iSSs.] Dutcher, Bird Notes from Long Island, N. T. 'I'l 



were above the snow level. January 30 he wrote, "I have not seen any 

 Sparrows lately." My Shinnecock Bay correspondent did not succeed 

 in getting any specimens until February 4, 1884, when he sent me four, 

 and also stated, "these birds are very scarce." February 27, 1884, he suc- 

 ceeded in securing two additional specimens, which he sent to me, and 

 again directed my attention to their scarcity. February 22, 1SS4, I hunted 

 carefully for this Sparrow on Rockaway Beach, but unsuccessfully. I am 

 quite positive, however, that I saw three or four individuals, but they were 

 so wild I could not secure them. March 7, 1884, my correspondent at Fire 

 Island wrote that he had seen but one Sparrow since the first cold spell 

 when he sent me twenty-nine, and that he was at a loss to know whether 

 he had killed them all or whether they had gone away. Of the thirty- 

 five specimens received five measured 6.75 inches in length, and only two 

 were under 6. 15 inches. The largest and smallest birds measured respect- 

 ively : 



Length, 6.75 ; extent, 10.50; wing, 3.20. 

 " 6.10; •' 9-25; " 2.65. 



• The average of the thirty-five specimens was : length, 6.49; extent, 10.02 ; 

 wing, 3.03. 



2. Nyctea scandiaca {Linn.) Nezut. Snowy Owl. — The entire absence 

 from Long Island during the winter of 1883 and '84 of this Owl is note- 

 worthy. During the winter of 18S2 and '83 it was, on the other hand, 

 remarkably plenty. None of my correspondents, about thirty in number, 

 record a single individual seen. These Owls, being so much sought after 

 for ornamental purposes, are watched for very closely by the professional 

 gunners, and thus rarely escape being at least noted if they are not 

 secured. 



3. iEgialites melodus (Ord) Bp. Piping Plover. — March 24, 1S84, 

 Mr. Newbold T. Lawrence, while at Shinnecock Bay, saw one of these 

 Plovers which had been shot that day by a sportsman stopping at Capt. 

 Lane's. Noted as an early date. 



4. Macrorhamphus griseus scolopaceus {Say) Cones. Red-bellied 

 Snipe. — July 23, 1884. while shooting at Shinnecock Bay, three individ- 

 uals of this species came to my stools at the same time, two of which 

 were secured. I sent them to Dr. A. K. Fisher of Sing Sing, N. Y. , with 

 particulars of their capture. He wrote me as follows : "I should consider 

 No. 55 a fair example of M. griseus scolopaceus. No. 56 is one of those, 

 doubtful; just on the line; but if the note was different it might be con- 

 sidered the mate of No. 55, as they were male and female." The bill of 

 the larger specimen measured 2.83 inches and of the smaller 2.38 inches. 



5. Larus glaucus Briinn. Glaucous Gull; Burgomaster. — March 

 11, 1SS4, I purchased one of a pair of Gulls of this species, which had 

 been shot by a gunner at South Oyster Bay. The specimen I bought is 

 in very nearly the same plumage as the one recorded by Dr. E. A. Mearns 

 in the 'Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club,' Vol. V, p. 1S9. The 

 other one is a younger bird. 



