4 



visitors, and hence form, numerically, so far as individ- 

 uals are concerned, no very important part of our fauna. 

 The recorded instances of their capture, however, prob- 

 ably by no means fairly indicate the frequency of their 

 occurrence. 



The species indicated as of probable occurrence number 

 twenty-four. One-fourth of these have already been taken 

 on the very borders of the state (Suffield, Conn.), so 

 that it seems almost finical to exclude them from the list 

 of those known to occur in Massachusetts. Several 

 others are southern species that have been taken in New 

 Hampshire and Maine, to reach which points they in all 

 probability passed through Massachusetts. The remain- 

 der are largely pelagic, and since they are of no interest 

 or value to the sportsman, and are rarely accessible to the 

 collector, the fact that we have no positive record of their 

 capture within the state scarcely outweighs the strong 

 probability of their occurrence here, as indicated by their 

 known o'eneral range and habits. Hence at least seven- 

 eighths of the species placed in the list of those probably 

 occurring may certainly be considered as fairly entitled 

 to be ranked as birds of the state. Addinsr to these 

 four that have become extirpated raises the total number 

 of species for the state to about three hundred and forty. 



Several other species more or less commonly recognized 

 as birds of the state I have considered as having no, or 

 only very slight, claims to be so considered. Two of 

 these (Myiodioctes minutus and Empidonax pygmmis) 

 I regard as hypothetical ; another ( Thaumatias linncei) , 

 as of doubtful record as taken in the state ; another 

 (Passer domesticus) is a well known introduced species, 

 and two or three others may have escaped from cages. 



The ornithology of the eastern portion of the state 

 may now be regarded as pretty thoroughly known ; that 



