too much upon bill measurements. — Witmer Stone, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. ^ Hk 30. April . 1913. p. 270. RyeBeacfr, N.H.3866. Jh« ' ' J#~d ~~ ^ 7 * Rye Beach, N.H. 1871. ^(/^Ur//j ._ C/ <*«. tA. j> tsfitAj . *T Gp.-ffa. /X.^t/. specimen HABITS OF THE HUDSONIAN CURLEW IN MASSACHUSETTS. BY GEORGE H. MACKAY. Of the various shore birds which are visitants to New Eng- land during migration the most difficult to take, on account of its extreme vigilance, is the Hudsonian Curlew (. Numcnius hud- 35 oeing too shy and too limited in number to make it any object, eitherfor gain or for pleasure. During these seventeen years there have never been more than one hundred birds on an average liv- ing on the above islands each year, and for the past few years I have noticed a falling off from this number. Many of them have, I think, passed one or more summers on these islands, for they appear about the same date and in the same numbers, frequent- ing the identical localities, and flying from place to place in about the same manner. Thirty-five years or more ago there used to be many more than at present, and according to a reliable account there were some fifteen hundred birds, during the summer of 1833, living on the two islands. They were apparently as shy then as now, for even then it was considered essential in order to take them to mortise a hole in the ground for concealment in the locality which they frequented or passed over, care being taken to remove the soil taken out to some distance in a wagon in order that the place might appear perfectly natural. Stands were dug in the centre of a clump of bushes, as being less noticeable. In times past, on Cape Cod, I have used a hogshead, sunken level with the marsh, from which to shoot them, but even under such conditions I never secured more than nine in one day, and that only once. The Hudsonian Curlew is a very observing bird and perceives at once anything strange and out of harmony with the natural surroundings of any locality which it has been in the habit of frequenting, and in order to get a flock up to the decoys considerable care must be exercised. Single birds or pairs will, however, decoy fairly well if they have not been harassed. These birds have a way of set- ting their wings stationary and sailing, when headed for the de- coys, at a distance of one hundred yards or more, the flock Birds -within Ten Miles of Pcu,-. de Monts, Can, Goiaeau & MerriaL 98. Numenius borealis. Eskimo Curlew. — Common in August and September. Bull, N, O, Q f 7, Oot, 1882, p, 239 leak, XIII, April, 1896, p , / &X , Sundry Notes. — New London, Prince Edwards Island, Sept. I, 1872. Mr. William Everett of Dorchester, Massachusetts, saw to-day a flock of about fifty Eskimo Curlew ( N umenius bo realist which had that day landed in a field where a man was ploughing. This man informed him that thev weie veiy tame and had been following the furrows picking up and eating earth-worms. This Mr. Everett saw them do, after which he shot fifteen by walking up to them. On examination he found that all those shot were poor, having no fat. fMAc/ia-y n Birds of N.E. coast of Labrador by Henry B. Bigelow. 50. Numenius borealis. Eskimo Curlew. — The Eskimo Curlew are hardly a remnant of their former numbers. I made careful inquiries among the settlers, and obtained the following rather interesting informa- tion : (1) The curlew remained in all their former numbers, in spite of the persecution to which they were subjected, until eight years ago. (2) They then appeared no more. I heard of only about a dozen, which were seen on the coast this fall. Of these I saw five. Auk, XIX, Jan., 1902, p.29. Birds of Toronto, Ontario. By James H. Fleming. Pt.I, Water Birds. Auk , XXIII, Oct., I90G , n.451 . 106. Numenius borealis. Eskimo Curlew. — There are two speci- mens, said to have been taken on Toronto Island in 1864, in the museum of the Geological Survey at Ottawa; the authority is Mr. S. Herring, who mounted the birds. The Eskimo Curlew can never have been more than accidental on Lake Ontario. I have carefully examined all the material available, and have so far found only two more records, one in the Mcllwraith collection taken at Hamilton, 1 I think an adult; the other was taken at Wolf Island, near Kingston, Ont., October 10, 1873, and is marked “female.” I think is it a young bird; it is now in the British Museum. 1 Mcllwraith, Birds of Ontario, 1894, 160. TiojX-sZcniJj JdcmcocA Co, ■ A Recent Record for the Eskimo Curlew. — On November 22, while at the University of Maine, I noticed among the accessions to the Museum a very fine specimen of the Eskimo Curlew which had been recently mounted. This bird is a male and was taken at Hog Island, Hancock County, Maine, on September 2, 1909, by Mr. Cyrus S. Winch, the taxidermist for the University. This is the first record of the species along the Maine coast for several years. Mr. Winch also had a Hudsonian 'Curlew taken at the same locality by a fisherman a day or so before he arrived there. — Ora Willis Knight, Bangor, Me. Auk 27. Jan- 10IO p. Nantucket , 1870. Aug. 30. Numen ius boreal is . Ma sb. Near the sou&h shore on the smooth turf we found a flock of eleven feeding, but they were too shy to be approached. The Eskimo Curlew has of late years been far from plentiful on Cape Cod. There was quite a flight of them and Golden Plover on the afternoon of the first Sunday in September. The boys had to resort to a vigorous singing of psalm tunes to keep from pop- ping at them. Liimico 1 ae in Bristol County. H. F. Dexter, Dartmouth, Maes. Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis. Rarely seen ; two instances have been recorded, Sep. ISth, 1881 (Dexter) and Sep. 21st, 1883 (Mil- ler). O.&O. XIl.Sej?t. 1887 p.148 Birds of Bristol County, Mass. P.W. Andros. Numenius borealis (Forst.), Eskimo Curlew. Migrant, rare. 0,&0. XII. Sept. 1887 p.!39 General Motes The Migration of Numenius borealis in Massachusetts in 1892. — Although there was at the right time considerable weather sufficiently severe to deflect and land Golden Plover ( Ckaradrius dominions ), either it was insufficient to cause a like result on such powerful fliers as Eskimo Curlews, or none were passing our coast at the time. I have consequently but a meagre record to present. At Nantucket on the afternoon and during the night of Aug. 26, it blew hard (at rate of 37 miles an hour) with rain. On the next day two birds were shot, two were seen also on Tuckernuck Island; these were the first birds of the season. None were seen between this date and Sept. 1, when one rather lean bird was shot; the wind was west to north, a fresh breeze, late in the afternoon it backed to northeast. My next record was on Sept. 6 when five birds were shot on Tuckernuck Island, and three seen and one shot on Nantucket. No more were noted until Sept. 15, on which date three were seen and one killed on Nantucket. On the afternoon of the 14th the wind was strong, southeast, increasing to rate of 35 miles an hour at midnight, with hard rain. Towards morning of the 15th the wind changed to northwest, a light breeze. These instances cover all the birds noted during the entire season on the above islands. Mr. William Everett of Dorchester, Mass., who visits Prince Edward Island regularly every year, informs me that seven Eskimo Curlew were shot at Alberton, and one at Darnley, on or about Aug. 28, which were all that he heard of during the entire season. — George H. Mackay, Nantucket, Mass. Auk X, Jan, 1893. p.79. Vol. Xin 1894 J General Notes. 75 The 1893 Migration of Charadrius dominicus and Numenius boreal is in Massachusetts. — Nantucket, August 20, 1893. Lowering sky and southeast wind. While driving over the western portion of the island, I saw in the distance eighteen birds which I thought were a flock of American Golden Plovers. I had been advised that such a flock had been seen in that neighborhood on the 18th inst. The wind was light southeast with severe rain in the night from nine o’clock p.m. until two A. M. August 21. I was out very early ; raining hard; wind increasing and backing to northwest at four a. m., reaching a velocity of fifty to sixty miles an hour, the storm being very severe. I remained out until noon, seeing only two Golden Plovers and one Eskimo Curlew, and I shot one of each. These were the first birds shot here this season. This storm extended by actual reports two hundred miles south of Nantucket. It cleared at 10.30 p. m. in the evening with wind nearly west. August 22. Wind light southwest to west; no birds. August 23. Wind southeast, threatening; no birds. August 24. Up at four o’clock a. m. Rain commenced about five o’clock, and lasted until nine o’clock a. m., raining very hard at intervals; velocity of wind about 50 miles an hour. It then cleared, wind remain- ing east and east by south, still blowing very hard. No birds. August 26. Clear, good breeze, southwest and west; think it has been foggy at sea. I was out four hours driving over the plover ground but only saw one Golden Plover. I have heard from the islands of Tucker- nuck and Muskeget and no birds have been seen. August 27. Foggy around the islands; light warm southeast wind dur- ing the early portion of the day; later south to south by west and very foggy ; almost calm ; no birds. August 28. Thick weather all last night; no change of wind. Drove over the ground ; no birds; warm. August 28 and 29. Pleasant weather ; full moon at night; wind west. Went all over the ground again but no birds. August 30 and 31. Clear and pleasant; no birds. September 1. A number of flocks of Plovers were reported to have been heard passing over the island last night; none stopped. The only Plover here are a flock of thirty-five located in a certain preserved field, and a small flock of twelve; nine of these were shot on Sept. 9. I drove over the western ground on the 9th and 10th of September but did not see any birds. September 11 and 12. Pleasant weather; drove over the ground but no birds. September 13. While driving over the western ground saw nine Golden Plovers from the above preserved field; weather calm, wind light south by west and southwest. From the 13th to the 16th I drove out daily, but saw no birds. On the 16th I saw a flock of four Golden Plovers and shot two of them. They Shore Birds of Cape Cod. John C. Gaboon. Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis , (Forst.) Dough-bird on Cape Cod. A rare spring and common summer and fall migrant. The bird rarely, if ever, visits the Cape in the spring and I do not know of one instance of its being taken or seen. This is one of the birds that is the most irregular in appearance on our coast. It is seen at intervals from July 15th to October 1st. The occurrence of this bird in any great numbers depends entirely upon the wind and weather, for if we have a heavy gale from the east or south-east of a few day’s duration dur- ing the latter part of August, or in September, we are sure to have one or more flocks stop. As soon as the wind shifts about so as to be favorable for their southward migration most of the number will depart but a few individuals will remain for a considerable length of time. There were a great many flocks of these birds, in company with Golden Plover, passed over the Cape in the latter part of August, 1883. I saw large flocks high in the air flying in over the land in a south-easterly direction at Brews- ter. I learned of quite a number of Eskimo Curlews being taken at Eastham, Orleans, and other localities at this same date. In Septem- ber of the same year I found them common on , /./So- r* , * . Monomoy Island, and heard of their being so at Chatham. Since that time there have been no flights of any consequence, and for the past three seasons they have been quite scarce, i They frequent old fields and pastures, often several miles from the shore, and feed on ber- ries, grasshoppers, crickets and other insects. They occasionally go on to the dry salt marshes and there too they find an abundance of grass- hoppers and insects. On Monomoy Island they are found on the sand hills about the gray moss that covers a large portion of the Island. 1 have a specimen that was shot out of a flock of Sandpipers on the dry sand beach at Monomoy Island Sept. 10, 1887. Like the other Curlews, they fly high and swiftly, their wings moving with great rapidity, and the flock usually takes the form of the letter V in flying, thus resem- bling some of our water fowl. While in the air they keep up a continual whistling, which is not as loud as the Hudsonian. Many writers give the name by which this bird is known in New England as “Doe-bird.” It should be written “Dough-bird,” which does not change the sound. The reason that it is called by this appellation is on account of its fatness, which give a soft and yielding feeling, like dough up- on handling. They are well flavored and being- very fat and of good size, command a price ; nearly double that of any other shore bird. ' Gunners realize as much profit from these birds in several day’s shooting, when they are plenty, as they do in a season's shooting of other birds. ! O &0. XIII. Oct. 1888 p. 153-4 Numenius borealis (Forst.). Eskimo Curlew. Brighton. Hass. 1885-95. September . Since the publication of my "Birds of the Cambridge Region", I have learned of the capture of an Eskimo Curlew in the marshes on the Brighton side of Charles River, about opposite the Cambridge Cemetery. This bird was shot early in September, a number of years ago, by Mr .Win. D. Gooch. Unfortunately it was not preserved, out it was examined, soon after it had been killed, by Mr. George N.Lamb who unhesitatingly pronounced it to be a 'Doe-bird'. Although not, like his brother Charles, a trained ornithologist, Mr. George Lamb has had large experience as a sportsman, especially with the waders and water-fowl which frequent the coast of New England. At the time of examining Mr. Gooch's bird he was perfectly familiar with the points of difference between the Eskimo and Hudsonian Curlews, ha repeat- edly killed both species during shooting excursions to Cape Cod. In view of these facts I am inclined to place full reliance in the cor- rectness of his identification of the Curlew obtained in the Long- fellow marshes. Mr. Gooch has no record of the date of its capture, but he remembers distinctly that he shot it on a 'Labor Day', and that the weather was "thick" at the time. He is equally sure that the year was not later than 1895, nor earlier than 1885. All this I learn from Mr. Charles R.Lamb - on February 17, 1907. W i 1 1 i am B r ew s t e r . tvryfar? Eskimo Curlew taken at Newburyport, Mass.