32 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



Symphemia semipalmata. 



Resident, but less common during the colder months ; very 

 abundant at other times, and one of the few waders that regularly 

 breed here. Numbers arrive from the south in March and April ; 

 a part of them proceed further north, and the rest, in May, scatter 

 over the marshes to breed. In August the ranks are again re- 

 cruited by the numbers hatched here, and in September by others 

 returning. The large size, variegated color, and restless, noisy 

 disposition combine to render it one of the most notable birds of 

 the vicinity in summer. 



Gambetta melanoleuca. 



Gambetta fiavipes. 



Both common during the migration — the first named the more 

 abundant. 



Rhyacophilus solitarius. 



Onl}^ observed in April and May, and September and October, 

 and not abundant. 



Tringoides macularius. 



Summer resident, arriving late in March, becoming ver^^ abun- 

 dant in April, and the greater number passing north in May ; but 

 the young are common in July. 



Limosa fedoa. 



Abundant during the migrations, pai'ticularly in the fall. Pos- 

 sibly some may breed in the vicinity, but I am not sure of this. 

 Some appear in August, manj- more in September, and they con- 

 tinue plentiful about the harbor until December. 



Numenius longirostris. 



Resident; abundant during the migrations, and rather common 

 at other times. I observed it in February, and at irregular intervals 

 through the summer, when it is sparingly dispersed over the 

 marshes, in all probability breeding. 



Immense flights of curlew sometimes occur in October and 



gical considerations, its presence is not readily accounted for ; but it seems 

 to be a sort of trochlear ossicle, for the guidance if not the increased action 

 of the flexor tendons. This 1)one, in a more or less rudimentary condition, 

 may perhaps be discovered in more three-toed birds than are now believed 



to possess it. 



[May 2, 



