84 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIKTY. 



and grew in small patches. The berries look and taste verj- much 

 like the common blueberry. 



The creeping snowberry {Chiogencs scrpyf/ifoh'a) was quite com- 

 mon, but we found only one patch that had fruit. The berries are 

 white and are far superior in flavor to the boxberry. 



Another interesting plant which we found quite common is the 

 crowberry {EmpetruDi nigrum). The slender stems are prostrate, 

 much branched, and have evergreen leaves, like the spruce and 

 hemlock. The berries are watery and have a dark, smoky color. 



Birds in and Around Portland in 1906. 



By W. H. BrownSON. 



During the year 1906, now nearly at its close, I have, as occa- 

 sion offered, spent much of my spare time observing the birds in and 

 around Portland. It may not be out of place for me to call the 

 attention of readers of the Journal to some of the more interesting 

 species which I have seen, and to give some idea of the manner and 

 frequency of their occurrence in this section. 



On four or five different occasions, during January and Febru- 

 ary, a flock of about a dozen Myrtle Warblers was seen, from time 

 to time, at Cape Elizabeth, this being the third winter that they 

 have occurred in that same general locality. Purple Finches were 

 quite abundant during January, a flock of thirty or forty making 

 their home in the woods of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth. In 

 January, Captain Jones, of the steamer "Turcoman," brought to 

 Portland a Snow Bunting, which came on board the steamer about 

 600 miles from Newfoundland and about the same distance from the 

 Azores, no land being nearer than those points. The bird was very 

 tired when it alighted on the ship, but when it arrived here it was 

 in fine condition. Captain Jones has in his possession a Blackbird, 

 which came on board his ship in mid-ocean, and all efforts to ascer- 

 tain the exact species to which it belongs have so far proved unavail- 

 ing. It is supposed to be a South American variety. 



