General Notes. 187 



The New England examples of this species that T have examined pre- 

 sent a slight difference in the shade of the rump and rest of dorsal 

 surface hut I think, with possihly one exception, none of the specimens 

 show the lightness of color characterizing the so-called typical excubitn- 

 rides. (See Merriam, this Bulletin, Vol. Ill, pp. 55, 56.) — H. A. Pur- 

 die, Xewton, Mass. 



Notes on some of the Winter and early Spring Birds of 

 Fort Sisseton, Dakota. — In my " Notes on the Birds of Fort Sisseton, 

 Dakota Territory" (Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey of the Territories, 

 Vol. V, No. 1, 1879), Dr. Coues has kindly added a note at page 103, 

 stating the occurrence of Pinicnla enucleator, (L.) V., and JEqiotlms Unarm, 

 (L.) Cab., in this vicinity. My letters conveying this information to Dr. 

 Coues arrived too late to enable him to insert the full notes in the paper, 

 and I therefore furnish them for publication now, with notes on two other 

 birds also rare to the Avifauna of the " Coteau des Prairies " of Dakota. 



1. Pinicola enucleator, (L.) V. Pine Grosbeak. — In rambling 

 through the woods, January 6, 1879, I came across a flock of Pine Gros- 

 beaks, numbering perhaps twenty-five birds, in the middle of quite a thick 

 growth of timbei*. I had just fired at a Sharp-tailed Grouse when the 

 birds made their appearance, having evidently been aroused from some 

 part of the timber near by, although I had not noticed them on entering. 

 The birds appeared to have a curiosity to know why they had been dis- 

 turbed in their sheltered and warm retreat, and alighted in the trees near 

 me, when, quickly changing my cartridges, I secured a single specimen, 

 which dropped from the tree, wounded, at a little distance from me. The 

 curiosity of the others quickly changed to alarm and I could not get a 

 second shot. They, however, performed their antics high in the air, 

 directly overhead, for several minutes after I had secured the wounded 

 bird, until finally they were lost to view. 



I believe the Pine Grosbeak to be of only casual occurrence in this re- 

 gion although it may have escaped my notice during former winters, as 

 collecting at that season in this latitude is no easy matter, and the return 

 for the amount of labor involved is very small indeed. 



2. ^aSgiothus linarius, (L.) Cab. Red-poll Linnet. — During the 

 winter of 1878-79, flocks of these birds were often seen here. On Janu- 

 ary 28, I secured a specimen about four miles northeast of the post on the 

 open prairie. The flock contained about forty birds, which were scratch- 

 ing around on the partly snow-covered ground in search of food, and did 

 not appear to mind my approach, but after I had fired took to wing, and 

 could not afterwards be found. In February and March these birds were 

 very numerous around the post, flocks containing nearly a thousand birds 

 being frequently observed, and they were not at all shy. After this time 

 their numbers diminished, and I saw none after April 9. The past winter 

 was the first one during which I have seen these birds here. 



