376 



Bird -Lore 



sat on its heels on the sand, its two pale- 

 colored legs stretched out, and, when 

 pursued, flew low and swiftly, but rather 

 weakly, would drop into the low growth 

 and disappear, and was finally cornered 

 against the water and caught in the hand. 

 There could be no mistake in the identity. 

 Evidence of the presence of these two 

 lesser Sparrows in the Long Island breed- 

 ing avifauna seems worth placing on 

 record. They will probably be found to 

 breed here more commonly than has 

 sometimes been supposed. — John Tread- 

 well Nichols, Eiigleu-ood, N. J. 



An Albino Pewee at Montclair, N. J. 



I have been much interested in watch- 

 ing, for a week past, an albino Pewee. 

 and should like to know if anyone else 

 has reported it from Montclair. The bird 

 looks perfectly white as it dashes out 

 after insects, except for a soft lemon-yel 

 lowish white underneath, and the slight- 

 est dusky tips to its wings. All the other 

 birds seem to notice that it is different, 

 especially the Sparrows and the Blue Jay. 



Another Pewee is often with it, gi\ing 

 the dreamy Pewee call. 



I am inclined to think the albino is 

 a bird of the year, as it is very fearless 

 and unafraid. — Katharine R. Hege- 

 MAN, Montclair, N. J . 



Problems in the Local Distribution 

 of Birds. 



It would seem that the Blue-gray Gnat- 

 catcher is a regular migrant, in very small 

 numbers, in Central Park, New York 

 City, though by good observers a few miles 

 westward in New Jersey it has never been 

 noted. The Gnatcatcher is not known to 

 breed north of southern New Jersey, and 

 the yearly recurrence of the species fur- 

 ther north is remarkable. The most 

 plausible explanation seems to be that 

 somewhere in southern New York or New 

 England, probably in Connecticut, there 

 exists a small isolated breeding colony of 

 the species. 



It has long been known that the Ken- 



tucky Warbler is a regular summer resi- 

 dent along the banks of the lower Hudson 

 River, and in southern Connecticut, a 

 small colony of the species absolutly cut 

 off from its main breeding range further 

 south, though there is no dearth of appar- 

 ently suitable woodland in the interven- 

 ing country. Certain other species of 

 Warblers, the Hooded and the Perula in 

 particular, have a curiously broken dis- 

 tribution in the Middle States. In other 

 parts of the country there are doubtless 

 the same inconsistencies in distribution 

 and the plotting of the breeding areas and 

 migration routes of such species present 

 an interesting field for the local bird-club 

 or the individual worker. — W. DeW^ 

 Miller, Plainfpid. \. J. 



Thirty-first Annual Congress of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union 



The Thirty-first .\nnual Congress of the 

 .American Ornithologists' Union was held 

 in New York City, November 10-14, 1913- 



At the Business Meeting of Fellows, 

 held at the Explorers' Club on the even- 

 ing of the loth, the following officers were 

 re-elected: 



The three vacancies in the list of Fel- 

 lows were filled by the election of Mr. W. 

 L. McAtee, of Washington, D. C, Mr. 

 Joseph Maillard, of San Francisco, Cali- 

 fornia, and Mr. Waldron DeWitt Miller, 

 of New York City. 



Walter L. Rothschild, of Tring, England, 

 was elected an Honorary Fellow, and 

 Sergius N. Alpheraky, of St. Petersburg, 

 Russia, and Dr. Edouard Daniel Van 

 Oort, of Leyden, Holland, were elected 

 Corresponding Fellows. The following 

 five Members were elected: Dr. Rudolf 

 M. Anderson, of the Stefansson Arctic 

 Expedition, Dr. Arthur A. Allen, of 

 Ithaca, New York, Dr. W. H. Bergtold, 

 of Denver, Colorado, W. Lee Chambers, 

 of Eagle Rock, California, and George 

 Willett of Los Angeles, California. There 

 were also elected 150 .\ssociate Members. 



The public sessions of the Congress 

 were held November 11-13, at the .\meri- 

 can Museum of Natural History, and 



