2o6 abstracts: ornithology 



inosculate, wherefore the Guadaloupe Island race should stand as 

 Salpinctes obsoletus guadeloupensis Ridgway; and the form described as 

 Salpinctes guadeloupensis proximus Swarth should become also a sub- 

 species of Salpinctes obsoletus. H. C. O. 



ORNITHOLOGY.— iya5/«ngtoM region [April to May, iqi8]. Harry 

 C. Oberholser. Bird-IyOre 20: 303-305. 

 The height of the spring migration of birds at Washington is ordinarily 

 from May 10 to 15. The spring of 191 8 was an unusually good season 

 for birds, although some species were remarkably scarce, notably 

 Thryothorus ludovicianus , Tringa solitaria solitaria, and Iliornis flavipes. 

 On the other hand, many were more than ordinarily numerous, such as 

 Vermivora peregrina, Dendroica castanea, Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni, 

 and Larus Philadelphia. Several ducks lingered later in the spring 

 than ever before; and Rallus virginianus until May 11, more than a 

 month later than its previous latest date — April 6, 1892. Although 

 some species were late in putting in their appearance, a number of 

 arrivals were earlier than previously known. In the latter category 

 are Seiurus motacilla, Riparia riparia riparia, Melospiza lincolnii 

 lincolnii, Passerina cyanea, Vireosylva philadelphica, Protonotaria citrea, 

 Peucaea aestivalis bachmanii, and Sterna caspia. H. C. O. 



ORNITHOLOGY. — The races oj the Nicobar megapode, Megapodius 

 nicobariensis Blyth. Harry C. Oberholser. Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus. 55: 399-402. 191 9. 



The Nicobar megapode, Megapodius nicobariensis, is of interest as 

 marking the extreme western limit of the geographic range of the 

 Megapodiidae. Its distribution is limited to the Nicobar Islands; and 

 it is apparently divisible into two subspecies. The birds inhabiting 

 the southern islands of this group differ from those from more northern 

 localities in their darker coloration, and will therefore stand as a new 

 subspecies, Megapodius nicobariensis abbotti. H. C. O. 



ORNITHOLOGY. — The geographic races of Hedymeles melanocephalus 

 vSwainson. Harry C. Oberholser. Auk 36: 408-416. July, 

 1919. 



The separation of Hedymeles melanocephalus into two subspecies was 

 originally made on the basis of the differences existing between the birds 

 of California and those of the Rocky Mountain region of the United 