— I purchased of Mr. John ; ? rdy ° f * he Boston Market, a male Eskimo Curlew ( Numenius borealis) taken at Newburyport, Mass., by A. B. Thomas, August 27, 1908 He shot two, but the other bird had its head so badly shot that it could not e made into a skin. John E. Thayer, Lancaster, Mass. Auk 20, Jari -it»ue yz Eskimo Curlew ( Numenius borealis) in Massachusetts. — On Sep- tember 5, 1913, an Eskimo Curlew was taken on the marsh at East Orleans, Mass., by Mr. John Greenough Rogers. The bird was alone and when taken the weather was thick and raining with an east wind, and since the afternoon of the day before the wind had been northeast to east with rain most of the time. After the bird was shot, what appeared like hardened whitish grease formed at the nostrils. The centre feathers of the under tail-coverts and the under sides of the ends of the tail feathers were stained a purple color. There was nothing in the stomach but the bird was very fat. The specimen was preserved and is now in my collection. — Charles R. Lamb, Cambridge, Mass. SO, Oct 1013. p. /, Long Island Bird Notes N.T. Lawrence 14. Numenius borealis. Eskimo Curlew. — During a period of about twelve years’ Bay Snipe shooting at Far Rockaway and vicinity, I have only four records of this bird, — one September 12, 1875, one September 10, 1876, and two September 26, 1884. Auk, 2, July, 1886. p.273 Notes concerning certain Birds of Long Isl., Numenius borealis. A bird of this species ( $) was shot at Rockaway N » f • Beach Sept. 14, 1902, by Mr. Robt. L. Peavey of Brooklyn and is now in his collection of mounted birds, and has been examined by the writer. Mr. W. F. Hendrickson in a recent communication to Mr. William Dutcher referred to a strange bird which was shot from a flock of about fifteen as they were passing along the beach, near Zach’s Inlet Life Saving Station on August 29, 1903. From the description furnished Mr. Dutcher was inclined to believe the bird one of this species and referred the matter to me for investigation. The captain of the life saving crew, Philip K. Chichester, who saw the bird, is certain the bird was an “English Fute,” that is, an Eskimo Curlew. The life-saver is an old-time gunner who in former times saw the bird in much greater num- bers than it is now known to occur anywhere. There seems to me no reasonable doubt that this bird, which unfortunately was promptly plucked and eaten, was also a specimen of the Eskimo Curlew. William £ . Braislin, II. D. , Brooklyn, N.Y. Aais, XXI, A -r. , 190 p . z$f. A Correction: Concerning the Occurrence of Numenius borealis on Long Island. — In ‘The Auk,' XXI, 1904, p. 289, two specimens of the Eskimo Curlew were erroneously recorded from Long Island. Both were evi- dently the young of the Hudsonian Curlew ( Numenius hudsonicus). That reported as in the collection of Mr. Robt. L. Peavey is certainly this species. The bill of this curlew was under 3 inches in length and it was carelessly referred to borealis- The elimination of these records apparently shifts the date of the last known occurrence of this species on Long Island to September 26, 1884, when two were killed at The Rockaway by Mr. Newbold T. Lawrence (Auk, II, 1885, p. 273). — William C. Braislin - Auk, 24, July, 1907, P 3*/ M. D., Brooklyn, N. Y. Eskimo Curlew. — It is rather with a sense of reluctance that I send the following record, knowing the suspicion which is bound to arise but, being an enthusiastic gunner myself, I think it may prove of some interest to that very small body of ornithologists who know anything about shore birds. The record is that of the much discussed Eskimo Curlew. It is only within the last year that I realized that this species was nearing extinction. Such a blunder, however, I consider excusable when I take up any recent text-book or list and find this species still mentioned as our most abundant curlew. I understand, however, that the last record of this species from Long Island was in 1884, or 26 years ago. It seems incredible that for 20 years the absence of this species should have passed without remark, unless it be explained, as the present record must be, on the grounds that every gunner supposed these birds were common enough but that he had never happened to see one. In ‘The Auk,’ Vol. XXI, p. 79, I recorded a flight of Hudsonian Godwit on the 31st day of August, 1903. That was the morning after a heavy three days’ storm, and on that day a friend of mine, an experienced gunner, shot an Eskimo Curlew at Quogue, L. I. 1 paid small attention to it at the time, believing it to be a fairly common bird. There can be little doubt that this record is correct. I understand that the record in ‘The Auk,’ Vol. XXI, p. 289, of a bird of this species shot on Sept. 14, 1902 is in- correct. However, it is a strange coincidence that Dr. Braislin, on the /V same page, refers to one shot from a flock of about 15 as they were passing along the beach, near Zach’s Inlet on August 29, 1903. The storm con- tinued on August 30, clearing on the 31st, when the flight above noted took place at Quogue, the birds coming from the west. Zach’s Inlet is about 40-50 miles west of Quogue, so that it would seem that Dr. Braislin’s record and mine would fit in rather well together. There seems to me no doubt that this bird was a specimen of the Eskimo Curlew. — Frederick Wm. Kobbe, New York City. JMk 2S, Jan -1911, p. //£, | Auk, XIV. Apr., 1897, P p-3'W. ITuinen ius boreal is . The 1896 Migration of Gharadrius dominious. and Ilumen ius boreal is in Massachusetts. George H.Mackay, Nantucket , Mass. See under Gharadrius dominions . Auk, XV, Jan., 1898, ppn'^-3. Ninon ius borealis . The 1397 Migration of the Golden Plover ( Gharadrius dominious ) and the Eskimo Curlew ( Nuraenius borealis ) in Massachusetts. George H.Mackay, Nantucket, Mass. See under Gharadrius dominious . Eskimo Curlew in Massachusetts.— I am informed by Mr. E. H. Ives of Boston that a flock of about fifty Eskimo Curlew ( Numenius borealis) was seen last spring (May 17, 1916) at Chub-Head Sands, near the mouth of the Rowley River between the towns of Ipswich and Rowley, Mass. A letter to Mr. Ives from J. E. Short (not dated) says, “ I should say there were fifty of them — they stayed around two days. Charles Bartlett saw them (also) and he said he had n’t seen any for 15 years.” Both Short and Bartlett are “ clammers ” and have been experienced, shore-bird gunners in the past. Air. Ives has talked with both these men and others at Rowley and feels certain that there was no mistake in identi- fication. — John C. Phillips, Wenham, Mass. xx x in, ^ ^ 3 y. ' '?---y &£~- ~ — ' z r , — . — ^ zuy&tC-z-^a/ /y/hs^S-c^y/-. oy ?/ /ssr. , S%- / // s /?. /? / ^LS y? 7 .. \/~ i ' •"?. / ,. s" /?.... -S'TZ-', ■ '^' f J?'"? C ~ !' ^J /u ?, /y S??£a>/^- . '^/7rC - S>/rsy* , , S^S . s? <* • '?//SSS ** : S- . 'Sssyr« /yl/c^.. ?s’ sic &0> Birds of Toronto, Ontario. By J aues H. Fleming. Pt.I, Water Birds. Aul; , XXIII, Got., 1906, p.443. 76. Crymophilus fulicarius. Red Phalarope. — Regular migrant in the fall, rare; all I have examined are young birds, September 12 to Nov- ember 14, but in the museum of the Geological Survey at Ottawa there is a full plumaged bird said to have been taken here. This is probably the commoner of the three phalaropes, and is usually taken among duck decoys Auk, .XIII, April, 1896, p , 173 , Crymophilus fulicarius in Maine.: — It seems worth while to make a note of the capture of some recent specimens of the Red Phalarope ( Crymo - p/tilus fulicarius) on the southwestern coast of Maine, not only because the bird is uncommon there, but because data as to the exact time of its occurrence are not at all full. An adult female in fine plumage was taken on Peak Island, Portland Harbor, on May 17, 1892, and is now in my col- lection. Two other specimens were sent to me in the flesh from York Beach, May S, 1893. — Henry II. Brock, Portland, Me. ?%L ^LzZy J/t '.'•/. . is. 0~s <- ■ / '^' ? ~- S i ~ e ~/’ / 7*T^^->-»-~- ^P~^c/ iZk-^Zn ' ^7 ^/^2*-7—e— £?tdcZf s*2^_ / ! *3^‘z72^2-'*-- ^'/- z^h-^yy />?_ ijf^X y^ft 1 - /$~}rz yrf? /z^yC^p^ — y*P?7~; -^zz-^^ey ^^yz-^-ely. yyyy.y-- yz£yy~ y ,^^y~ Jy~ jy&^y -r [^cZ^ _ cf /yy u~ul.(j*C* 6 jU^u 1 gufczr &zr, /'K-zVvYJ 3 't^'Vvvi^^L JrJyJ/^A, ^vw^i J ^ X< < ■ . - •> ^ , / . ••- ?*^ 7 /«7 — <7 ^»lvi (f:e. sz^+~* ^ — /^ 4 - £u 27 Shore Birds of Oape Cod. JohnC.Cahoon. lied Phalarope, Crijmophihts fulicarius (Linn). Whale Bird on Cape Cod. A rare spring mi- grant. This bird arrives in the spring at the same time as the following species ( Phalaropus lobatus ) with whom it associates in its mi- grations, and like the latter is not regular in its appearance on the Cape coast. • Q.&O. XIII, Aug. 1888 p. 12JL. October 9th I shot a Red Phalarope in a small fresh water pond near Salt Meadows, and on November 2nd a second one in a channel be- tween the flats and the outer beach. This bird is a rare visitor to our Cape Cod coast, and I have never before seen one in the autumn. O • Notes on Certain Water Birds George H. Mackay. in. Mass. 1894 J Mackay, Notes on Certain Water Birds. 22^ Mi. Marcus W. Dunham of Tuckernuck Island informed me that on May 2, 1893, he saw a good many Red Phalaropes ( Crytn op Zulus fulicarius ) between Muskeget and Tuckernuck Islands. Auk XI. July. 1804 p. 226 JZ ? i'fssys. Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulcarius) .— On May 2, 1909, I shot a male specimen on the Guerned beach, Duxbury, Mass. The bird even at that date was in the extreme immature or winter plumage with no trace of red. However a few feathers on the back were slightly tipped with tawny. For one or two days previous there had been a rather heavy easterly storm and I suppose it had been driven ashore at that time. At any rate the bird was not tired but strong on the wing, and furthermore was in good condition. It is now in my collection. Though these birds can hardly be called rare on our coast, they are more apt to be taken in the late summer or early fall rather than in the spring. Auk 27 . Apr-1910 p. Z'f. TO^- j^rr- CJLcr ^XX a^e- <£*4- , 'Srrr,- a. ^ce»~ >£— ^/YYY } ^3-^tt-e^-- ^-i**-*-**-^-^* , £/U*; t-YYK ■ ^ ^ 7” / s-£*^fu J > - / /2^ 7 245 . Red Phalarope.— {.Phalaropus fu- ^ Jicarius.) (Linn.) Bp. Rare. September,#**^ Jf. £ Ipt880, Charles F. Wright, of Auburn, ^ IT., captured a fine plumagecl male on the shore of Lake Ontario, Wayne Co., N. Y., during a severe storm. The bird was swim- ming in the lake at the time ; now in the cabinet of F. S. WrighL a£(^d^|i%d p?L882 .p .US Mr. Fred T. Jencks, of Providence, R.L Bird Notes from Long Id. Wm. Dutcher 8. Phalaropus fulicarius {Linn.) Bp. Red Phalarope. May 19, 18S3, I received from Geo. A. Lane, of Shinnecock Bay, a Red Phalarope that had evidently been shot some three or four days. He wrote me, “The bird was alone. I never saw but one before.” Auk, I, Jan,, 1884. p. 3 3 - liOne Island Bird Notee. Wm, Dutcher 6. Crymophilus fulicarius. Red Pi-ialarope. — Mr. G. E. Payne, of New York City, while bay-bird shooting at Shinne- cock Bay, September 26, 1885, procured a female of this species in full winter plumage. He presented the specimen to me, in the flesh, and gave me the following note Of the capture. “My gunner, Charles Lane, first observed the bird, and concluded it to be a stranger. It was quietly feeding, and although we were quite close, it did not appear to notice us. It was alone. It was pronounced a Phalarope,. but none of the members of the Lane family, who are all gunners, remember having seen one like it before.” Auk, 3, Oct., 1886. p. // 3 &. XII, A , 1895 p. 3/3, Crymophilus fulicarius. Red Phalarope.— I shot a female which I found wading in a wet pasture in South Buffalo, September 26, 1894. I thought at the time it was the first for Erie County but. have since obtained another from Mr. Herman Grieb, taxidermist, which is one of two which he shot on separate occasions near Rattlesnake Island, Niagara River, in October, 1892. Have also seen another, taken here, in the collec- tion of Mr. Edw. Reinecke. rQ ON CO CO bt) , ta M <3 tfq o hS . © £.0 © >> g-3 Op; -S* ® 3 <§! 