38 LOCAL BIRD-LISTS. 



The water-birds of Long Island are treated by Mr. William Butcher, 

 of New York city, who has for years made our coast birds a subject of 

 especial investigation. Sportsmen, lighthouse-keepers, and ornitholo- 

 gists have all aided him in acquiring an unrivaled series of observa- 

 tions upon the movements of waterfowl and bay birds. 



Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the Division of Ornithology in the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, has supplied the notes from Sing Sing, N. Y. 

 This locality formed the field of his ornithological labors for fifteen 

 years. Within the limits of the town of Ossining Dr. Fisher has ob- 

 served no less than two hundred and thirty-six species of birds. , Prob- 

 ably no area of similar extent in the United States has been more 

 carefully studied or yielded better results. 



Cambridge, Mass., is historic ground in the annals of ornithology. 

 From the time of Nuttall it has never lacked for earnest students of 

 its bird-life. Nevertheless, no list of Cambridge birds has ever ap- 

 peared. It is with unusual pleasure, therefore, that 1 include annota- 

 tions on the birds of this region by Mr. William Brewster, who has 

 made a lifelong study of New England birds, and particularly of 

 those found in the vicinity of his home at Cambridge.* 



The value of their contributions renders it evident that I am under 

 deep obligations to these gentlemen, and I thank them most sincerely 

 for their "generous assistance. 



Nests and Eggs. — The brief descriptions of nests and eggs are based 

 on the collections of the American Museum of Natural History, sup- 

 plemented by the use of Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway's History of 

 North American Birds, Davie's Nests and Eggs of North American 

 Birds, Ridgway's Manual, and Captain Bendire's Life Histories of 

 North American Birds. In describing the eggs the color chart was 

 used when possible ; but it was designed with particular reference to 

 the plumages of our birds, and is of less assistance in describing their 

 eggs. The measurements of eggs are mostly from series of measure- 

 ments made by Mr. H. B. Bailey, accompanying the Bailey collection in 

 the American Museum, supplemented by reference to the works men- 

 tioned above. 



Biographies. — After devoting separate paragraphs to the bird's 

 general range, its manner of occurrence, comparative numbers, times 

 of migration at several specific points, and its nest and eggs, the space 

 remaining is given to a brief sketch of its haunts, notes, and disposi- 

 tion, with the particular object of aiding in its identification in the 

 field. 



* strictly maritime birds whose occurrence within five miles of Cambridge is 

 casual or accidental are, as a rule, excluded. 



