The record is the more remarkable because the winter so far had 

 been a cold one. The 18th, it is true, was a warm day — tempera- 

 ture 58° at the time the bird was seen — but previous to this the 

 weather had been unusually cold, the freezing point having been 

 reached repeatedly during the first two weeks of December. Yet 

 the hummingbird, far from being numbed or weak with hunger, 

 was as lively as possible and apparently in the best of health and 

 spirits. 



It is a curious coincidence that the only two December records 

 for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird were made on the same day 

 of the month in different years and that both records were made 

 in the City of Charleston. On December 18, 1909, Master Ned Hyer 

 took a female in Charleston* while, as stated above, the record 

 in my garden was made on December 18, 1910. — Herbert R, Sass. 



Ring-necked Duck in South Carolina. — On December 17, 1910, 

 half a dozen or more specimens of the Ring-necked Duck (Marila 

 ajffinis) were taken by Mr. John F. Maybank, on the Ashepoo River. 

 Two of these were given to me but, unfortunately, I was able to 

 preserve only the head and neck of one before they were plucked. 

 This has been mounted and is now in my collection. Mr. May- 

 bank reports that these birds were abundant in the Ashepoo River 

 region. Although evidently known to sportsmen in some parts 

 of the state, this species seems to be rare in the vicinity of Char- 

 leston. Only two records have been previously made for South 

 CaroHna, one specimen having been taken by Mr. Arthur T. Wayne, 

 January 11, 1886, and the second by Mr. E. H. Burton, February 

 8, 1908, both on the Cooper River. The specimens taken by Mr. 

 Maybank therefore make the third record for the state. — Francis 

 S. Hanckel, Jr. 



iBuLL. Chas. Mus. VI, 1910, 10. 



16 