5 >,0 2 bo s c <■ < . pp, A & N s & 0 c CD Xi 'B 0 bo r> 3 CO 3 O C3 r3 CD T) rC PQ C c d O d V B > d Oh >» 6 c n f Phalaropes sntly settling 51, a number seen between irly as abun- to the east- Phalaropes. i, and twelve >ing to feed. ,,1U,C werc seen untu we passed Cape Canso and were off Chedabucto Bay on June 3, when one was seen flying south at 4.30, and three flying east at 5 r. m., they being the last that were noted until rounding Cape North from the eastward, and although I inquired of fishermen at various times, especially at Louisbourg, off Scatari, at Sidney, and at Inganish, I failed to hear of any except a very few stragglers off Scatari Island on the 5th or 6th. I questioned very closely at Inganish and found that these birds usually passed that place, but had not been seen this year. As The Labra The specimen that ' time since in the O. & * we predicted went into It created quite an in scribers and we regr authorized to announce lost to America. An anuoyi ng ty pograj in Mr. Norris’ editora article on the Americ number, (p. 87 ). that the eggs w< in number, generally 1 ed in the note, “ my to believe that ti commonly a set,” but read, “ my experience 1 these eggs are v/ry co of course, was nonsens< A Correction. — In 1 gray Gnatcatcher in th line from the top, inste “ density.” Washington, I). C. 2 34 General Notes. [April If two at 3 p. M. , one between three and four, and five during the following hour, the last being in lat. 43° 25', or 27 miles N. E. by E. half E. from the point of first observation. All were flying E. by N. The following morning, May 26, observations were commenced at foul- o’clock, but no Phalaropes were seen until 5 a. m. when small bunches, estimated to contain, in all, twenty-five birds passed, flying E. by S. A single pair was seen at 1 p. m., and ten were recorded at two o'clock. Single biids were noted at 4 and 6 P. M., and an estimated number of thirty was recorded at the end of the following hour. At 8 p. m. a flock often or twelve was heard as they flew overhead, passing south. The position of the first record of the day was lat. 43 0 30', long. 68° 25', and the distance between the extreme stations of observation was 82 miles, the latitude of the latter being 43 0 47', and the longitude, 66° 33', or a position 18 miles N. W. by W. of Gannet Rock. On the morning of the 27th we were in sight of this island, and as it was nearly calm all day, we only succeeded in passing Cape Sable by sun- set. During the entire morning Phalaropes were seen coming from up the bay and flying southerly, or out to the ooen ocean. They were in Migration of the Red Phalarope ( Crymophilus fulicarius '). — During a four weeks’ cruise to the Gulf of St. Lawrence last spring, I gained con- siderable information concerning the migration of the Red Phalarope. I sailed from Gloucester on May 24, and the first Phalaropes were seen on the following day, being more or less abundant until reaching Cape Breton Island. They were not again seen until, passing Cape North, we entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The exact position of the first birds seen was lat. 43° 2', long. 69° 13', or 132 miles W. by N. of Seal Island on the Nova Scotia coast. At this point seven were seen at 11 a. m., vards night it in rafts upon gunshot, fly a seemed to be e at that par- rning of May ‘jogging’ off f threatening the morning, from two to \o sea. itering Liver- >f Phalaropes ently settling 51, a number seen between jtrly as abun- to the east- Phalaropes. ), and twelve >ing to feed. mui c were seen until we passed Cape Canso and were off Chedabucto Bay on June 3, when one was seen flying south at 4.30, and three flying east at 5 r. m., they being the last that were noted until rounding Cape North from the eastward, and although I inquired of fishermen at various times, especially at Louisbourg, off Scatari, at Sidney, and at Inganish, I failed to hear of any except a very few stragglers off Scatari Island on the 5th or 6th. I questioned very closely at Inganish and found that these birds usually passed that place, but had not been seen this year. As General Notes* Crymophilus fulicarius in Provincetown Harbor, — May 2 1 to 23. 1892, 1 spent at Provincetown, Massachusetts, with Mr. Outram Bangs of Boston. The number of Phalaropes that we observed was so unusual as to seem worthy of record. May 21. — A single Crymophilus found on the edge of a large pond near the town. The bird appeared to be unhurt, but moved about slowly and awkwardly on shore. The weather was rainy and foggy with a steady, strong wind from the east. Fishermen who went out to the weirs north of the town reported ‘ bank birds’ (Phalaropes) very abundant, large numbers of them even alighting on the beach. They said that the birds had been unusually abundant a few miles out at sea for some weeks, but these were the first seen near shore. May 22. — This morning the wind moderated, but a fog set in, bringing with it numbers of Phalaropes. At about 8 A. M. word was brought that the harbor was full of ‘sea geese’ (a name applied indiscriminately to both species of Phalarope). The fog was not very dense and the birds could be seen from shore, flying in large flocks close to the water. They moved mostly toward the northwest, very few being seen to fly in any other direc- tion. It was noticeable that the flocks did not like to cross the long nets or ‘leaders’ stretching from the weirs toward shore directly across the usual line of flight. Although these nets rose only three or four feet above the water, the birds almost invariably turned their flight and followed them for some distance before rising to pass over. At a little after nine the fog cleared, TheTfirds disappearing with it. We^prbbabijTsaw between five hundred and one thousand Phalaropes during the hour that they were in the harbor. May 23.— Thick fog and driving rain with moderate wind until about 8 A. M., after which the rain and wind ceased; but the fog continued nearly two hours longer until driven away by a fresh west wind which rose rather suddenly. Fishermen who landed at 7.30 reported immense numbers of ‘ bank birds ’ resting on the water less than half a mile from shore. This was something entirely unheard of, and created much interest among the men gathered about the wharf waiting for the weather to moderate. The ‘ white bank birds ’ ( Phalaropus lobatus') sometimes come within less than a mile of shore, but the “ brown ones ” ( C. fulicarius) they skid had never before been seen in this region except at sea. Taking a dory we soon found a flock resting on the water only a few hundred yards from the end of the wharf. There were certainly one hundred and fifty individuals in this flock — perhaps twice as many. The number could only be guessed at, as the birds were very restless and much scattered, while new arrivals con- stantly came in to increase the confusion. The flocks moved slowly to windward, bunches of a dozen or more birds continually rising from behind and flying to the front. For the next two hours Phalaropes were constantly in sight, either resting on the water or flying about in every direction, mostly in large flocks, but frequently singly. They were very unsuspicious, allowing the dory to approach within fifteen or twenty yards before taking alarm. Their only note was a single chip like that of P. lobatus , and somewhat resembling a note of Calidris arenaria. While the fog was most dense some of the flocks settled on the water within fifty yards of the ends of the wharves, but as the air cleared they drew away from shore, and later could be seen rising through the rapidly disappearing fog. After circling about until well oriented, they flew off over the town in the most direct line for the open ocean, and when the fog finally cleared none were left in the harbor. A few, however, could still be seen out in the bay where the fog still lingered. It was impossible to get any adequate idea of the number of birds seen during those two hours. Two thousand would be a very low estimate, and I doubt whether double that number would be much too high. Scattered about among the Crymophilus were a few Phalaropus lobatus , in about the proportion of one to twenty. The smaller species was very conspicuous on account of its snowy white breast. This unusual occurrence so near shore of a species almost pelagic in its habits in this latitude, is of course to be accounted for by the sudden arrest of the northward migration by the easterly storm and fog. The latter was probably the more important cause as fog accompanied by a very light wind even, appears invariably to have more influence than wind alone on the movements of migrating Limicolae. — Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., Cam- bridge , Mass. Auk 9 , July, 1892. p. 293-99 General Notes, The Red Phalarope ( Crymofhilus fulicarius ) at Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. — While driving in the western portion oi this island on May I, 1892, my attention was attracted while crossing the beach at the south head of Hammuck Pond to quite a number of small birds (about foity estimated) which, when flying on the waves, resembled the Sanderling ( Calidris arenaria ), and which were hovering just above the water and alighting on it amid the breakers which were rolling in on the beach. I at once recognized that that most graceful of the smaller water birds, the Red Phalarope, or Whale Bird as it is sometimes called, was before me. Never having taken them before, I filled my pocket with cartridges and, hastily jumping from my wagon (leaving my horse, who is accustomed to such pro- ceedings, to take care of himself on the crest of the beach), I ran to the edge of the water and commenced firing; nor was my ardor dampened, although my legs and feet were, after the waves had twice washed over my rubber boots. There was a strong south by west wind blowing at the time, as it had been for a day or so previous, which drifted my dead birds on the shore. The weather for the past week, as it was that day, had been quite cool. The behind it, rising and falling with the waves several feet at a time. Of the fifteen I shot down I saved twelve, one of which was a Northern Phalarope (. Phalaropus lobatus), a female in the adult spring plumage, a most beauti- ful bird, and the first I have taken in this plumage. I could easily have captured more of the Red Phalaropes, but considered I had a sufficiently good series, the birds being in various stages of plumage, except the fully adult. One of the crew of the life-saving station at this end of the island (west), and within a mile and a half of the spot where I shot them, informed me the next day that, on the day previous to the one on which I shot them, he should think he had seen nearly two hundred of them. On May 10 they had mostly departed. There were several hundreds in the flocks which were resting on the water and flying about. One of my friends, who has made the passage several springs from New York to South Carolina and return, and who knows the bird, informs me that in the years 1886, 1887, and 1S89, he saw them in numbers beyond estimate, about April 20, fifty to one hundred miles north of Cape Hatteras, N. C., and perhaps fifty miles from land. I am of the opinion that this bird is more abundant along the coast than would be inferred from the few which are taken, but I account for so few, comparatively, being noted by the fact that as a usual thing they do not linger near the shore, unless driven in by severe weather. As far as I am aware, this spring, the first of these birds observed were Red Phalarope ( Phalaropus fulicarius) off Boston Harbor in Sum- mer. — On July 11, 1913, when Miss Cleveland, local secretary of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and I were returning by boat to Boston, from Plymouth, a small duck-like, brightly colored bird caught my eye just as the boat passed the Harding’s Ledge buoys just outside Boston Harbor. We examined the bird carefully with our glasses, and it proved to be a Red Phalarope in full plumage, the first of the kind we had ever seen, but we had good views and were able to positively identify it. — Lidian E. Bridge, West Medford, Mass. ***/, ' Auk XI. July. 1804 p. 260 The Northern Phalarope (Phalarofius lobatus) in the Franconia Moun- tains, New Hampshire. — About five years ago, in September, while fishing on Profile Lake, Franconia, N. H.,I observed a bird sitting on the water, feeding on winged ants, of which thousands lay on the surface. The bird was fearless, allowed me to approach it in my canoe so closely that I could easily reach it with my landing net (handle not three feet long), and was not alarmed at several attempts I made to put the net gently over him. I observed him for nearly half an hour, constantly within a few feet of him, and then left him. I did not know the bird, and several friends, ornithologists, afterward expressed a wish that I had captured or killed him for examination. On September 22, 1888, while fishing on Lonesome Lake (about two miles from Profile Lake, on Mt. Cannon, nearly 3000 feet above sea- level), I saw another specimen of the same bird swimming duck-like among the sedges on the edge of the lake. He was equally fearless, allowing me to approach within hand reach, without alarm and without ceasing his employment, which was feeding on the seeds of the sedges. There was no mistake, in either case, as to what the bird was eating — in one case ants, in the other seed. In the latter case I greatly enjoyed watching the rapid and graceful action of the bird as he picked off the seeds, frequently stretching up, almost standing on the water, and reach- ing to seeds on high sedges. After ten minutes I concluded with great reluctance to kill him, which I did by striking him gently on the head with a short stick. Ornithologists who examined him pronounced him the Northern Phalarope. At their request I make this note of the facts. — W. C. Prime, New York City. A.uk, VI. Jam., 1®89» 9 . 