The Ornithological Magazines — Field Notes. 197 

 General Notes 



From Morton Park, Illinois. — On February 19, 1912, I saw a 

 Snowy Owl {Nyctea nyctca) flying low, about 7:30 in the morning. 



On April 26, 1912, a Mockingbird (Mimus p. polyglottos) spent 

 the most of the day in our back yard. 



These are rare records for this place. 



We have noticed a scarcity of Bluebirds in the region this year. 



Orpheus M. Schantz. 



The Case of the Bluebirds. — While in northern Ohio the Blue- 

 birds were clearly fewer in number than in previous years during 

 the earlier part of the spring and summer, from Oberlin to Toledo 

 they were iu as large numbers as in any year during September 

 and early October. The fact that a considerable majority of the 

 birds seen were in the juvenal plumage indicates that the relatively 

 few old birds which did return to their regular breeding places 

 must have been more than usually successful in rearing young. 

 On the writer's farm the two pairs out of the five of the previous 

 year which returned successfully reared two broods of five each. 

 As late as the middle of September these 24 birds were keeping 

 together and feeding in the oat stubble and the corn fields and or- 

 chard, near where they made their nests. Lynds Jones. 



Some Cedar Point-Huron, Ohio, Notes. — On October 21, 1912, 

 the writer and Mr. H. G. Morse of Huron, spent the day along 

 the lake shore from Huron west on the Cedar Point sand spit some 

 three miles. Of the list of 36 species noted the most interesting 

 were the single Palm Warbler, the single Hermit Thrush, the 6 

 Red-backed Sandpipers, 2 Sanderling, 8 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 

 Spotted Sandpiper, the singing Meadowlarks and Bluebirds and 

 Rusty Blackbirds, and the great numbers of Horned Grebes in 

 the lake, all in winter plumage. Mr. Morse writes me that the 

 Black-bellied Plovers and the Red-backed Sandpipers remained in 

 the vicinity of where we saw them for a week. He also writes 

 that a Surf Scoter (Oidemia perspidllata) was shot at Huron on 

 October 26, a Barn Owl (Aluco pratincola) on November 15, and 

 a Snowy Owl was seen near Rye Beach on November 10. 



Lynds Jones. 



