522 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.90 



The subspecific status and nomenclature of the eastern grackles 

 of this group seem at present so uncertain that after some considera- 

 tion I have listed these birds as major. Without going into unneces- 

 sary detail here I may add that the bird of Florida has been 

 described by Alexander Sprunt, Jr., as a separate race westoni,^^ 

 while almost simultaneously the bird from Delaware to Florida was 

 named by Francis Harper as torreyiP Lowery ** tentatively recog- 

 nizes both forms, though acknowledging that this is debatable. After 

 examination of the highly unsatisfactory series of these birds in the 

 National Museum I cannot make out the characters alleged for 

 either and feel that further study is required to determine whether 

 the eastern group differs from that of Louisiana. The question of 

 difference in eye color must be decided by further field investigations. 



QUISCALUS QUISCALUS STONEI Chapman**: Pnrple Crackle 



A male taken in the Dismal Swamp, 7 miles west of South Mills, on 

 April 18 is referred to this form in accordance with Dr. Frank M. 

 Chapman's modern studies of this interesting group of birds. Two 

 other forms should occur in North Carolina. 



Family THRAUPIDAE 



PIRANGA ERYTHROMELAS Vieillot: Scarlet Tanager 



Birds were secured in summer in the mountain area of western 

 North Carolina as follows: 1,450 feet altitude 8 miles southwest of 

 Murphy, June 12 and 13 ; 3,700 feet 12 miles east of Hayesville, June 

 30; 4,100 feet on Standing Indian Mountain, 15 miles east of Hayes- 

 ville, July 1 ; and 4,700 feet on Three Tops Mountain, 2 miles southeast 

 of Creston, July 13. The species was seen on Pack Mountain in Cher- 

 okee County, June 7; on Rocky Ridge, Franklin County, June 22; 

 near Highlands, July 6 ; and on Elk Knob, Watauga County, July 17 

 and 18. Migrants were taken in Reidsville on September 23 and on 

 the Catawba River west of Statesville on October 4. 



PIRANGA RUBRA RUBRA (Linnaeus) : Summer Tanager 



Records for this bird are as follows : Wadesboro, May 26 ; Rocking- 

 ham, May 30; Gliden, April 25; Clinton, May 1 and 3; and Southport, 

 May 10. On June 6 Perry go recorded three on Pack Mountain above 

 Pack Mountain Gap, Cherokee County. 



^'^Cassidxx mexicanus westoni Sprunt, Charleston Mus. Leaflet No. 6, Feb. 24, 1934 (St. 

 Johns River Marshes, Indian River County, Fla.). 



^ Cassidix major torreyi Harper, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 85, Mar. 8, 1934, 

 p. 1 (Chincoteague, Va.). 



*" Oce. Papers Mus. Zool. Louisiana State Univ., No. 1, May 4, 1938, p. 6. 



^Quiscalus quiscula atonei Chapman, Auls, 1935, p. 25 (Lakeburst, N. J.). 