3 ? F [] have found Phalaropus hyperboreus to he of by no means rare occur- rence in Boston market, from Cape Cod and elsewhere along the Massa- chusetts coast, and remember upon one occasion purchasing four specimens there. It is, however, like several other off-coast species, not commonly found near the land unless forced to take shelter from severe storms. — William Brewster.] Capture of the Northern Piialarope (Pobipe s hyperboreus ) in Massachusetts. — Some time since I received a communication from Mr. C. C. Hitchcock, of Ware, Mass., noticing the capture of several birds new to that section. Among those recorded was the one above mentioned. I have recently written to Mr. Hitchcock for further particu- lars, as the record of this bird in a locality at such a distance from the coast is most surprising, when it is so comparatively rare even on the coast itself, being confined chiefly to the waters off shore ; and I enclose his reply : “ I had no doubt at the time of the capture of the Phalarope in regard to its identity ; but to make sure I have again looked it up (as I Save the bird in my possession), and find I was correct.” The bill, he adds, is “ not lance-shaped, and is under one inch.” This fixes the iden- ; tity of the species. The bird was taken October 13, 1875. — W. A. Stearns, Fislikill-on-the- Hudson, N. IBull, N, Q. 0. 5 .April 1880 //_y / Limioolae in Bristol County. H.F. Dexter, Dartmouth, Mass. Northern Phalarope, Lobipes hyperboreus . Despite the statements of writers as to the great abundance of this species, I can record but two instances of its capture within the lim- its of our county, and have observed it but once. Q,&0. XII. Sept. 1887 p.148 ' ts* / Birds of Bristol County, Mass, F.W. Andros. Phalaropus lobatus (Linn.), Northern Phala- rope. Not common off coast. O.&O. XII. Sept. 1887 p.138 Editor O. d- 0.: I saw down at Quinsigamond Lake last Fri- day two birds which I thought you would like \ to know about. They were a Northern Phala- rope and a Passenger Pigeon. I got within fifteen feet of the Phalarope, which was en- gaged in catching insects on the water. The Pigeon flew over the boat. The Phalarope is a bird that is very rare here and the Pigeons are not common, although I most always see one or two every migration. Ralph II. Holman. O.AO*xrv,Oct. 1889 v.lbO w Worcester, Aug - . 26. General Notes, tai ?w t ° rth R ern / hal r Pe - A Correction -I” "W article ‘Notes on Cer- tam W ate ' Birds in Massachusetts’ (Auk, XI, July, 1894), at end of third line from bottom of page 226, read Northern, for Red In last ri°irs, page 228> read ^ fo - m ^- g - h. m., ok ; y , Auk XI. Oct. 1864 p. 324 Shore Birds of Cape Cod. John O. Oahoon. Northern Rhalarope, Phalaropus louatux (Linn.) Whale Bird on Cape Oort. A common spring migrant. This bird passes the Cape coast between the first and twenty-fifth of May. As this bird feeds and lives wholly in the i water, it may most properly be called a “sea bird.” It is irregular in its appearance in shore, and it is only after a heavy storm on shore or thick fog that it is seen in the bays, harbors, and inlets of Cape Cod. The men that go ten to twenty miles from shore in boats cod- fishing in the spring, report seeing many flocks of “whale birds” as they call them. I have | seen them when on a fishing schooner on sev- eral occasions in large flocks feeding on some kind of substance that they got from the large masses of floating sea and rock weed. They are very tame, especially in foggy weather, and will allow one to approach within a few yards, in a boat, before they will fly. They are pretty to see, as they float or swim gracefully and lightly on the water. One of the flock will leave the others and fly a short distance ahead and alight on the water, and a second, third, and fourth will follow, and so on. In this man- ner, many of the flock are always in motion. When they come in about Monomoy Island, they are usually seen in the tide rips off the I point, and near the cut through which the out tide flows through the Island into the bay from the ocean. Q.& O. XIII. Aug. 1838 p. 124.. Phalaropus 1 oh at us . Nantucket, Mass. 1873. Mr Sweet gave rae one shot on the island, Sept. 22 Sept .24. V Phalaropes at Swampscott, Massachusetts.— The morning of Aug. 12, 1890, dawned at Swampscott, Mass., with the wind northeast and a cloudy sky. At noon the wind fell to a whole-sail breeze, tempting my brother, Dr. J. A. Jeffries, and myself to try a sail. After standing to the east for about a mile we noticed a flock of at least three hundred birds, apparently Sandpipers, flying rapidly back and forth about half a mile in-shore of us, and an equal distance off the land. Suddenly, to our surprise, they settled on the water, and we knew they were Phalaropes, birds that appear as a rule, only in small numbers with us and not regularly. In twenty years’ sailing we have not seen anv in the water in our locality. From Aug. 12 until Sept. 26 Phalaropes were seen nearly every day we went out, usually in small scattered bunches of from six to twenty birds swimming about on the water, sometimes just out of the breakers and again twelve miles off shore. All the birds we succeeded in sailing onto were very tame, simply swimming away from our cat-boat to prevent being run down.’ Yet it was not always easy to take specimens, as a flock seldom remained long in one spot; rising every few minutes they would fly about, alight, and then off again before we could sail one half the distance. Sept. 9 we sailed into the midst of a flock of several hundred birds, which chanced to settle right in front of us. They were very tame. All birds taken previous to Sept. 26 were Northern Phalaropes, and while it is not possible to state that all the Phalaropes seen were of the same species, we can say that no individual was noticed with any specially dis- tinct coloring to attract our attention. A single specimen of Red Phala- rope was taken Sept. 26 about one mile off shore. It was swimming about alone, and on dissection proved to have been feeding on land insects” probably blown off by the stiff northwester then in full force. What I desire to call attention to in this case is that a bird of not reg- ular occurrence suddenly appears in large numbers, and once with us re- mains for six weeks. As evidence that nearly all birds seen were included in the original flock, I would say that, -1st, the Phalaropes appeared in a flock, after a stiff although short northeast wind. 2nd, On days when many small bunches were seen, we did not see the large flock. 3rd, Birds startled did not seem to us to make any attempt to resume a flight, but simply flew off and set- tied down again. Twelve or fifteen were taken, all being very fat. -W. A. Ieffries Boston ' Mass - iQb'v. • , ix- 03. ' ’ Phalaropus lobatus off Scituate, Mass.- On August 30, zS 9 o, I made my first acquaintance with the Northern Phalarope. As my friend Mr Marcus Barber and myself were returning from a trip to the Gurnet PUmouth Harbor, in my sail-boat, when off Fourth Cliff Life Saving Station, we observed what we at first supposed was a large flock of Sand pipers, some two hundred or more, flying to and fro from shore and ., surprised to see them settle on the water. Heading the boat for them we soon came within gunshot, and secured eight as they rose ney being so scattered as not to offer a good shot. On picking them up’ I at once recogn ized them as one of the Phalaropes. We watched this flock pass from view to southward. Leaving my friend soon after at the Cove I made sail for Scituate Harbor, about a mile distant ; but had not been long underway when the boat was in the centre of a second flock as urge as the first, giving me a fine opportunity to watch the bright eyed i. tie birds as they rode up and down on the light sea that was funning flock n d "' T W ', ng ’ bUt had n0t PaSSed f, ' 0m Si 8 ht bef °''C a thiid v neai y as aige showed up over the bow; making in all between five and six hundred birds seen within an hour’s time. The last were nearly opposite the Harbor, in which I soon dropped anchor. The birds secured proved to be all young of both sexes, except one, an adult female, but no two were alike in plumage. Taking into consideration Mr. W. A. Tef- ues account of ‘Phalaropes at Swampscott’ (Auk, Jan. 1S91, p. „ 2 )’ a nd the statement made by my friend Mr. Barber, who in ten years’ ser vice along shore “never saw anything like it before,” the flight of Phala- ■ opes along our shore last fall must have been a remarkable one The wind at the time was blowing a fair northwest breeze.-H. D. Eastman Framingham , Mass. . . _ ’ Aak, 8, July ,1891. p. J/c Notes on Certain Water Birds in Mass, George H. Mackay. Through the courtesy of my friend Mr. J. R. Kendall of Jamaica Plain, Mass., I am able to contribute the following interesting data concerning the recent occurrence of tbfe Red Phalarope ( Phalaropus lobatus) off the coast of Massachusetts, On May 25, 1894, about ten thousand (as carefully estimated) , idermists. The remainder were not preserved. All of those sent to the above gentlemen proved to be Northern Phalaropes, and were all females. There is every reason for believing that this entire body of birds were of this species. This gathering of birds appears to have been the largest ever noted in this vicinity. I understand they were also observed in large numbers at Annis- quam at about the same time. On May 30, with the wind south and fresh, my friend Mr. J. R. Kendall observed two thousand (estimated) around the ‘Pigs,’ where they were still lingering, the others having departed. They kept up a continual twittering. lie again visited the same locality on June 3, at my request, and sailed over the adja- cent water, but failed to observe any birds, all having apparently departed. On that day the wind was west, a fresh breeze. The day before the wind was strong southwest. I am inclined to the belief that Phalaropus lobatus , as also Crymophilus fulicanus , exist in enormous numbers, owing to the fact that they seldom approach the shores m numbers, or pass over the land to any extent, as far as I am aware, during their migrations. They consequently are not subject to the contingencies which affect other birds. It will be recalled that a very large flight of Red Phalaropes (see Auk, Vol. IX, P'tl6 Oologist. 1634. Northern Phalarope. By C[harles] C. T[rembly]. Ibid.. p. 236. — Striking an electric light tower at Utica, N. Y. Attk,Vll. Jan. 1SS0. p. Sat. £ftr/ 7 ?7 2a\apls ■” Now, Phalaropus, according to all rules for the compo- sition of Greek and Latin words, does not mean “ coot-foot ” at all, as Bris- son intended it should, but “ white-patched-foot” (from phalaros, “patched with white,” and pous, “foot”), which is a manifestly inapplicable name, since the Phalaropes all have black or green feet. Phalaridopus (from phalaris, genitive phalaridos, “ coot,” and pous) would mean “ coot-foot,” and this is what Brisson should have written. Nevertheless, the name has served so long as a distinguishing mark of the genus, that it would be by no means advisable to attempt to make an exchange for the etymologi- cally correct form. It is, however, an interesting example of the necessity of a little care in compounding scientific names, if we wish to have them retain any meaning. — John Murdoch, Roxbury, Mass. Bull N.O.C. 3, July, 1878, p. / SV - /S'/ . Birds within Ten MileB of Point .£10 lu onts a 0<3 .Hj 0o2Xl©iixi <& j^Terriam 85. Steganopus wilsoni. Wilson’s Phalarope. — Mr. Comeau tells me that this Phalarope occurs during the fall migration, but is not common. Bail, N. 0. 0, 7, Oot, 1882, p, 238 Birds of Toronto, Ontario. By j aine s K . FI era i ng . Pt.I, Water Birds. Auk, XXIII, Get., 1906, p.448. 78. Steganopus tricolor. Wilson’s Phalarope. — Rare migrant; adult female May 22, 1855; adult male June 2, 1890, and a young female August 15, 1890, are in my collection. Mr. J. H. Ames has a female taken May 25, 1890, and a young bird. A supposed hybrid belonging to Mr. T. Harmer of Tacoma, Wash., proved to be a young bird of this species. Besides these there are two or three more in local collections, all adults. There are indications that at one time this species was of much more regular occurrence than it is now. On August 18, 1907, a young female Wilson’s Phalarope ( Steganopus tricolor) was shot at Salisbury, Mass., and sent to Faneuil Hall Market Boston. Here it was identified by Mr. John H. Hardy, Jr., and kindly given by him to the writer, m whose collection it now rests. This is the IdiTT/ S® ° f thiS W6Stem Phalar °P e in Essex County, r o * h h I” the . State - 0ne of these was taken near Boston about 833, one was taken m Essex County, at Nahant, on May 20, 1874 and one was taken at Nantucket on August 31, 1889.— Charles W Town- send, M. D„ Boston, Mass. , - Auk 25, Jan 1908,®, nicL^s, Cans 77 Col.Bortp* Soc. N*t,«iatom Steganopus tricolor. Wilson’s Phau„„„p a for the State. * be the fiffch recorded specimen A ok 26, A*r»l#Os.p, Zlty iO-n V** 5S tirXi ^ _ ,t~ ^ 4*\ "A. „.,.« f -^a-, 0 - " 4 ~ 4 ' ^Vrvtf£? a*~ V- (VvJL P» 1 u ^ * «*_ ^ KVr—^ v . *' ^q7 Wl'-* - " <*-~-+-' f>^ rN . 4 ^m «— « J » 6A^*« , #/ — 7 /4-rf^ f /?. L~A. til^f fh«upj^ Oy.^/f 3 ^ «- male Wilson’s Phalarope ( Steganopus wilsoni), \ in spring plumage, at New- port, R. I., August 2. Bull N, 0 . 0 , 5 , Oct., 1880 , p. 23 7 - Wilson’s Phalarope ( Steganopus tricolor ) in Rhode Island. On Sep- tember 13, 1 886, one of these Phalaropes, in immature plumage, was brought to me by J. Glynn, Jr., who had noticed it among some birds shot by one of the local sportsmen, and seeing that it belonged to an uncom- mon species had obtained it from him. I understand that when shot it was in company with two ‘Creakers’ ( Tringa maculata'). This is the second record of the bird’s occurrence in this State.