Letters, Announcements, ^"c. 229 



familiar with the distribution of our species, are represented por- 

 tions of two Faunse [the 'Canadian' and the * AUeghanian 'J 

 which differ in many respects from each other. There seems to 

 be a natural dividing line between the birds of Massachusetts 

 and Southern New England generally, and those of the more 

 northern portions of the Eastern States. Numerous species 

 which enter New England in spring, to breed there, do not pro- 

 ceed, as a general rule, farther north than Massachusetts ; and 

 many others, properly to be regarded as stragglers from the 

 south in summer and early autumn, are rarely if ever found be- 

 yond the latitude of this State. In like manner many of the 

 regular winter visitants of Maine are of rare or only occasional 

 occurrence, or are not found at all much farther south. Again, 

 many species hardly known in Massachusetts and southward, ex- 

 cept as migratory species passing through in spring and autumn, 

 are in Maine regular summer visitants, breeding abundantly. 

 Other minor differences, resulting from latitude and physical geo- 

 graphy, will readily be brought to mind by attentive consideration 

 of the subject, and therefore need not be here detailed. It will 

 be evident that a due regard for these important points has 

 necessitated, in the case of almost every species in the list, re- 

 marks elucidative of the special part it plays in the composition 

 of the Avi-fauna." 



Some of our readers may like to know that remains of Alca 

 impennis have been lately discovered in three New-England locali- 

 ties, to wit. Mount Desert and Crouch's Cove in the State of 

 Maine, and in " shell-mounds " at Ipswich in Massachusetts, 

 where a humerus was found by Professor Baird in August last. 



XXI. — Letters, Announcements, &^c. 



The following letters have been received, addressed " To the 

 Editor of 'The Ibis'":— 



Helsingfors, December 29, 1868. 

 Sir, — Professor Sundevall, in his ' Svenska Eoglarna,' records 

 the following birds, among others, as having been found in 



