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34 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



but each seemed to keep in flocks by them- 

 selves. But one Roseate Tern was obtained, 

 A few pairs of Least Terns breed on the 

 sand bar. They seemed to be mating, for 

 they were flying in pairs at a height of 100 

 3'ards from the ground, one chasing the 

 other almost constantly. One Greater 

 Yellow-leg and a single pair of Red-breasted 

 Snipe -were observed. A flock of about 

 thirty Bonaparte's Gulls, all in the young 

 plumage, would fly about and very near us, 

 seeming less shy than an}' of the Terns. 

 We obtained from a boy one set of Piping 

 Plover's eggs just before our departure on 

 the 29th, and when we left nearly all the 

 migrants iiad passed, except Sanderlings. 



May Insects. 



In this month the hibernated legion is 

 warmed to new life, and the number of spe- 

 cies occurring is too great to warrant special 

 indication. The large tiger swallow-tail 

 (Papilio turnus) darts swiftly about, while a 

 lot of humbler butterflies are seen. Those 

 gigantic beauties of the night, the Cecropia 

 moth (Platysamia cecropia) and the Poly- 

 phemus moth (Telea polyphemus) , are seen 

 hanging listless as they just issue from their 

 cocoons, or pass bat-like at dusk overhead. 



Some of the hawk-moths (Sphingidae) al- 

 ready begin to hover at twilight over hone}'- 

 yielding flowers. The carpenter moth 

 (Xyleutes robiniae) will be found early in 

 the morning, resting on the trunk of the black 

 locust, from which the empty pupal exuvium 

 sticks out as an index. A host of Hymenop- 

 tera make their advent ; and noticeably the 

 gigantic saw-fly (Cimliex americana) will be 

 found ovipositing in willow leaves, and the 

 pigeon Tremex (Tremex columba) in old 

 maple trunks. The buflfaio-gnat (Simulium) 

 swarms in the lower Mississippi countrj'. The 

 fruit-grower finds the plum curculio (Cono- 

 trachelus nenuphar) making its dreaded cres- 

 cent-mark on his fruit, and the canker-worms 

 blighting his apple-trees. The housekeeper 

 observes with dread the various clothes-moths 

 (Tinea) and the carpet-beetle (Anthrenus 

 scrophulariae) . But the latter part of the 

 month is chiefly characterized, first, by hosts 

 of delicate May-flies(Ephemeridae) ; second, 

 by the swarms of Ma3'-beetles (Lachnos- 

 terna fusca) , which begin to defoliate oak- 

 groves and poplar trees. — Science Almanac. 



In reply to a letter concerning the breed- 

 ing habits of White-bellied and Violet-green 

 Swallows, Mr. R. P. Chandler writes : " The 

 White-bellied Swallow nests in dead limbs of 

 trees and old nest-holes of woodpeckers, 

 and lines the nest with feathers. It has 

 a strange habit of flying around with sharp 

 turns whenever the nest is disturbed, and if 

 a feather is tossed from the nest into the air 

 it will invariably dart after it, and catch- 

 ing it in its mouth will return with it at 

 once, and without regard to the collector 

 replace the feather in the nest. I have 

 known of a number, and have taken three 

 myself b}' placing my hand over the hole 

 after the swallow had entered. The Violet- 

 green Swallow, while nesting in similar situ- 

 ations, is ver}' sh}', and also does not build 

 to any extent in tlie valley", being found only 

 (to m}' knowledge) in or near the moun- 

 tains." 



Correction. — In our issue of last March, 

 in an article by Mr. E.J. Smith on the color 

 of birds' eyes, Pileolated Woodpecker should 

 read pileated ; Guiard's Jaj', Guiana Jay, 

 and the plumage of the Avocet should read 

 fall instead of full plumage. 



, Common Cormorants in Rhode Island. 



- A fine ipe'cira'en'^f this bird in full 

 breeding plumage was sent to us from New- 

 port, R. I., March 27, and another was re- 

 ceived which was killed at Nayatt Point April 

 10. These are the first specimens taken in 

 this state that have come under our observa- 

 tion. 



' More Hawk Owls. — One taxidermist 

 reports receivTiTgeighty and another twenty 

 Hawk Owls during the past season. A re- 

 markable fact concerning this bird is that 

 while it visited our three northern states and 

 New Brunswick by the hundreds, to our 

 knowledge not a single specimen has been 

 taken as far south as Massachusetts. 



/ Mr. H. C. Champlin writes us that he has 

 '^•eceived a partially' Albino Robin. The fol- 

 lowing day we received a similar specimen 

 from Washington Territory. Among our 

 birds the American Robin, or migrator}' 

 thrush, is oftener than an}' other species 

 found in an albinistic form. During the 

 past nine years we have owned six fine 

 specimens, one of which, a pure white, is 

 now in the collection of Mr. F. T. Jencks. 



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