Vol. XVIin General Notes. 27^ 



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The Vermilion Flycatcher in Florida. — On the 25th of March, 1901, 

 late in the afternoon of a very damp, cloudy day, I shot a male Ver- 

 milion Flycatcher {Pyrocephalits rtibineus mexicanns) on a marsh three 

 miles from Tallahassee, Fla. The gaudy plumage of the bird attracted 

 my attention and after several efforts to approach it close enough to 

 shoot I finally took a chance shot at it on the wing, with the desired 

 result. When first discovered it was sitting quietly on a barbed-wire 

 fence, near the water, at short intervals launching out after some pass- 

 ing insect and invariably returning to the same perch. The bird was 

 in excellent condition. Upon examination of the gizzard I found small 

 black and green beetles therein. Is this not the first record of the 

 occurrence of this species in Florida ? I find no mention of it in Chap- 

 man's ' Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America,' nor in Cory's 

 'List ^f the Birds of Florida.' — R. W. Williams, Jr., Tallahassee, Fla. 



Bachman's Sparrow in Virginia. — In May, 1897, 1 took a pair of Bach- 

 man's Sparrows {PeuciEa cBstivalis dac/imani), together with their nest and 

 eggs, in this locality, which was the first instance of the occurrence of 

 the species in the State. On April 27 of this year, while out collecting, I 

 again met with the species. This time only one bird was seen and prob- 

 ably it had just arrived from the South. It was running among some 

 grass tufts which grew alongside a fence leading into a body of small 

 pines. On my neai-er approach, it perched upon a grass tuft and was 

 collected. It is now in \ny collection. 



I learn from Mr. Rufus Barringer, of Charlottesville, Va., that the spe- 

 cies is fairly common in Albemarle County, where Mr. Barringer has 

 taken its nest and eggs; it seems to be a fairly abundant summer resi- 

 dent in this county (Campbell) where it nests in old fields, which are 

 grown up in weeds and scrub pines. No doubt it also occurs and breeds 

 in the southeastern part of the State, but its retiring nature and habit of 

 skulking in the grass cause it to be very easily overlooked. — John W. 

 Daniel, Jr., Lynchburg, Va. 



Piranga rubra in Massachusetts. — On May 12, 1901, while walking in 

 Newton, I heard the call of the Summer Tanager and on going in pursuit 

 soon came up with the bird. It was not in red plumage, but from a cer- 

 tain streaky, splashy, unsettled appearance, the orange-red being very 

 bright in spots, I took it for an immature male. This, however, is a mat- 

 ter of very inexpert opinion. As to the identity of the bird as Piranga 

 rubra, there could be no doubt. I had it under my glass (an eight-power 

 Zeiss) for some time at short range, under the most favorable conditions ; 

 and while thus under observation it uttered again and again its very 

 peculiar and thoroughly characteristic polysyllabic signal, with which I 

 am fairly familiar from having heard it often at the South. According 

 to Messrs Howe and Allen's 'Birds of Massachusetts' this may count as 

 the sixth Massachusetts record. — Bradford Torrey, Wellesley Hills, 

 Mass. 



