46 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



dence then in any of the past five years in any part of the Keys, 

 Upper or Lower, nor at Cape Sable. It is my belief that late October 

 or early November sees the last of the migrants depart. 



Outside of Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia (for which last 

 two States there are no fall records) occurrence of the graj?^ kingbird 

 is accidental, but the few instances are worth mention. Progressing 

 northward from the normal range, the Middle Atlantic States exhibit 

 no records, and New Jersey is the first northern State to show one. 

 Its jDresence in that State is recorded at Cape May by Julian K. 

 Potter (1923). A remarkable thing about this note is that no date 

 is mentioned in connection with it ! 



While a party of members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club were 

 exploring the meadows and dunes at Cape May Point, at the mouth of Delaware 

 Bay, we were attracted by a bird which flew out from a growth of wind swept 

 and half dead Red Cedars in Pond Creek Meadow. It dashed out into the air 

 seized an insect and returned to its perch. It had all the actions of a King- 

 bird and such we supposed it to be. But when a dozen glasses were levelled 

 at it we saw to our surprise that the bird lacked the characteristic white tip 

 to its tail ; the upper surface was found to be gray and in addition a dark 

 line extended through the eye like that of a shrike though broader and not 

 so distinct. In actions and general appearance the bird was like our ordinary 

 Kingbird. He made no sound of any kind while under observation. We were 

 trying to place the bird when someone produced one of those ever ready bird 

 identifiers, Reed's 'Pocket Bird Guide,' and turned to the Kingbird and there 

 on the opposite page was the Gray Kingbird. The bird in the tree was com- 

 pared with the picture in the book and was found to be identical in every detail. 

 For further confirmation a description was written and sent to Dr. Witmer 

 Stone with the question attached 'What is it?' The answer came back next 

 morning over the wire 'Gray Kingbird.' Several of those who saw the bird 

 examined skins the next day at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia 

 and further confirmed the identification. This is the first record of the 

 species for New Jersey and, we believe, with one exception, the first record 

 north of South Carolina. 



I wrote to Mr. Potter and asked him the date of this observation, 

 and he answered by stating that it was May 30, 1923. (It would 

 seem from this date that the above observation should have been 

 included in the division "Spring," but since the occurrence is purely 

 accidental, it was thought best to mention it in this discussion of 

 extralimital records.) 



Still farther north, the gray kingbird has been taken once in New 

 York State on Long Island. This is said by Ludlow Griscom (1923) 

 to have been "at Setauket, Long Island, about 1874," but no details 

 are given. Strangely, all remaining gray kingbird records for the 

 United States come from New England: Two of them are from 

 Massachusetts, many years apart. The first is mentioned by For- 

 bush, that of an immature bird, taken at Lynn on October 23, 1869, 

 by C. F. Goodale. Mr. Forbush stated that "it has been reported 



