^°\'9o^^^] General Notes. 289 



either seen or heard. This region is densely wooded and uninhabited 

 except by an occasional lumber camp. So far as noticed the birds were 

 alwa^-s in pairs. — Ulysses O. Cox, Mankato,AIt>in. 



The Song of the Alder Flycatcher. — I have studied the notes of the 

 Alder Flycatcher for two years, very closely, in Maine where it nested 

 near the house, and I heard its song and various other utterances nearly 

 all day. The ordinary song, as I know it, consists of two notes much 

 like the Chebec's. It is in the hoarse tone of the Phcebe, and is jerked 

 out with a backward jerk of the head, after the manner of the Least Fly- 

 catcher, and to my ear, it sounds like red-dy^ sometimes — but not by any 

 means generall v. He gives in addition to this, anotfier two-note utterance, 

 much lower, and of a clear musical quality, very different from the 

 hoarse common song, without tossing the head, or jerking. 



Besides these he has several other utterances, a loud clear qneoe, 

 several times repeated, as if to command attention, and a low plaintive 

 qu? — qu-cii. In addition to these he gives many different notes in an 

 undertone, which can neither be described nor imitated by the human 

 voice. In fact, the bird is extremely versatile. My studies have always 

 been made where I could see as well as hear the bird, so that there is no 

 possibilitv of mistake. I have never been able to make Dr. Dwight's, 

 Mrs. Wright's or Mr. Chapman's characterization of the song fit my bird, 

 but I learned long ago that no two persons hear a bird note alike, or, 

 rather, that no two birds have exactly the same utterances. — Olive Thorn 

 Miller, Brooklyn., N. Y. 



The Occurrence of the Prairie Horned Lark at Southern Pines, N. C. 



— The past winter at Southern Pines, N. C, was called one of unusual 

 severity. After passing through weeks of weather hardly to be equalled 

 in the north by stormy March or April, it was hardly a surprise to awake 

 one morning in February and find the sand covered with nearly a foot of 

 snow. The snow melted rather slowly and as I picked my way along the 

 street on Feb. 19 I was surprised to hear the familiar call of the Horned 

 Lark. I followed the flock, which consisted of eight birds, for some time, 

 satisfying myself as to their identity, though the call was sufficient. The 

 next day they were about the streets, which were bare only in places, the 

 snow mixed with sand by the passing teams melting faster than where 

 undisturbed. They were less shy the second daj' and I got quite near to 

 them. They were very dull colored and probably more or less stained 

 with the soot which is everywhere about in that country. Their small 

 size and dull colors leave little doubt they were the common form {Otocoris 

 alfestris fraticola). They were not seen after the 20th. I judge records 

 of the Horned Lark this far south are not frequent. — C H. Morrell, 

 Pittsfield, Me. 



The Boat-tailed Grackle as a Stow-away. — On the afternoon of June 

 7, 1S9S, the ocean steamship 'Tallahassee' left her dock in Savannah, 



