C. II. Merriain — Birch of Connecticut. 103 



Family, H^EMATOPODID^E. 



181. Haematopus palliatUS Tenmiiuck. Oj-ster-catclier. 



.V r:ire migrant. Liiisley says : "The Oyster-catcher is now rare 

 liere, hut fifteen years since tliey were not very unconinion in 

 aiitunni."* 



182. Strepsilas interpres (Linue) Illigcr. Turnstone. 



A common migrant. Linsley gave it from Stratford, and Capt. 

 IJrooks writes me that it is " (jnite common in spring and lall" about 

 Faulkner's Island, Conn. Mr. Sage, of Portland, has a beautiful male, 

 which he killed at Westbrook, Conn., May 2:3d, 1877. In fall it 

 returns during the latter part of August (Aug. 31, 1874, F. W. Hall). 



Family, RECURVIROSTRID^. 



183. Recurvirostra Americana Gmeiiu. Avocet. 



A rather rare migrant. Josiah G. Ely, Esq., writes me that he has 

 seen but one specimen of the Avocet taken on our coast. " It was 

 caught, in 1871, between Saybrook and East Lyme, in an old seine 

 strung out on the beach to dry," and was kept alive for some time by 

 a storekeeper. 



Family, PHALAROPODID^]. 



1 84. Steganopus Wilsoni (Sabine) Coues. Wilson's Phalarope. 



Of rare and almost accidental occurrence in New England, though 

 common throughout the West. Linsley says of it: "Wilson's Pha- 

 larope 1 have in my cabinet; it was killed in Bridgeport [Conn.] and 

 sent to me by a friend, and is probably one of the rarest birds in New 

 England. It is not only beautiful, but the great quantity of pluma<>e 

 on a bird so small and delicate, together with his unique bill, seems 

 to render it one of the most peculiar of this class of animals."f 



1 85. PhalaropUS fulicarius (Linue) Bonaparte. Red Phalarope. 



A rare visitor from the North. Mr. W. W. Coe has a specimen in 

 his cabinet, killed at Portland, Conn., in September. 



* Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, vol. xliv, No. 2, p. 265. April, 1843. f Op. eit., p. 268. 