— William C. Rives, Jr., M. D., Newport, R . /• A . U lt , 4, «J&n* > P. , 1964. The Wilson’s Phalarope. By Wm. G. Smith. Ibid., pp. 14-15. —As observed in Colorado. & Oologiet’a Semi-annual, Vol. 1 . n »- 2 X N yt— / , p/P/^P Pser* S y/u/- J?/ Pc/ Pp ' PP yz— //r-gPL. zPPys/cP /L. ' i » . r.- * P ■ P , y / izl^2z=i_ rP/yo^/P-c^r-^P,/ Bird Notes from Long Island, N. Y. William Dutcher. 13. Phalaropus tricolor. Wilson’s Phalarope. My friend, Mr. Charles E. Perkins, again enriched my collection of Long Island birds by sending to me, September 13, 1887, a specimen of this Phalarope, which he shot that day, at Shinnecock Bay, Suffolk Co., while shooting Bay^ birds (Limicolas) over decoys. Two days after he shot another. Auk, V, April, 1888. p.177- rrf. Long Island Bird Notes N. T. Lawrence 16. Steganopus wilsoni. Wilson’s Phalarope.— On October 10, 1874, I had one of these birds settle in my decoys, swimming among them quite fearlessly. On October 15, 1879, 1 6aw one swimming in the East River at the foot of Pine Street, New York City. It was very gentle, the steam- er I was on passing within twenty-five feet of it, when it started, flew a short distance, and settled on the water again. Auk, 2, July, 1886. p.278 -57V- Long Island Bird Notes. Wm.Dutcher \ 7. Phalaropus tricolor. Wilson’s Phalarope. -Mi. G. W. Howell, of Atlauticville, Suffolk Co., shot an individual of this species about August 15, 1885. The writer had the pleasure of seeing it while being mounted at the taxidermist’s. Auk, 3, Oct,, 1886. y. BirdNobea from Long Id. 'Wm.Dutcher 10. Steganopus wilsoni {Sab.) Coties. WTlson’s Phala- rope. — Mr. Charles E. Perkins, of Hartford, Conn., wrote me : “While at Shinnecock Bay, L. I., August 20, 1883, I shot a bird which none of the gunners recognized, and I ordered it sent to you. I should like to know what it is.” It proved to be a Wilson’s Phalarope. Subsequently one of the gunners informed me that a similar bird was shot a few clays later by another sportsman, but he could not secure it for me. Auk, I, Jan, , 1884. p. *33 • Shore-bird Notes.— -Last September, Wilson’s Phalarope appears to have been not uncommon along the Atlantic Coast. I have never seen this species before, although I shot a Northern Phalarope at Quogue L I during the month of August, 1907. I have the following records ’of the occurrence of Wilson’s Phalarope. Adult female shot by Mr. Whitlock at Quogue on September 4. Immature in winter plumage were shot near Currituck Light House, North Carolina, by Mr. Whitlock and Mr. Nourse on September 7, September 8 (two), and September 12. A well-marked female was seen by me September 14. This bird was so tame that it allowed me almost to touch it before it flew away in a zigzag manner. An old gunner at Currituck had never seen these birds before. The Buff-breasted . Sandpi per seems also to have been unusually common along the coast. Mr. Whitlock shot a specimen at Quogue, L. I. on Sep- tember 4, and three at Currituck on September 12. I saw a flock of six at the same place on September 14. This species was also unknown to the local gunners. On September 11, at Currituck, I shot a Solitary Sandpiper on a sandv beach. I have frequently seen this bird in woodland streams but never near salt water. On September 12, two Marbled Godwits were shot by Mr. Whitlock and myself at Currituck. The female was the smaller, measuring 17.00 and the male 19.25. The absence of bars on the underparts would indicate that they were young birds. I trust these records may be of interest, both as individual records and also as showing the tendency of certain western Shore-birds to follow the same line of migration to the shores of North Carolina as is later fol- owed m far greater numbers by the Canvas-back, the Mallard, and the V\ hustling Swan.— Frederick Wm. Kobb£, New York City. Attk 29 . Jan. 1912, p. /a&. 268 General Notes. TAuk LJuly Auk, XV, July, 1898, p. W* Wilson’s Phalarope ( Steganopus tricolor ) at Ocean City, N. J. — To the best of my knowledge the published records of Wilson’s Phalarope on the New Jersey coast are limited to two specimens recorded by Dr. C. C. Abbott, as taken at Deal Beach, Monmouth Co. (Birds of New Jersey, in Cooke’s Geol. of N. J., 1868). I was never able to trace up these speci- mens, and the many evident errors in the list in which they are mentioned, naturally casts some doubt on the validity of the record. It is with much pleasure, therefore, that I am able to place on record the capture of a fine adult female of this species by Mr. Gilbert II. Moore, at Ocean City, N. J., May 19, 1898. The bird was in company with a flock of the smaller shore birds when shot. Mr. Moore has presented the specimen to the local collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. — Witmer Stone, Acad. Nat. Science , Philadelphia , Pa. Additions to Catalogue of Kansas Birds. N.S.Goss Phalaropus tricolor ( Vieill.) . Wilson’s Phalarope. — June 8, 1886, I found three pairs of these birds breeding on marshy ground, bordering a slough or pond of Crooked Creek, Meade County, and I therefore enter the species as an occasional summer resident in Western Kansas ; quite common throughout the State during migration. Nest on the ground, usually on hummocks, quite deeply excavated, and lined with leaves from the old dead grasses ; eggs, three or four — usually four ; ground color, cream to ashy drab, rather thickly but irregularly blotched with varying shades of brown to black. The female is larger and brighter in color than the male, but from limited observations of the birds I am led to think certain writers are mistaken in reporting that the females arrive first and do all the courting, but leave the work of nest- making, incubation, and the rearing of the young to the males. I have never been so fortunate as to find either of the birds upon the nest ; but certainly, both appear equally watchful and solicitous, circling around and croaking as one approaches their nests, or near their young (grayish little fellows that leave the nest as soon as hatched). The earliest arrival noticed in the State was at Neosho Falls, April 29, 1879. In this flock, as in all others seen at or about the time of their arrival, the sexes appeared to be about equally divided, and I am inclined to think further examin- ation will prove the birds to be joint workers in the hatching and rearing of their young. With a view to removing all doubts, I trust all naturalists who are so fortunate as to be upon their breed- ing grounds during the breeding season will carefully note and report their observations. Auk, 4, Jan. , 1887. p. g. Field and Forest.* — With the number for July, this journal begins its second volume, considerably enlarged and improved. The articles are varied and all valuable contributions to science, and we wish “ Field and Forest” the success its merits so well deserve. The single article relating to ornithology brings forward quite novel facts in the history of Wilson’s Phalarope, which are unique in the history of our birds, and should engage further attention. Mr. Kumlien describes the female as being not only “richer dressed” than the male, but as leaving the duties of incu- bation wholly to the male, who in the breeding season has “ invariably the naked and wrinkled belly, characteristic of incubating birds,” while the female shows nothing of the kind. He also represents the female as making the advances to the male during the pairing-season, and says it is not unusual to “ see two females pursuing one male,” instead of the re- verse, as is usually the case with other birds. If no mistake has been made, these facts are among the most interesting in the annals of Ameri- can ornithology. — J. A. A. Bull. N.O.O. I, Sept, 1870. p. 7/ A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIOGRAPHY OF WILSON’S PHALAROPE. BY E. W. NELSON. Although this species ( Steganopus wilsoni, Coues) is more or less common in portions of the country frequently visited by Ornithologists, it is remarkable that its life-history should be so little known. The account of nearly every author who has men- tioned the species contains more or less error, and none give any- thing like a complete history of it. To remedy this to some extent is the object of the present paper, since I have had abundant opportunity for observing the bird in the field. But first I wish to make a few quotations from and remarks upon the principal accounts of the species. Ord, in his edition of “ Wilson s Ornithology (Yol. Ill, p. 205), states as follows : “ Our figure of this species [ Phalaropus lobatus, Ord] bears all the marks of haste ; it is inaccurately drawn, and imperfectly colored ; notwithstanding, by a diligent study of it, I have been enabled to ascertain that it is the Coot-footed Tringa [Phalarope] of Edwards, pis. 46 and 143, to which bird Linnteus gave the specific denomination of lobatus." Thus far Ord is undoubtedly coiTect, as is evident by a comparison of the plates in question. As Dr. Coues has already stated (Birds of the Northwest, p. 467), Tringa lobata, Linn, is Lobipes hyperboreus, (L.) Cuv., and I perfectly agree with Ord in referring Wilson’s plate to the same species; but farther on Ord describes an undoubted speci- men of Steganopus wilsoni, taken near Philadelphia, as being identi- cal with Wilson’s plate of lobatus, which is certainly a bad case of mal-identification. From references I have been enabled to make, I ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 39 think it extremely doubtful that Wilson ever saw a specimen of S. wilsoni. Audubon’s account of the sexes of this bird is quite erroneous. Concerning a pair taken near Great Egg Harbor, in June, 1829, he states that, “ on examining the birds when we returned, I saw that the female had been sitting ” ; * and on the opposite page, “ I ob- served scarcely any difference in the coloring of the sexes, the female being merely larger than the male ” ; and he again states : “ The female, which is somewhat larger, is in color precisely similar to the male.” The few specimens seen by Audubon during the breeding-season were apparently all females, and, taking it for granted that the males were equally bright, he so stated. In his plate of this species he figures a “ female ” young of the year and an adult “ male,” which is, in reality, a female in breeding plumage. Audubon’s statement regarding the likeness of the sexes in the breeding plumage has been accepted as true by subsequent authors, even when they have had the opportunity to settle the matter for themselves in the field. Nuttall adds considerable to the known range of the species, but makes his statements curiously conflicting, as the following quota- tions show : “ Taking the interior of the continent for its abode, it is seen not uncommon on the borders of lakes, in the vicinity of the City of Mexico. In these situations, choosing the shelter of some grassy tuft, it forms an artless nest, in which it deposits two or three pyriform eggs, between yellowish-gray and cream-color, inter- spersed with small roundish spots and a few larger blotches of um- ber-brown somewhat crowded towards the obtuse end.” He also states that “ it is unknown in summer beyond the 55th parallel, passing the period of reproduction on the plains of the Saskatche- wan, being also a stranger to the coasts of Hudson’s Bay ” ; and again, that “ in the United States it can only be considered as a strag- gler t Dr. Coues, in his “ Birds of the Northwest,” arranges the synon- ymy of the species in a very satisfactory manner, but makes essen- tially the same statement as Audubon regarding the sexual plum- ages, and adds nothing of importance to the life-history of the species. To Mr. A. L. Kumlien % is due the credit of being the * Birds of Amer., Yol. V, pp. 229, 230, pi. 341. t Man. Orn., Yol. II, pp. 245, 246. J Field and Forest, July, 1876. Analecta Ornithoiogica •Leonard Stejneger XVI. — On the Oldest Available Name of Wilson’s Phalarope. The genus Steganopus of Vieillot is usually quoted as having been established by that author in 1823 (Enc. M6th., p. 1106). It is, however, to be found as early as 1819 in the ‘Nouveau Dic- tionnaire d Histoire Naturelle,’ vol. XXXII, where it is properly characterized on p. 136. An inspection of the same article shows also that the name Steganopus tricolor is there applied to Wilson’s Phalarope for the first time, consequently four years earlier than Sabine described the same bird as Phalaropus wilsoni , as the latter name dates only from the year 1823. The species, therefore, should stand as Lobipes tricolor (Vieill.). Wilson’s Phalarope. Auk , I, Got., 1884, P, 36 C7- Recurvirostra arner icana . &zr 7 " . / z^2 A -' '^U. s^Cuc ^'Z'K'— -'Z- ^cr ^ f, /C~4*CS ^-o*^-^ ^ ' - Co . ( "7 1 l >^-*''-'_ bu JLh • ' ■Ckvsx. y7«i-^vv^-^ j 'j ty'z. MuJL LxikLd YU-Ht. tn.\> Vki trCfi. \MAAM-x_i- 0 v» c l u Vj i MtuAA O'' ! .'ivv-u. _> uA VAlttWi :_(7\ t 'JSxknrbtjb (kfiLVrLtCu^bu v \j(rcdl) kt t'^vy aaU^ ‘^l.d./H. ^Lo X-t^CT Vh- .• 5 OAt/tU/ c j \° i uk (' t a VrvoA -1 , crvu 'du */j At ajalUy • t % • k Jdx4 ^Iuohww .[ t/j. \jtu tuouJ ■* cw, \ 1 aX- A'.' ten t_ od~ t s, Liu k j'/iAu t c 4 v iJvu t ^/KU^t v'W-t itA (Mo CuM ivLLSJtvi'* tL. C/Yju fir/ .twvu A> tn^xaL Lm Ql. I^V.II,'. £ jJJU,Otv'ix ;,\j • UJOLtyo, CA aU~ -tx Ml^mLmoCa t y v) -V , % 6" 1 v er U It kt) it 1 6* V. ten l 1)10 l44 . aW' / L i v f [ - o Lam / )> P i I f hh /! /M t L y- Q , Q .( (it .< , '; Cl H-UU <&! J i-u A >J (Xj VVVj *^VA- y- l IT MUA| a VU? L A vCit k ^vvlIa olX twvMu ?A a M cjM , Qmcf ,'/j ktfcM Ss j\Juk.\A'i\jL/v^, La Mv fc A Dik A vud~ t it La/v&La Cr . U> Ay '•Oc\-('tt.^ '"^tfltM e > llu A Ms 6 rL^ Oa.(X (L ! vi try ftcttodt^ lAo \k/Us )t VvM eivio^ \ 7 ? ky. foj** L ^~f~ i - I . ff —. — ^ ■■»'■( L iw- hi — —if. This occur- rence of the Rail is the second instance known for Massachusetts, h.m. Bull N. O. C. 3 , July. 18 ? 