March. 1S93.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



before described. It would during spring 

 and early summer sometimes pour out a few 

 pleasing but half expressed notes, which 

 probably was the regiilur song but not strongly 

 uttered. This one was undoubtedly a male, 

 but it was destroyed before it ever assumed 

 its red coat. It may be that this species 

 possesses a peculiarity in coloration, like the 

 not vastly removed Cross-bills, which are 

 so oddly marked as to deceive us in regards 

 to sex and age. The late Mr. Brewer first 

 studied and explained the singular phases in 

 the coloration in the Cross-bill. 



A few birds were seen in March, but the 

 flocks mainly disappeared in February, dif- 

 fering in this respect from the Evening Gros- 

 beak, which I have known to remain till the 

 month of May. Scolpax. 



Kalamazoo, Mich. 



Notes from Cobb's Island and 

 Vicinity. 



The following comprises a list of birds 

 seen at Cobb's Island, Va., and vicinity, dur- 

 ing a brief sojourn there from May 19 to 

 22, 1891 : — 

 58. Laughing Gull. — Some seen at the 

 island and others on the marshes, 

 but very few at any time. 

 70. Common Tern. — A few seen on the 



beach and in the marsh. 

 74. Least Tern. — Only a single bird seen. 

 There seemed to be a great scarcity 

 of Gulls and Terns the whole time I 

 was at the island. 

 80. Black Skimmer. — Four seen one even- 

 ing, just about dusk, flying up the 

 beach over the line of the surf. 

 1 20. Double-Cr. Cormorant. — About a doz- 

 en or twenty seen as we sailed in 

 the "Broadwater" (behveen the 

 main and the island ) . A few were seen 

 flying, but most of them in the water. 

 163. American Scoter. — A flock of about 

 six seen in the ocean, riding the 

 waves just beyond the surf, near the 

 upper end of the island. 



194. Great Blue Heron. — On the 21st we 

 sailed down to Smith's island through 

 the "Broadwater." During the trip 

 down we saw a great many standing 

 in the shallow water over the flats 

 about Smith's island, and at the 

 heronry there we saw a large number 

 of them. 



201. Green Heron. — A few seen in the 

 marshes. They would fly up from 

 the edge of the " guts " as we sailed 

 past. Quite a number of them were 

 breeding at Mockhorn island. 



211. Clapper Rail. — Very abundant on all 

 the marshes, although seldom seen. 

 I only saw one, it being flushed on 

 the edge of a " gut," where it had 

 no place to sulk away in the grass. 

 Many nests were found, all at Cobb's 

 Island. Most of them were built 

 about six to ten inches from the 

 ground, and some had drift grass 

 drawn over the top to hide them. 

 All had fresh eggs, the largest set 

 being nine and the smallest five. 



231. Dowitcher. — Only two seen, and killed 

 over the decoys. About fifteen years 

 ago, when I was down there, these 

 were one of the most common birds 

 shot. They are locally known as 

 Grayback. 



234. Knot. — They made their first appear- 

 ance May 22, and I saw about a 

 dozen flocks containing from ten to 

 thirty birds each. They are known 

 as Robin-breast Snipe, and are in 

 my opinion the most delicious of 

 all shore birds for the table. 



243<7. Red-backed Sandpiper. — Very plen- 

 tiful, many bunches coming to the 

 decoys. 



246. Semi-palmated Sandpiper. — Large 

 flocks would be seen darting about 

 the marshes and over the decoys. 



248. Sanderling. — A few seen running on 

 the beach, and one shot. 



254. Greater Yellow-legs. — Only one noted 



