98 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 99 



as this is a remarkably late date for the species outside of its 

 breeding range. 



2. Oidemia deglandi. — White-winged Scoter. 



This bird appears in Iowa only as a straggling migrant and 

 acceptable records of its occurrence in the State should be based 

 on actual specimens. 



3. Branta bernicla glaucogastra. — Brant. 



Anderson (op. cit., p. 189) does not list an existing specimen for 

 the State and only one of the "records" reported related to speci- 

 mens actually handled. Kumlien and Hollister' were able to find 

 only one authentic record for Wisconsin. There is one definite 

 record for Nebraska^ and two for Michigan.^ These are the only 

 records based on actual specimens that I am able to find in the 

 State lists for the surrounding region. Upon investigation, all of 

 the other rather numerous reports of the occurrence of the brant 

 have been found to refer to other species. Those most commonly 

 recorded as brant are the dark immatiire birds of the Snow and 

 Blue Geese. These are often called Brant in the Middle West and 

 the records in the paper under discussion probably are referable 

 to one of these forms. Whatever these birds may have been, the 

 evidence presented by Mr. Penton seems insufficient as a basis for 

 recording the occurrence of the Brant in Iowa. 



4. Branta iiigricans. — Black Brant. 



So far as I am aware, there is not a single authentic record of 

 the species in the Mississippi Valley. It is not mentioned (even 

 in the hypothetical list) in any of the State lists for that region 

 except in Hatch's "Birds of Minnesota" and he gives no dates or 

 specimens. In any case this species and B. c. glaucogastra resem- 

 ble each other very closely and could not be distinguished in the 

 field except by one intimately acquainted with both forms. This 

 record, if valid, would add a species to the Iowa list, but it cannot 

 be accepted in the absence of specimens identified by a competent 

 ornithologist. 



5. Grus canadensis. — Little Brown Crane. 



This species is a migrant through the Western United States, 

 and, so far as is known, appears only as a straggler in Iowa. It 

 closely resembles the more common Sandhill Crane in everything 

 but size, and hence field identifications are not sufiicient evidence 

 on which to base an addition to the few records for the State. 



6. lonornis martinicus — Purple Gallinule. 



^ Kumlien, L., and Hollister, N., The Birds of Wisconsin. Bui. 

 Wis Nat. Hist. Soc. 1903, p. 32. 



^ Bruner, Wolcott, and Swenk. A preliminary Review of the 

 Birds of Nebraska, p. 30. 



' Barrows, W. B. Michigan Bird Life, p. 120. 



