84 



General Notes. [^^^ 



or near this one locality, which Mr. Preble observed in the six or seven 

 different places he visited. Besides these I found some which he did not 

 find, e. £■., Pigeon Hawk, Rvisty Blackbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher and 

 Lark Sparrow. The Olive-sided Flycatcher {Contopus borealis) I found 

 Aug. 19 in the middle of woods, calling or whistling with a clear tone : 

 Du-ee, du-ee, just like the name Dewej'. 



The Lark Sparrow (^Ckotidestes grammacus) I found to the number of 

 about 50-75 specimens while riding from Accident to Cove, five miles 

 away. After passing through innumerable Vesper, Grasshopper, Field 

 and Chipping Sparrows, I was suddenly astonished to see the Lark Spar- 

 row, with which I was familiar from a long stay in Indiana. I got off 

 the wagon and tried to get a few. But they were very shy. They flew 

 ahead of me, along the fences, into bushes, and into an occasional tree, 

 and when they got to what seemed to be the end of their domain — 

 about five rods along the road — they flew into the fields, and in a half 

 circle back to where I had started to chase them up. This they did sev- 

 eral times, never going beyond that certain limit, and I almost gave up 

 my chase after them, when I succeeded in getting an adult female. This 

 was July 24. Taking in addition to this that there were many males, 

 females and young, there is no doubt in my mind that this colony had 

 bred there when found. Although I went over many miles of road 

 round about Accident, I saw no more Lark Sparrows. — G. Eifrig, 

 Cumberland., Md. 



The Song-Notes of the Alder Flycatcher. — Mr. J. A. Farley, in his very 

 interesting article on 'The Alder Flycatcher [Empidonax traillii altiorum) 

 as a Summer Resident of Eastern Massachusetts' (Auk, Oct., 1901, pp. 347- 

 355), says that the characteristic song of the species when heard at a dis- 

 tance of afewfeefis found in reality to consist of but one harsh explosive 

 syllable." This statement is so much at variance with my own experience 

 that I cannot forbear taking exceptions to it as a general statement, though 

 of course it may apply to individuals of the species. First I must admit 

 that my acquaintance with the Alder Flycatcher is not as intimate as Mr. 

 Farley's. I have never been fortunate enough to find a nest, and I have 

 never watched the bird for any considerable length of time. I am not, 

 however, entirel}' unfamiliar with it, having made its acquaintance nearly 

 seventeen years ago, viz., in July, 1SS5, and having met with it in every 

 successive summer since then, with a single exception, and in various 

 places in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Nova Sco- 

 tia. In all this time I have never suspected the song to consist of a sin- 

 gle syllable, and I have often been quite near the bird when he uttered it. 

 It would, therefore, not be easy to convince me that the characteristic song- 

 of the species is not composed of two or three syllables, though I am 

 aware that the bird has an emphatic one-syllabled note which is not to be 

 confounded either with the insignificant pep or with what is known as 

 the song. Let me quote two passages from my journal bearing on this 



