Vol. xviin ^ 1 ^T . 



igoi J General Notes. ^OI 



"Hear what ?" I asked evasively. 



"Well, I heard Martins if I ever heard them ! " he replied, "and, more- 

 over, I saw them. I looked up quickly and there were some flyino- across 

 the face of the moon." 



June IS, 1900, Mr. Bates, walking home from a train that reached Water- 

 ville between two and three in the morning, without having a thouo-ht of 

 Swallows, suddenly heard them in the air above. Again it was brio-ht 

 moonlight. 



In a flock of fifteen or twenty Robins {Meriila mtgratoria ) that has 

 been about our neighborhood for the last few weeks is a handsome albino. 

 The upper parts, except the breast, are entirely white, allowing for a tinge 

 suggestive of not being quite clean ; but the tail shows some dark feathers 

 underneath. The breast is lighter than usual, a flesh color on the sides 

 with a deeper shade through the center, and the bill seems very yellow in 

 contrast to the white plumage. It is both surprising and amusing to see 

 it run along and hop, hop, hop as every Robin does while seeking his food 

 on the ground and to mark the twitch of tail and alarm note of iiit, tut I 

 tut ! as it flies up to a near by tree. 



While at the island of Southport, on the Maine coast, this summer from 

 July 20 to August 17, we heard the White-winged Cross-bills {Loxia leu- 

 coptera) singing in a manner to which the bird books we have so far 

 consulted do not give due credit. The song of one on the west side from 

 the top of a spruce tree excited our admiration, but at the cape where co- 

 niferous trees abound, the chorus from a number made us think of a bird 

 store let loose. The song seemed much richer, louder and more prolono-ed 

 than that of the Goldfinch, — more like a Canary's outpour with all the 

 calls, trills, warbles and choppings. It was given on the wing as well as 

 from the tree-tops, and the birds were very tame, aligliting on the ground 

 near us. We heard the bird also from the steamer singing at Christmas 

 Cove and at Pemaquid. A number of bird lovers were agreed in calling 

 it a rarely beautiful song, and that the bird should be placed high up in the 

 list of sweet singers. — Abby F. C. Bates, Watervillc, Mame. 



Ontario Notes. — Some time ago Gulls were said to breed regularlv on 

 the islands in Lake Ontario, but for fifteen or twenty years they have de- 

 serted even such isolated spots as Pigeon Island, and it is doubtful if thev 

 breed at any point about the lake or its islands. They were said to breed 

 commonly on islands in manj- of the inland lakes of the Province of On- 

 tario, and Gull Lakes are to be found everywhere, with a ti-adition that 

 gulls bred there in the past. One of the best known of these Gull Lakes is 

 in Clarendon township, about eight}' miles north of Kingston. It was said 

 to have an island called Gull Rock on which some hundreds of birds bred. 

 The Rev. C. J. Young and I determined to investigate the truth of this 

 statement, and on May 30, 1901, succeeded in reaching the lake after a very 

 rough and unpleasant trip, and discovered that Gull Rock may have fur- 

 nished a foothold for one or two pairs of gulls many years ago, but no 



