262 



General Notes. 



[J«iy 



Another Specimen of Bachman's Warbler (Helmintkophila bach- 

 mant). — It is with peculiar pleasure that I am enabled to supplement Mr. 

 Lawrence's recent account of the capture of Bachman's Warbler in Louisi- 

 ana.* bv the record of a specimen from Florida. Mr. M. E. Spencer. 

 keeper of the lighthouse at Sombrero Key, off Southern Florida, whose 

 name will be long remembered in connection with the re-discovery of 

 Swainson's Warbler, f has recently sent me the head and wings of a 

 Bachman's Warbler which struck his light tower on the night of March 

 21,1887. Mr. Ridgway has kindly compared this specimen with Audu- 

 bon's type in the National Museum, and pronounces it to be an adult 

 female. 



This record is of unusual interest, not alone because it adds a bird to 

 the fauna of Florida, but because it is the second positive record of the 

 capture of Bachman's Warbler anywhere in the United States for more 

 than half a century. 



The only specimens of Bachman's Warbler at present known to have 

 been taken in the United States are the following: 



Two skins, male and female, belonging to the U. S. National Museum, 

 collected at Charleston. South Carolina, bv Dr. John Bachman. The 

 female was taken in July, 1S33. and the male is supposed to have been 

 shot at about the same time. These specimens are the types of Audu- 

 bon's description and plate. 



A skin. male, in the collection of Mr. George N. Lawrence, collected at 

 or near Lake Pontchar train, La., bv Charles S. Galbraith, in the spring 

 of 1SS6. 



A mounted specimen, female, belonging to the old Lafresnaye collec- 

 tion, now in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History; 

 locality, date of capture, and name of collector unknown. This is the 

 subject of Mr. Brewster's recent article in 'The Auk' (Vol. IV, No. 2, 1SS7, 

 p. 165). Mr. Ridgway informs me that Mr. Brewster was wrong in sup- 

 posing this specimen to be the female figured by Audubon, as that 

 specimen belongs to the National Museum. Hut since Audubon states 

 that several specimens were secured by Dr. Bachman. it is not impossible 

 that one of them may have found its way into the Lafresnaye collection. 

 — C. Hart Merriam, Washington, D. C. 



/! 



Additional Specimens of Bachman's and Swainson's Warblers, ob- 

 tained by Mr. Chas. S. Galbraith, in the Spring of 1887. — Mr. Gal- 

 braith returned in Maj' from Louisiana, where he had been collecting birds 

 dining the spring, at the same locality on Lake Pontchartrain where he 

 obtained the specimen of Bachman's Warbler last year. lie was requested 

 to pay special attention to procuring Bachman's and Swainson's Warblers. 

 Of the former {Helminthofhila bachmani) he procured six specimens, two 

 each of adult males and females and two immature females. 



* Auk, Vol. IV. No. I, Jan. 1887, pp. 35-37. 



t Auk, Vol. II, No. I, Jan. 1885, pp. 62 and 104. 