8 , p. , General Notes Two Cape Cod Records. — Rallus elegans. — Mr. P. L. Small o f Provincetown, Mass., has presented me with the remains of a King Rail that was caught in a muskrat trap in North Truro early in February, 1892. The skin has been badly damaged by mice, but enough is left unhurt to make the identification certain. Mr. Small received the bird in the flesh a few days after it was taken. The early part of the winter of 1891-1892 was very mild in eastern Massachusetts, and I am told that until the middle of February there was no ice in the marshes where the Rail was captured. Ank IX, Oct, 1892. p.390 Auk, XIII, Jan. , 1890, p y (kAjl. LJ C y c lx C vv\€ £sC<-c ly • — — ^ Rallus elegans. — October 19, a young King Rail was taken in Long- meadow. It was found in the Zizania aqwatica which grows so profusely along the banks of the Connecticut River. The presence of this species in this part of the valley, I believe, has never before been noted ; and the Clapper Rail ( Rallus longirostris crepitans) has been captured here but twice. Rckt.y-t O . Sf > rt V, April, 1888, P.170 ' / 77 - t Birds of Long Island, p. 210. $ See Birds of Connecticut, p. n s . * See B!rd Migration, By William Brewster. Mem. Nuttall Ornith. Club, No. 1, l886 Rallus elegans. King Rail. — About August, 1880, Mr. Milo C. Webster of Knovvlesville (now of Buffalo) while out on a hunt in company with Rev. J. H. Langille, shot a King Rail in a marsh on the lake shore in the town of Carlton. Mr. Langille makes mention of this specimen in his ‘ Our Birds in their Haunts,’ page 400. Auk, XVI, April, 1899, p p.fP'6 King Rail ( Rallus elegans) at Springfield, Mass.— On the thirtieth day of August, 1911 , a King Rail was captured in the wild rice that is found in abundance along the shores of the Connecticut river a few miles below Springfield. There are but two previous records of the occurrence of this bird in the Connecticut valley near Springfield. — Robert O. Morris, Springfield , Mass.J^^ ,x.)ux^V’- *r f AbvYTytuA A J^ri r > \ i\j Ojv , U > A^ Wvwj V^JLOAJ k/ V , Mfrww ^OxnJY v^Y V_\a-5J 0 ^ A^CX/v^A' — ^K/VyO V* i t^V K/\> vvcxaj^^ \aJvAJLi> ^ 1 v 4 Vy^ \ ^ i /V'X^AAs W) ^ ^ Y* WV^ j f ^ YvCXXJU^ * Y rvv ojY vajaJ<^ Y/vA/v> vXvU \jaaJXa> >t , K w ^ A 4 WvV ^XtvjvJV /• °' if . tit* ^r^yr^o /-^ W: ^ • An^Ay* -70; y -ny 2 - / ' 7 / ">^7 £ -y^iry Ys^i^vtxi Y> PJ?- 1 yyK c ^ z ^y ^//J) ' iyr ^o t^/ A^Y>y^ ' ^Liyl ^ 7 / ay -yr^ry. y^oyy y TT^A ^ o_ VyyycxJj^, ryvvLjO^OL/^-v>C> V/x/^ JU l (jLAx| Cu CxaA jjt oJj\r\Vv) UvAXv VjAXuaj oJjvuA Vaaaj Ajyt C\.a^Xaa/v\^vV^ .Q^CL \ V\/WvvA^ l; to A" W/^IaX'Aw ^ UaJU K/w. Os^aaAX 1 \jj-\JX Vjvj^V^AA^ VAaj> OJV)OUUU .AatOv^-. Kajs^JLajJY * ^jjv V^yvXAA'^ ^AyVV^A-^ §Ltk/\A> VjL^OvTW^ A\yv\A/^ M^XA/Arx-Q^ 1 OvvWWV Ovxiyv^^ ^^U ^ 70/ y -V17? pT p *** ^ C^~tz^vj/ >-v~^^c^ l^. ,.; t ^S Z /£^ez/' ^ ^ zt-^t sz^j. /-yi-z- <^c^ i'2zzj^yl^z^C , <^?l^-'‘ 2 ^ /t'^p ,<2, 1^ 2^ y ^ ^r fc^r-^' V z ' 'TT y" yy'' ~^~'J ^P ^'Ppzzt^ ^2j2^*i-~ < y“* p w ™?, < ^ t ~^>yy ' ^^7-^ M^y 7 Py^p ^ ^ ^ _7 7^7 ^ / T;?:C , V. .£ BRIMLEY. H. H. St C. S. BRI 7 VYLEV, ri a i tier 1 1 7 /*s ^vo Collectors bird skins, eggs and mammal skins, REPTILES, /U77,*.K7//.1.\S, EMBRYOS, «feo. ■ 4 -, / *». X V ' / /jl£CtU~^4 u / JaA^y, Aw' Cl^p<- / w / 2 . r^j /Z~~ /* 'S*'", ***'/ Uv-JLO u. ^ Kc^jl fa p/- , . * . , .J— 7 tA ~7 Ta I {l^aTAr CEs '/ t^AlTvuA ifafaA 7& ^ <^€ oC^XZ- DEC- I \&§* I ... ' \ ■i 4 U t\v . .. JLiV- . /( t'/t,. f.x ttS itl ^Z/^/6. A^l*. tfU //c^rny/ ( / /ix. O^u^vx. T' Ztx/^' . ~f^AL CL^ti~A-C / t/Utyb~j @u J ^~zsyi-< <7'Vi -ci-^-t-~ / ^ c*&t, zUtw ^ IkL 4^- Iax, 7fc. /fajy*y/~ ^ ctyuz_ /je^e^z ffiyjr / I?rorn tlle 28th day of last August until about the 20th day of Septem- i her a water bird, which I suppose to have been a Clappe r Rail, located itself and remained among the wild oats that grow on the muddy banks of the Connecticut River upon the shore directly opposite the city of Springfield. During calm days the call of the bird, which very much resembles that of the common Guineahen, could be distinctly heard from this side of the river, a distance of more than a quarter of a mile. Au/t, °l H'C™' np.gjd. All my attempts at capture failed, although I approached within a few feet of the bird. I know of but one Clapper Rail having been taken in this vicinity. U). Ulf rrv*! , - A Second Massachusetts Specimen of the Clapper Rail {Ral- lies longirostris). — Mr, Arthur Smith has shown me a fine specimen of the Clapper Rail which he shot late in October, 1879, at Gurnet Point, Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is a dark colored example in full fall plumage. It was killed on a salt marsh where another large Rail supposed to be of the same species was seen at the same time. After the expunging of the old-time records the Clapper Rail was first reinstated as a bird o°f Massachusetts by Mr. H. A. Purdie in this Bulletin for January, 1877. A year later Dr. Brewer published* a notice of what would at firstreading seem to be a second specimen, for no reference is made to Mr. Purdie’s previous record and the date of capture is given as May, 1876; but upon looking up the bird in the “ New England Collection ” of the Boston Society I find it to be the same as that upon which Mr. Purdie based his data. Oddly enough Dr. Brewer apparently makes a similar blunder with Rallus elegans when he gives a specimen ( 1 . c.) as “ shot in Nahantin the spring of 1876,” with the remark that there is “no previous record for New England, except West Haven, Conn.” The latter statement is obviously incorrect, for the presence of the King Rail in Massachusetts had been made known by Mr. Purdief a year previously, and, if I am not greatly mistaken, Dr. Brewer’s specimen and the bird taken by Welch “at Nahant, Nov. sr, / 8 yj,” are identical. — William Brewster, Cam- bridge , Mass. * “ Notes on certain species of New England the Birds of New England. By T. M. Brewer.' Vol. XIX, Feb. 6, 1878. t Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. II, Jan., 1877, p. Birds with Additions to his Catalogue of, Proc. of the Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist., 22 . Bu& N.O.O, C.Jan,, 1881, p. . ?3 r % o f /t?Aj /T/vl _ kAaJ^J iXj rw\sU AAAL? AU ■M J T\yo uJL /CArw \JU yi/wto SU aXA/OJ XA 1/-U rvv\s$\\/v^Xv$J - J \j .ukxaj aJUa)\ vCA ./ ? XX!J d Aynll/ aamaml . fru */ jjisA- Lol6 A /Oa^AA 6 A ^ Of W . OjOrv^ ^ 'A). M <*~ (^-/^iixA- Ca ~^-J -*- — 3 ~ > & /oi s VTI? sometimes as you uncover the nest. To use the words of one collector, “ They are sometimes quite bold and saucy, if it is near hatching time, and squawk like a setting hen.” Having had a large number to distribute during 1880 and 1881 it has reduced values in catalogues ; but having none to send out in 1883, another change may be necessary. Most of the C. Rail eggs were found on the north side of Long Island. I have not met with this species on the Elizabeth or Newark great meadows, but found one nest of the Vir- ginia R., containing eight eggs, on the Salt Meadows at Elizabeth. The gunners are very numerous about here, and birds stand but little chance. We have but two or three good collectors of eggs in this neighborhood. — 2 j[. , ^ . li. li., JMizaoem, ±\ . <>■ O.ftQ. V III. May. 1383. p. iJ-W Clapper Rails’ Eggs.— During the sea- son of 1881 1,000 eggs were taken from a tract of land not two miles square, and yet not half was taken that could have been. These eggs were taken to sell Jbr^ cooking JLlieStl VV CiL 2 purposes in New York market. Vill.MaT.1833.p^ Alexander Wilson’s Works. Wlien Wilson wrote his book it was purely from nature. He went into the wobds and wilds for subjects and matter for his brush and pencil. If he quoted anytliipg it was from persons that had good opportunities for observation and in whom he could rely. He makes no quota- tions from the works of others except to expose their errors and correct their mis- takes. He was l^dT a * the Ameri- can Ornithologist, the father of ornithology in this country. His whole mind and en- ergies were bent on the one object of his life. He does not appear to have sought society, he does not appear to have been fascinating, and yet he mad® a few chosen friends and held them through life. They were slaves to his every desire. His friend, William Bartram, responded to his every wish. It was the same with his “ Brither Scott,” Alexander Lawson, without a doubt one of the best of engravers on copper of his time or any time since. Lawson never' crossed him but ohce and that was when he criticised some of his P oems in the edi- tion of 1790, when Wilson snatched the volume and threw it into the fire saying that “ if a friend found so much fault it could not be of much account.” Lawson never crossed him in his ornithological de- sires and we have it in his own words that he worked on some of the finest plates at prices that did not bring him over fifty cents per day. Only think of it, one of the finest copper plate engravers working for from three to five cents per hour. If that is not devotion to a friend and liis work we do not know what is. There has been written some six or seven lifes of Wilson, but not one that does him justice, not one that shows a proper research. Even his friend Ord did not grasp the situation, and only tells part of the story. Rev. Alfexan- irom eight to' sixteen, not many reaching the latter figure. The size and color varies very much. I have eggs 1^- inches long bv lUr 4 ) twLiZ rtA, Ini aj/vf/UA, - 3 Notes-Cobb’e IsldVa& vtcfenityWayl^t)|i Wm.H. Fisher, Baltimore, Md. 2 1 1 . Clapper Rail. —Very abundant on all the marshes, although seldom seen. I only saw one, it being flushed on the edge of a “ gut,” where it had no place to sulk away in the grass. Many nests were found, all at Cobb’s Island. Most of them were built about six to ten inches from the ground, and some had drift grass . drawn over the top to hide them. All had fresh eggs, the largest set being nine and the smallest five. /O 0 0.& O.Vol.18, Mar. 1893 P.41 The Clapper Rail, Or Mud Hen, Marsh or Meadow Hen, (. Rallus longirostris crepitans .) This bird, which answers equally well to any of the above names, is found in certain parts of , the great salt meadows along the coasts of New Jersey and Long Island in large numbers. Being a very shy bird, living along the creeks of the salt meadows where few men go early in the year, its habits, time of coming and going, &c., are not well known. It is supposed they travel at night. The time of arrival on Long Island is dependent on the season, but from the 1st to the 15th of May is the time they are first seen. Their food con- sists of worms, aquatic insects, &c. They form a group apart from the other Rails during the breeding season and are not very sociable, but, on the contrary, exceed- ingly shy. Instinct does much for these as well as other birds, and knowing liow the wonderful powers of man are directed toward their destruction, or to obtaining their eggs, they are obliged to carefully hide their nests under some tuft of grass, left standing from the previous year, or among the reeds, where they are entirely hidden from the Hawks and Owls and their worst enemy, man. They make but little / r 7 jlJsLc±*6- : y t y. /oj ON RALLUS LONGIROSTRIS, BODD., AND ITS GEOGRAPH- ICAL RACES. BY ROBERT RIDGWAY. Although, as rightly determined by Messrs. Solater and Salvin (cf. P. Z. S., 1868, p. 442), the oldest name of this species is Rallus longirostris, Bodd., the birds to which this name is strictly applicable are so different from those from other portions of America, referred by the above authors to the same species, that it appears necessary to recognize by name several geographical races. Comparing the South American bird (true longirostris) with the small and very dark- colored Gulf Coast form here named saturatus, the differences are indeed more striking than between longirostris in any of its forms and R. elegans, yet the latter is undoubtedly a distinct species. * On the destruction of birds from drowning see two items in this Bulletin ,Vol. Y, pp. 44 and 192) in relation to inland waters, which are doubtless far less fatal than those of the oceans. Bidgway on Rallus Longirostris. 139 The Pacific Coast bird, described by me in 1874 (cf. Am. Nat., VIII, p. Ill) as “ R. elegans var. obsoletus ,” proves to be a true “Clapper” Rail, strictly confined to the salt-water marshes; and were it not for the very wide interval of territory separating it from any race of R. longirostris, it might be classed as a form of the latter species. In view of its complete isolation, however, taken together with its peculiar characters of coloration and form, it seems best to regard it as a distinct species. In the following synopsis are included not only R. longirostris and its races, but also all the) other known North American members of the genus. A. Size large ( wing more than 5 inches). a. Axillars and flanks dusky or reddish umber, with broad white bars (bars about .15 of an inch wide on the flanks), or narrow reddish-white and pale cinnamon bars. 1. R. elegans. Back and scapulars ochraceous-olive, or yellowish- drab, sharply and conspicuously striped with black ; breast deep cinnamon. a. var. elegans. Flanks and sides dusky-brownish, widely and distinctly barred with pure white. Wing, 5.90-6.80; culmen, 2.12-2.50; least depth of bill, .27 - .35 ; tarsus, 2.20 - 2.40 ; middle toe, 1.80 - 2.10. Hab., freshwater marshes of Eastern North America. b. var. tenuirostris.