'836.J General Notes. 



135 



The Baltimore Oriole in Massachusetts in November. ^On Nov. 15, 

 1885, I shot a male Baltimore Oriole (^Icferus galbiila), in perfect plu- 

 mage and condition, while feeding upon frozen apples in an orchard. I 

 send this account of the late appearance of this bird, which usually leaves 

 us in September, thinking that it may be worthy of record in 'The Auk.' — 

 Chas. E. Ingalls, East Templetou, Mass.. 



Icterus galbula in Connecticut in November. — A young male was shot 

 in my dooryard Nov. 15, 1S85. It was in good condition and showed no 

 sign's of ever having been caged. It was seen about my grounds several 

 days previous to the above date. — Jno. H. Sage. Portland. Conn. 



The Vernacular Name of Plectrophenax hyperboreus. — The specific 

 name of this species was chosen in consequence of the supposition, recent- 

 ly proven to be erroneous, that "the summer home. ... is probably the 

 unknown region to the north of the Arctic mainland, since, at the ex- 

 treme northern point of Alaska [Point Barrow] only the true P. nivalis 

 breeds." The American Ornithologists' Union Committee on Classifica- 

 tion and Nomenclature decided upon 'Polar Snowflake' as a more suitable 

 \'ernacular name for the species than that of McKay's Snow Bunting, origi- 

 nally bestowed upon it: but since we now have positive evidence (the na- 

 tLU-e of which I am not at present at liberty to explain) that its breeding 

 liabitat is not polar, and is in fact considerably south of the Arctic Ocean, 

 I would suggest that the species be called McKay's Snowflake. "in memory 

 of Mr. Charles L. McKay, who sacrificed his life in the prosecution of 

 natural history investigations in Alaska, and in whose collections the new 

 species was first noticed." {Cf. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.. Vol. VII, pp. 

 6S-70. ) — Robert RiDGWAY. Washiugton. D. C. 



Ipswich Sparrow in Texas. — I have in mv collection an adult male Am- 

 modramiis J^rincepa taken at Dallas, Texas, Dec. 10. 1884. 1 obtained it 

 from Mr. Fred. T. Jencks of Providence, who writes me in regard to it as 

 follows: -The Ipswich Sparrow was purchased from the collector, Mr. 

 Clothrie Pierce, for a Western Grass Finch, and it was so labelled until the 

 day I picked outj'our series of Sparrows, when I detected its true identity'." 

 This largely extends the habitat of this comparatively new species, hereto- 

 fore only recognized on the sand hills of the Atlantic Coast. — Geo. B. 

 Sennett, American Museiitii of Natural History. New York. 



Occurrence of the Ipswich Sparrow lyAmmodrainus princeps) in Nova 

 Scotia. — A short ti-i^e ago I forwarded to Mr. Montague Chamberlain of 

 St. |ohn, N. P>., a Sparrow for identification, and he has kindly returned 

 it witli the intimation that it is an example of the Ipswich Sparrow {Am- 

 modramns princeps). a bird which has never before been included in our 

 fauna. I shot the specimen while after Ducks on the Coast at Lawrence- 

 town, near Halifax, about the end of March. 1878. as it was feeding on 



