1 o8 General Notes. [^^^_ 



in the higher mountainous and denselj^ wooded tracts of the northern 

 half of the State. Wells post office is located in the margin of a dense 

 pine and spruce forest at the western base of the lofty Wind River range 

 of mountains, in Uinta County, Wyoming, and its elevation, by aneroid 

 barometer, taken the day we were there, was 8, coo feet. — P'rank Bond, 

 C/i even ne, f f yo . 



Breeding of the Alder Flycatcher [Empidonax traillii ahioruni) near 

 Plainfield, New Jersey. — During a visit to Ash Swamp, three miles east 

 of Plainfield, Union County, New Jersey, on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of 

 July, 1S99, I was surprised to find the Alder Flycatcher {Empidontx 

 traillii alnornni) a common species there. 



My identification was confirmed by Dr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr., who 

 examined a bird-of-the-year secured on August 6, 1899. 



Circumstances pointed to its breeding here, and my experience during 

 the past summer proves that it does so, for on every visit to the swamp I 

 found the shy little flycatchers among the alders. These dates include 

 May 30, June 17 and 24, and July 8, 15, 22 and 29. 



The species is rather numerous and generally distributed throughout 

 the swamp (which is less than one square mile in area), frequenting 

 chiefly the alders along the streams and edges of the woods. Elsewhere 

 in the vicinity of Plainfield I have found it only during the migrations. 



I have not 3'et succeeded in finding an occupied nest, but discovered a 

 deserted nest containing one egg, which may belong to this species. On 

 July 29 I came upon one of these birds with a brood of full-grown young 

 and saw one of the latter fed by its parent. 



I tjelieve this to be the first positive record of the breeding of this spe- 

 cies south of northwestern Connecticut. 



Its three congeners of the eastern United States all occur in this vicin- 

 ity. The Least Flycatcher is a common summer resident, the Green- 

 crested Flycatcher is a rare summer resident, and the Yellyw-bellied 

 Flycatcher is a fairly common transient visitor. 



The avi-fauna of this region is decidedly Carolinian. — W. D. W. 

 Miller, Plainfield, N.J. 



The Raven in Polk County, North Carolina. — On the morning of 

 February 15, 1897, I *'i^^' -i Raven as it passed over the moimtain village 

 of Tryon, Polk Count}-, N. C. Tryon is said to have an elevation of 

 about 1500 feet, and is situated on a ridge leading up from the Piedmont 

 Region to the peaks of Melrose and Hogback, the latter in South Caro- 

 lina. — Leverett M. Loomis, California Academy of Sciences, San Fran- 

 cisco. 



Song of the Western Meadowlark. — Referring to the comment of 

 G. S. Mead in his letter of August iS, 1900, printed in the October num- 

 ber of ' The Auk,' relative to the musical ability of Siurnella magna neg- 