* Flanks and sides reddish-umber, narrowly and indistinctly barred with reddish-white and dilute cinnamon ; breast and neck more deeply and uniformly cinnamon than in elegans. Wing, 5.90 ; culmen, 2.00-2.10; least depth of bill, .22; tarsus, 1.80-1.90; middle toe, 1.70. Hab., Mexico (Mazatlan, and city of Mexico). b. Axillars and flanks brownish-gray or grayish-brown, with narrow white bars (about .10 of an inch wide on flanks). 2. R. obsoletus.f Back and scapulars grayish-olive, indistinctly striped with dusky; breast, deep cinnamon. Wing, 6.40-6.60; culmen, 2.25- 2.50; least depth of bill, .32 -.35; tarsus, 2.10-2.25; middle toe, 2.00- 2.15. Ilab., salt-water marshes of California. 3. R. longirostris. Back and scapulars light liair-brown, brownish- gray, or ashy, obsoletely striped with brown (in Gulf-Coast specimens distinctly striped with dusky, much as in R. obsoletus) ; breast pale buff or dull cinnamon. a. var. longirostris. Above olive-gray, distinctly striped with van- * Rallus elegans tenuirostris, Lawr. Rallus elegans var. tenuirostris, Laws., Am. Nat., VIII, Feb. 1874, p. Ill (city of Mexico). t Rallus obsoletus, Ridgw. Rallus elegans var. obsoletus, Ridow., Am. Nat., VIII, Feb. 1874, p. Ill (coast of California). Sennett on the Clapper Rails. 1889.] ceeded in obtaining the head and some wing and tail fearers.” The sented the remains of the Dovej*f'qui>^ion to me. It is No. 3210 in my catalogue. Milvulus forficatus^^lScissoR-TAiLED Flyca><^ier. — On December 10, ThisXTl believe, the second record for the island of Key West, anaSt can hlirdly be considered as accidental at that point. THE CLAPPER RAILS OF THE UNITED STATES AND WEST INDIES COMPARED WITH RALL US L ONGIROS IRIS OF SOUTH AMERICA. BY GEORGE B. SENNETT. In ‘Tabl. P. E.,’ 1783, Boddaert described Rallus longirostris , based on ‘ Rille si long bee, de Cayenne,’ Buff., ‘PI. Enl.,’ 849. In 1788 Gmelin described Rallus crepitans (S. N., Vol. I, pt. ii, p. 713) based on ‘Clapper Rail, from New York’ (Penn., Arct. Zool., II, 1781, No. 407). In 1868 (Proc. Zool. Soc., p. 442) Messrs. Sclater and Salvin give an admirable ‘Synopsis of the American Rails.’ In this synopsis the New York Rail {crepitans') is not separated from the Cayenne Rail {longirostris) but is made its synonym. In 1874 Mr. Lawrence described Rallus crassirostris (Ann\ Lyc. N. Y., Vol. X, Feb., 1874). Mr. Lawrence sent the Bahia specimen, which differed so much from the crepitans of our Atlantic Coast, to England and says, “on returning it, Mr. Sclater wrote, ‘is true longirostris , figured PI. Enl. 849.’” Again Mr. Lawrence says, “I find it agrees with Buffon’s plate (which is of reduced size) in the apparent color of the back, also in the form and stoutness of the bill” ; and again, “my specimen differed so much from crepitans , as well as from all others, that I considered Eastern Massachusetts. Mi ht x -7 x Tftfc X * 'l^<3r^Cxi* f £<*. &\ -j *3» /flL/tf &4- $ 1 . lJfi - /ttf S-iPt /i~/bu*+- & 4 - 6 i. & 6 . o 7 *~T ***/_£$ -_ Mffa*, ZStd Gt. , _ &<}. xvYr/irfo 6 iti£j i *~. Mo 71- U-J *r c, ^ /lff§ , , <*w l }(?0 /if.; /if?/ X . . , . a *■.<&**/ /?£ £7 * *fr* /yf 7 /^°wl 77 Jo A. :/ 7 /. / ^ ^».W. fkjU^ ,/tf* 64 , !(/ *’t* < 0 (jh 4 C G*]yrf 3 O -so /—to — - *f u. JOxmJ . u ir // 7 - 7. 77 - ou (* ‘ - *V » tfO X. ^ TL+si-jL !u\ iceJeJ /m 3 <£ J ft 9 3 *-c^X "7 7 ^jc. Xrvc^rx^ // / /y(Kt-uz} n #. - n . /^c* _ HirfjL* ■d-i*- l 0] X. fueJu>it£j *at<^c{, ec£j* y kiAs^o _ -^m^c^u >3 . y^fj. C.y^r^j V tovu^wt^ A. ty-iA ini fyxuj Ik * \ ~y Eastern Massachusetts. 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A jfcXa- Ia/a^o -f ^ 'S^ < rv '*- ^u. t/ / v»*y Z*4 /iy.^/m. . c/ /W» %Ua.J &ZCr A»^r A 4 »% Ah^ *A^f A* / / ^/v/ 4 Y ^ ** 4i/i/ ,/ C^.*y /5^ /44X./..-.7 . l/ *.. ^ £tAXO fa- AA- .. trie * _— itf d*£* M*/A ^ ST ^ ijw.t( c>^ J/AlA^ Ivc^^ty /a^ 4L^ //f»y <|«AX^AaA< €aa A>S^ ^ /*tA.^ / 4 /^, - J%J ^ fr^l* A 4L» l>^ /Xyv^* A £^Vf 4 /«* a y s^ ,/< ,. ^ a*j4o<-/<. ^ yt**v 7 < A /y /'Sms * ,/1 a > <*< <*i A, / A aa (A'^ '^frwc' / O jiVlAA^ A J-. >1 J A POP p» *: A'y » az~ fly . J V M< *1 a/ «At ~/7Z*-+~y> U^ y»/«/^ A^J, cx- /r <-f +^y s\ < 4' be *+jrj / Ajr *XAA J biA-sL '* U y^A4^*/ **> /^y/ «tA^fc /v>-u )^v # ''s.^ /-t *J u A^uA <>^^<^7 l'*'* <5«4 Sw> *aa- Mi f*+r * y / , A«/>^ ^ ^x.aJ A A ^C. ir~CA~ ^p/a^ 4. ^ I. Ten eggs on the point of hatching, one being "chipped". Bird sat close, allowing me to almost touch her, then darted off, running over the floating vegitation with wonderful speed and concealing herself in a thicket of dense flags. Neither she nor her mate made any sound whatever. Nest among rather short, sparse green flags, but built in a clump of a peculiar kind of grass with broad, flat, light grean blades. The tips of these blades were drawn down from every side and intertwined loosely over the nest forming an arched canopy which caught my eye at a distance of several yards and betrayed the nest instead of protecting it. The eggs could be seen through this canopy but not very distinctly except from directly above. There was no run -way . The water about the nest was about four inches deep. The eggs were a haridsome set , strongly blotched with reddish brown, one or two ap- proaching but not equaling, those found by .Francis on the_ I8th. Eggs in single tier, filling nest to rim. Nest No 2. — Ten fresh eggs arranged in single tier filling the nest to the rim. No bird seen or heard but eggs warm. Nest in the top of a tussock, the grass rather short and thin the ends drawn over and intertwined. Eggs visible several feet away from the height of a man's head, but well concealed from the sides. No run-way . The tussock was near the mid- dle of a ditch in a very open situation, its top being on a level with the ends of the green flags that were scattered of dense beds of sreen Nest No 3 clump~”of~4 ,o bird seen or heard. Nest in e very edge of a deep, wide amon S the stout stems of the flags about m7in- jihes^above the water, t n o position bzii^-vovy lik L that o -i ^ fhe -i^oast BitUuirt nest wlrT'cll I foUnd-d-a^-^ar. The cluster of^ -flags- was seperated from a dense bed of very tall, rank- grow- " ing flags by a space of open water two or three feet wide v T" " , ■ T 7 * .// ^ u. _ Lu^^c ~r — l. ^ y ^ '/^ ^4. /TL tty We 7j- A ~^-W v ew 4 &) 'ctx^A Ujxj,st ^ ~77 Jfr- Tta / * O ) ^ KL if 5 C+- 7c ZZ 7 7 7 7 //< ^ W\> W^ ch^AS}-^_, l^jAxysly^ ^^VA- 4^a{/0^\s~4jC ^ ~ ^^U. fci /LA ^y/t A. £ls\y\s^iy% ^ fo* tii- kA_ * /^oCi^. (A ^A &/A cA /w^iyU ^ • Z^ic ■m »\ /^ .. X . J *F&c fcZ <~ r jA /KCL.Jy^i, ^ ^ ^V // 'Rallus virgimanus. 2 1891. Mass. Nests. May 21 Cambridge.-- Nest No 4. Six fresh eggs. No bird. 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My brother and I listened the next evening and heard the rattling note of a Loraf as we afterwards ascertained ) . This, as nearly as I can describe it, is a rattling note, somewhat re- sembling the call of the Clapper Rail, but sharper and not so heavy. The note starts with a guttural sound and is followed by several sharp notes, repeated in quck succession: ur-fyr-^r-rr , rik® -a -bdik -b dik -htdik-* dik-.«*dik ,fs- These notes would also be uttered when the birds we me disturbed by stones thrown in the cat- tails where they were . The Loras also had another soft whist- ling note of a couple of syllables. After considerable hunting, assisted by a rabbit hound, we secured a female Lora with eggs, one ready to lay. Further hunting revealed the fact that there were also Virginia Rails in the ponds, and we found a couple of nests with eggs. One nest with nine eggs appeared to be deserted, and in looking around my brother found a female Virginia Rail which had evidently been killed by some oil from a sewer. I be- lieve it was the mate of this bird which we afterwards heard every night as we hunted the pond, but the dog se med to find only one bird, which he' sometimes hunted for a long time, seldom flushing it. ( 2 ) This bird I believe was looking for its mate, and every evening at dusk would begin calling and continue until midnight or later. We would only occasionally hear it in the day time. There was also another bird further away which we would sometimes hear, apparently answering the one above mentioned. The note of the Virginia Rail I v/ill attempt to describe as follows: It began v/ith the sounds, tuk -- tuk, uttered slowly; a hardly noticeable pause, then the sound tuk -- a — tuk — tuk uttered rapidly, and then a rather a- brupt change to the final sound of, tee -- oo,the former uttered in a shrill tone with a rising inflection and a trifle prolonged, falling off gradually to the double o, which is soft and gradu- ally dies away. The whole note being described by the following: tuk — tuk tuk-a - luk - tuk — tee - oo. The notes designated by tuk - tuk some what resemble the call notes of a three or four months old chicken, and in fact some of the members of my family did once insyst that I was mistaken, and that the call was that of a chicken. hr. Ductcher and his son Basil were with me on August 3d and saw the bird I have reference to as it ran ahead of the dog which hunted it for several hours and could not make it fly. After Aug- ust 3d we did not hear it so rep ularly. I went away on August loth, but my brother told me that it was heard for only two nights after that. better to Bradford Torrey from w. F. Hendrickson, Long Island City, Hew ork, September I7th, 1889. /2 2 - /{ U (A, S CH( O.WU.S MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS J^^lUy, /?J3 c O (his / 1 ^ -tXU> /zW ^ ‘^' , yyi 4 ?M. /-^ C^U*> 9c*- cA V*- 9 rt* ^ ^ d^vc c/~9^ . oC^c'C*- ^ft&k '7 y^<^- P^U^ui - Izz fait. ■&, —-' ~ -******■■ [/ Au ^ i^jf ddi^ 'fo***^ / x /^ 4/~^L r-n_- A yy^t 7 ^ cyjL^O '~ ^C^uy-h^ - eitXAfj US^A. wJ- ^ / ^cc^ui ^'iiwssr"^- ^ yU^- fS '&u&. y % *U,- fa. CAMBRIDGE, MASS yy y ~r^. a, y- 'lAstr^Z. &uAa) At MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, }^Ul. 's rA ■yuHX i*/H /f /^ <^ z5r W* 2 > y- : ^y^xd^vA Jh^rrr^ fj *> ^Ad ycA^A {PlS-'d Ar^ pcsv^c ^s[/C/T/CsC' . :■-! 0 CA^IaA do oiaciaX. , V^o/" ^ Z -"; ‘ ^ ndft CM (y ' /, XA m ' a ~- f / / O. A . uyotns- (/ .y ^ j Pyiy\M~> sl/t/p~ tVO 1 ' 1 0/I/Jh-U- C*^Adul 1 y'7 AC&A A ^ Rallus vlrginianus . Copy. Brewer, Maine. 13 Sept., 1901. Friend. Brewster, xxxxxxxxxxxxx . Mr. Pane a friend wrote me of seeing some strange birds on Passadumkeag Stream, on a marsh. He described them as being smaller than a woodcock with quite a long curved bill and quite red in color, while their young which were with them were nearly black. He said that last year he saw just such birds in the same place. The only bird I know which fits this description is the Virginia Rail and I feel sure it was this bird. I have never before heard of their breeding here, x x x x x . It seems as if both this ^Short-billed Marsh WrenJ and the rails were regular breeders in the described localities but probably not often found elsewhere in this vicinity, x x x x x . M. Hardy. fo~r c - f Harting, in his most useful 1 Handbook of British Birds,’ says of the Rallidte: “Audubon gives two instances of this species [;. e . , the Carolina Crake ( Crex Carolina )] having been met with at sea, and as a proof that the short-winged Rallidat are not incapable of sustained flight, it may be noted that during the voyage of the steamship Nova Scotia, from Liverpool to Quebec, in October, 1865, when in lat. 26° 28' N. (?) ; long. 23 0 24' W., more than 500 miles from the Irish coast, a Virgin- ^iag_RaiI ( Rallus virg(nlanus), came on deck and was captured. Both this and the last-named species visit the Bermudas annually, although this group of islands is distant from Cape Ilatteras, the nearest point °of : the North American coast, about 600 miles. The well-known Corn Crake (Crex fratensis), too, is a summer visitant to Greenland, and has been met ^j th on several occasions on the ea stern coast of the United States.” / Rummer Birds of Bras D'Or Region Cap® Breton Id,, N.S. J. Dwight, Jr. 4. Rallus, Virginia?/ us f Auk, 4, Jan., 1887, p.10 Birds of Toronto, Ontario. By James H. Fleming. Pt . I , Water Birds. Auk, XXIII, Oct., 1906, p.447. 70 . Rallus virginianus. Virginia Rail. — Summer resident; arrives late in April and is common in May; young birds from July 7 to August 27 . A few remain till October. Breeds (July 6, 1891 ). l/X\ & While walking from Cambridge to Waverly on the afternoon of the 2d I heard the Kicker of July 13 close by the Fitchburg rail- road and found the answers of it, two Rails, Virginia, I think I saw the birds quite near, but owing to the dense growth and my slight acquaintance with the birds, I am not positive of the spec- ies. I could not see the bill well. The birds called one anoth- er when I seprated them kik'-kik 1 -, kik'-kik', k i k 'Vk 1 k ’ ; some- times kik'- kik'. Besides this call they gave out a shrill kg ah Or k_ah . and occasionally a sound almost a whistle. On the 3d I found them in the same place and in another. The kik'-kik seems to me to be an alarm call note and, supposing the bird to be the Virginia Rail , I think it may be equivalent to the eut'-tuk of the Perhaps this will explain why we have heard the cut- tuk so seldom, it being an alarm signal, only given when the bird is disturbed. Walter paxon, letter of August G, 1889. Winter Birds of Cape Cod, Mass. Balph Hoffmann. Rallus 3 1 ’ i 8 94 - T virginianus. Virginia Rail. Mr. Bangs reported this bird as Auk, XII. April, One seen in Barnstable, Dec. fairly numerous in December, 1396. Pc' 88 ' 1 /tti If in fPCo-J-f. Ja *J i J /l--< 5 -^ V ■/ <=- Tx. f /* ,• f * ^ r7)* yjy-z^frL^- — ^ , /- Afrts.s. {near Cambridge). 1888 APR18-.