BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 15I 



says: "Mr. J. F. Le Baron informs me that in former years this bird was 

 occasionally seen at Ipswich ; but of late years it has not made its appearance." 

 On November 28th, 1902, a flock of six Whistling Swans was seen in Plum 

 Island River, in Newbury, and an immature bird was shot by George F. 

 Thurlow. It was offered for sale in the Newburyport Market and was pur- 

 chased by Mr. William Brewster who now has the specimen in his mounted 

 collection. On December ist, 1902, Mr. W. H. Vivian, of Gloucester, saw 

 and shot a single bird of this species, undoubtedly from the same flock, off the 

 mouth of the Essex River. He has the bird, mounted, in his possession. 



[iSi] Olor buccinator (Rich.). Trumpeter Swan. This species, now confined to the 

 interior of the continent, is believed to have occurred in tlie County in the early days of its 

 settlement. 



[18S] Tantalus loculator Linn. Wood Ibis. In the early eighties, a taxidermist began 

 supplying a museum in Essex County with specimens of unusual birds which, he claimed, were 

 shot in the County. Some o£ these, as he afterward confessed, were obtained by him from a 

 distance (see page 75). One of these was reported by J. A. Allen, ^ before the fraud was 

 detected. This was the record of the Wood Ibis, which the collector stated was taken at 

 Georgetown, on June 19th, 1880. Later, Allen'' said : "The authenticity of the alleged capture 

 [of the Wood Ibis] has since been investigated with care, without eliciting any evidence tending 

 to impeach the record, beyond the fact of the untrustworthy character of my informant." 



The only undoubted record of this bird for the State is of a young male in tlie collection of 

 Mr. William Brewster,-' taken at Seekonk, on July 17th, 1896. 



75 [19°] Botaurus lentiginosus (Montag.). 

 American Bittern. 



Common summer resident ; April 4 to October 16. 



Eggs : June 10. 



During the spring. Bitterns are more common in the fresh marshes, where 

 they generally breed, but after the middle of August they are frequently found 

 in the salt marshes. Here they may often be started from the high grass in 

 which they have been skulking, or may be seen standing motionless with bills 

 pointed upwards. This latter habit seems peculiar to the Bitterns, and is not, 

 as far as I know, shared by the other Herons. I remember the first time I 



1 J. A. Allen : Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, vol. 8, p. 187 [ — 185], 18S3. 



2 J. A. Allen : Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. i, p. 234, 1886. 

 ' Wm. Brewster : Auk, vol. 13, p. 341, 1896. 



