278 



Bird - Lore 



observation for Ihc year was a Mocking- 

 bird which perched on a vine just beneath 

 our window for some little time, giving us 

 opportunity to make a positive identifi- 

 cation. This was on December 14, 19 13. 

 On March 3, during the big storm, it 

 appeared again, but we have not seen it 

 since. We believe this is the first record 

 of a Mockingbird for Sussex County, al- 

 though the members of our nature-study 

 club have kept an accurate list for a 

 number of years. — F. Blanche Hill, 

 Aiidovrr, Sussex Co., N. J. 



PARASITIC JAEGER 



Notes on the Autumn Migration of the 

 Parasitic Jaeger 



During an Atlantic cruise in the New 

 Bedford whaling brig Daisy I made the 

 following notes concerning Jaegers {Stcr- 

 corarius parasiticus), on their autumn mi- 

 gration. 



September 23, 191 2, latitude 12° 46' N., 

 longitude 25° 05' W. (about 100 miles 

 south of the Cape Verde Islands). Two 

 Jaegers seen, of which one was collected. 



The specimen is a male of the dark phase, 

 and in fresh plumage. 



September 27, 191 2, latitude 10° 46' N., 

 longitude 24° 38' W. Calm, with heavy 

 ground-swell. One Jaeger seen and col- 

 lected, a uniformly dark female, fully 

 adult, with slightly worn central rec- 

 trices. 



October 3, 191 2, latitude 6° 46' N., 

 longitude 24° 35' W. Two Jaegers of the 

 dark phase seen together. 



October 20, 1912, latitude 10° 21' S., 

 longitude 34° 04' W. (off the coast of south- 

 ern Pernambuco). Three Jaegers were 

 noted. A pair of them tagged after the 

 Daisy from nine o'clock in the morning 

 until four in the afternoon. One was of 

 the dark phase, the other white-breasted. 

 Both had short central rectrices, differing 

 in this respect from the birds noted north 

 of the equator a month earlier. The two 

 would fly up our wake with slow wing- 

 beats, hover for a moment over the stern 

 of the brig, then glide slowly to the wind- 

 ward side and settle on the water, where 

 they would tuck their long wings into 

 the resting position and float high and 

 gracefully. When the ship had left them a 

 few hundred yards astern, they would rise 

 and overtake us, and again drop down. 

 This was repeated monotonously for 

 seven hours. The white-breasted bird, 

 whose photograph is here reproduced, 

 was bolder than its mate, and regularly 

 flew nearer to the ship. Occasionally the 

 two were seen to pick up food, including 

 scraps of pork fat which I threw over- 

 board. They did not seem to molest the 

 Petrels {Oceanites oceanicus) which fol- 

 lowed us in numbers. 



October 26, 1912, latitude 21° 40' S., 

 longitude 34° 12' W. Two Jaegers seen 

 separately. One which accompanied us 

 for a short while appeared to chase some 

 of the Oceanites (Petrels), although I 

 could not be certain that it was trying to 

 rob them. 



October 28, 191 2, latitude 2t,° S., longi- 

 tude 35° 45' W. (on the verge of the south 

 temperate zone). One Jaeger seen. — 

 Robert Cushman Murphy, Brooklyn 

 Institute of Arts and Sciences. 