^ /Vv ^ ^H-v **->«'<•*•< ft/vlZo ^yjrgyi^te/l^'‘‘ -^OcxA^. , June 29tl), as I was wading in a thick marsh endeavoring to get a shot at a Bittern, I heard several shrill screams directly in front of me, and a bird about as large as a month old chicken ap- peared in a small open space in front of me and then vanished. A short time after another ap- peared and I shot it, and on picking it up I found I had shot a female Virginia Kail, a bird new to this locality. — II. L. Clark. O.& o. XI. July. 1888. p, 98 Birds of Bristol County , Mass. F. W. Andros. I Ballus virginianus Linn., Virginia Rail. ( Summer resident, common. Breeds. O.&O. XII. Sept. 1887 p.lo8 South Framingham, Mass., May 17, Virginia Rail and ten eggs taken. Incubation, four to six days. Lo- cality, east side Milford Branch R.R. south of Fram- ingham. F. E. Coombs. O; ftO s ’S.V, lone. 1890 , . V irgin ia Rail, $?, shot in Worcester, Jan. 1, 18111. Uatfch plump and in good condition. C. K. Reed. XVX, Jan, 1891, p*16 ~ftojdCtu4 tri 4 /fa: ■JoXj If ,y. ^-\A et~ &sCt£^ *v*-« 4^7 KuA/Ca, UT^o ^ ^ t /f ? C AS '7 * ^ L V & j z u ‘ ^/y // /f^u. ( General Notes, Oountry B Mass° f S^i^2S reBalpb **'**'■> Rallus virginianus. Virginia Rail. - One in Stockbr'idge Auk XII. Jan, 1896 p, 88 /2 7 Connecticut. -June, 1893, /f a,M\a4 * ; /, -- **•■£ i*l&x* UKa\nt!8 ’^H&s !: • *&&& — n /if-*. //*-£ ] 4. .- / 7 .* .(^ •/&$:' £ t ■ } » / 2 ^ I97 . Rallus Virginians. Virginian Rail. -Tolerably common about the borders of the wilderness. Bull N. 0. 0, 7, Oot, 1882, p. 250 Birds of Oneida County, New York, Egbert Bagg. having been . An fc: XJ April< 18 Q 4 p . 163 Uadeacribed First Plumages, Brewster 118. Rallus virginiaiius. Downy stage : chick about a week old. Entirely clothed in long, rather coarse, glossy, or blue-black down. Bill nearly straight, .72 inches long, yellowish at tip and base, crossed in the middle by a broad black band. From two specimens in my cabinet collected by Mr. 1). C. French, at Con- cord, Mass., June, 1870. First plumage : female. Top and sides of bead, neck behind, back an- teriorly, rump, breast, and sides, dull dead black. Interscapular region black, with a few of the feathers margined with brownish-olive. Wing- coverts and wings nearly as in adult, a little duller and darker perhaps. Superciliary line obscure ashy. Throat asliy-wbite, finely spotted with black. Central region of lower breast and abdomen, with a few of the feathers on the sides, tinged with white. Anal region and crissum dull reddish-chestnut. In my cabinet, from Cambridge, Mass., August, 1875. Several other specimens of corresponding ages agree closely with the one above described. A male, however (Cambridge, August 9, 1875), differs in having a faint reddish wash over the white on the breast and abdomen. This species, as previously stated, passes through a regular first, plumage, which precedes the downy stage, and is in turn succeeded by the regular autumnal plumage. The first moult occurs in the latter part of August. The autumnal plumage is a little brighter than that of the adult in spring, but does not otherwise materially differ. BuJiN.O.C. 4, Jan., 1879, p. O.&O. Vtll.Feb. 1883. p. /A Rare Birds. — It will interest you to know that I have taken a. r>ure white Rail, Nesting of the Virginia Rail (Rallus virginianus). On June 21, 1892, 1 went out to a small inland swamp several miles north of st. Clair i to see if I could collect some Blackbird eggs. 1 found several nests of these and two line sets of Swamp Sparrows, but was rather dis- appointed. I waded out to a large log thickly covered with underbrush and crept along for quite a way only to come face to face with a large, black snake. It would have required a good stop-watch to determine the seconds it took me to get off that log and endeavor to get a stick, but his snakesliip didn’t relish the meeting any more than I did and quickly : swam away. Close by her were several clumps of flags and out of one of these I startled a bird. Stooping eagerly down I found a nest full of eggs. It was a compactly built j nest, slightly hollowed and made of dead flags. I The eggs were ten in number, creamy white dotted with fine specks of reddish and lilac- | brown, averaging 1.25x.96 in size. I soon saw the bird and recognized it as tbe Virginia Rail (Iiallus virginianus). The female would not fly till almost stejrped on and would then fly quickly in a straight line and dive quickly into the underbrush where she would rapidly move away until out of sight. As I had never found any other but the Common Sora and occasionally a King Rail’s m st, I felt very much elated over my find. [ The eggs were badly incubated, but after half an hour’s labor I succeeded in saving them. B. II. Swales. 1220 Woodward ave., Detroit, Mich. From j my own experience the Virginia Rails /are - always larger than the Sora, lighter in color and with fewer and smaller markings. ! Clapper Rails are ovoidal in shape, tapering slightly toward smaller end. but not sharply pointed, ground color, a dirty cream or drab, with a few spots of reddish brown mingled with purple shell marks, mostly on and about the larger end. Virginia and Sora Rails are similar in shape to the above, but much smaller in size, the Virginia hav- ing a light cream ground with none of the olivaceous tint so common in the Sora. The markings of the former are small, of a reddish brown, with purple shell spots scattered over the surface, but more nu- merous near the larger end. The Sora is darker in color, and with the olive tint before mentioned, though I have specimens which are a dark, rich cream, without any olive. The spots are of two shades of brown, one overlaying the other and with the same purple spots or blotches. None of the Rails, to my knowledge, are ever so thickly sptotted as to have the ground color entirely concealed . — Snowdon Howland , Newport , R. Z.O.&O. Vlll. May.1883. p. Si Remember. — Our only place of business is at our works, Hyde Park, Mass. Frank Blake Webster Co. O.& O Vol. 17, July, 1892 p. 103 I have not found Rails, breeding here until this season when, after special search, I took three sets of nine eggs each. Now, with their somewhat restricted habitat at my command, I can probably take their eggs every year if there is any use for them. /.M. ft/. A/tfiw O.&O. Vll. Nov. 1882. p. i“73. \ Peculiarity in the Nesting Habits of the Virginia Rail. had completely smashed three of the eggs, and driven her bill clear through another without otherwise injuring it. We have the remaining six still, and in my eyes, on ac- count of the eggs drilled by the bird herself, they are more valuable than a full set of nine which lies beside them. By the way, nine eggs is the regulation set laid by the Virginia Rail in these parts, although occasionally seven makes a full set. The peculiarity of the above mentione marsh is the strictness of the society, one might call it, kept by the birds there. While Virginia Rails and Short-billed Marsh Wrens ( Cistothorous stellar is) abound there, I have never seen a Sora Rail ( Porzana Car- olina) nor a Long-billed Marsh Wren ( C 'is- tothorous fahistris) nor have I heard of one ever being seen there. This is all the more strange, as a marsh not a mile and a half distant is reasonably well stocked with all four birds. This has nothing to do with the subject, it is true, but it has always seemed so singular to me that I do not omit it. Since the nest first mentioned, I have found a large number j my brother has also done so. In each case we were careful to handle the eggs and place them in different positions to see if the art of fencing would be repeated ; but, until this year, the birds simply re- arranged the eggs and continued to set. The second and last case of the kind happened while hunting in a different marsh m the early part of last June. I had been hunting for Marsh Wrens’ nests but had found nothing :gy ith nd ck ng >g- w- M- th iy >p- a lia Dn lie >n it e- If it h >r jn d a Although I have talked with a large num- ber of persons and read quite a few books on this bird ( Rallus virginianus) , I havebeen unable to hear of, or find, a feature in the nesting-habits similar to the following. The first instance of the kind that has come under my notice, occurred on May 30, 1891. My brother and I were hunting in a small marsh in the vicinity of Dedham, Mass., for Rail’s nests in particular. We had not J ““"Vnce but a few Short-bill “decoys,” been long at work when my wot er ca rked un til my dog showed me a out .0 me that he had found a V.rg.ma’s net the g tel „ ins of mne with nine eggs. Being at some dis ance, broken jn the same ,00k me perhaps three minn.es to reach him. TO.* some While I was on the wap, he had been hunt- — ^‘dam^e done amounted to 4 very little more than a thrust clean through, 1. but the majority were badly broken. I am U surprise and at say .ha, no reason can be given for saw the old Rail standing e & ' ag the e „ gs p, a( q been washed clean e and, in the most cool and deliberate rece nt rains, leaving the residue in the s ^Telay b^driling her ogbutnot before she! bottom ot the nest, which proved tha, the j Willie i- vvcio ing within a few yards of the nest and, when I came up, we immediately went to it. lo our 'surprise and, at the moment, disgust we Nesting of the Virginia Rail in New Hampshire. BY S. ALBERT SHAW. nu lutnn uu spare. I Hushed the bird from the nest and as she Hew rather slowly and awkwardly, with legs hanging down at full length, I had a good chance to identify her before she dropped into a thicket a few rods away. During the latter part of the summer of 188G Visited it again on the 28th, and found eight a boy brought me an addled egg which he | eggs, and that the surface of the nest had been found in an old nest in a swampy pasture and I doubled by the addition of more leaves of the which I could not satisfactorily identify, so 1 cat tails and also slightly hollowed, decided to make a search for the nest next . The eggs are of a dirty white, covered with season hoping the birds would return there lilac spots which are larger and more numerous to breed a°-ain° I 011 the lar £ er end - The measurements average It was on the 13th of May last that I visited i 1.20x.89. O 1 1 1-4 s' H 1 ^ £ $ R S „ Earned wo fresh eggs each, and the remaining nest held two newly hatched you A one egg ] ■ I hatching and one decayed egg. Late nests of the Black-throated Bunting ! .. Dickcissle,” were placed in untrimmed I hedges at distances from the ground varying from five to eight feet. I found four such ir6 , ORNITH breaking had taken place some time before I found them. I forgot to mention that, in the first instance, neither the eggs nor the nest were in any way disturbed beyond part- ing the grass above in order to see the eggs distinctly. I will add here that if Short-bill “ decoys ” are found in June, it is well to mark them and pay another visit about the middle of July, as of the nests just mentioned one held seven eggs and another six when visited about a month later. J "• H. L envies. Ponkanog, Mass. O.&O.V 0 II 8 , Am. 1893 d. 115-110 Nesting of the Virginia Rail in New Hampshire. BY S. ALBERT SHAW. During the latter part of the summer of 1880 a boy brought me an addled egg which he found in an old nest in a swampy pasture and which I could not satisfactorily identify, so I decided to make a search for the nest next season, hoping the birds would return there to breed again. It was on the 13th of May last that I visited the above-mentioned pasture, which is boggy and very wet, the open part being covered with hassocks and a dense growth of rushes and coarse grass, the other portion with a thick growth of aiders, white birches and scattering young pines, and through which Hows a slug- gish brook. The ground is traversed by cow- paths running in every direction, the interven- ing spaces being covered with a rank growth of skunk cabbage. It was while threading my way carefully through the above thicket that I had a line op- portunity of witnessing the movements of a bird I had never seen alive before, a Virginia Kail. I remained perfectly quiet and he was soon running about within a few feet of mo, and the thought came to me that from the examination of a dead specimen one would never suspect it capable of such nimble and graceful move- ments as I had the pleasure of witnessing. If I stirred he would pause and turn his bright little eyes towards me for an instant, and then, as if reassured, would continue his search for food as unconcernedly as before. Saw him catch several flies in a dexterous manner and also probe the mud with his long red bill in a rapid manner. As I moved away he ran along only a few steps in advance for quite a distance when I suddenly lost sight of him, but shall always remember the meeting with pleasure. Thinking from its actions a nest might be not far away, I spent quite a while looking for it but in vain. On May 21st I made another effort to find the nest and was successful after a long search. It was in the midst of a large patch of cat tails, eight inches from the ground, and was com- posed of dead grass, with a few leaves of the cat tails on top, which was perfectly flat, the whole being supported by several last year’s stalks that surrounded the nest, almost com- pletely hiding it from view. It contained one egg, with no room to spare. I flushed the bird from the nest and as she flew rather slowly and awkwardly, with legs hanging down at full length, I had a good chance to identify her before she dropped into a thicket a few rods away. Visited it again on the 28th, and found eight eggs, and that the surface of the nest had been doubled by the addition of more leaves of the cat tails and also slightly hollowed. The eggs are of a dirty white, covered with lilac spots which are larger and more numerous on the larger end. The measurements average 1.20X.89. c; 2*0 :© 3 Z fZZ