Vol. XVI 

 .899 



General Notes. £>? 



towering flight, and hearing the notes that so markedly differ from those 

 of A. pensylvanicus. — A. Allison, New Orleans, La. 



The Carolina Wren (Th> yothorus ludovicianus) at Peace Dale, R. I. 



I have been very much puzzled a good many times during the past sum- 

 mer hy hearing, in the near neighborhood of my house here, the notes of 

 the Cardinal Bird given with great distinctness and for several minutes 

 together. Every time when I have tried to find the author of the notes 

 he has managed to escape observation. On the 21st of October, long after 

 I had supposed the mysterious visitor had gone south, I heard the note 

 very plainly and devoted half an hour to looking for the bird. I was so 

 fortunate on this occasion as to get a good glimpse of the singer, and 

 it proved to my astonishment to be a fine male of the Carolina Wren. 

 As soon as 1 saw him he disappeared in company with his mate, both of 

 them uttering the characteristic alarm note which the writers tell us of. 

 I did not shoot the bird but feel entirely sure of the identification, as I 

 distinctly saw the line above the eye, which is easily seen at tolerably 

 close quarters. Immediately after the 21st we went through a long, 

 cold rain storm and I supposed then I should not hear the Wren again. 

 But on the 28th of October I did hear him singing with great spirit and 

 for some minutes together. This is now the 28th of November and we 

 have passed through a blizzard which began Saturday afternoon, the 

 26th, and has been without any doubt as severe a blizzard as we have 

 ever experienced in this part of New England. Snow has fallen here to 

 a depth rather difficult to estimate, but on the level it cannot be less than 

 eight inches; of course, being accompanied by a verv high wind it 

 drifted enormously, — I observed several exhausted birds, or at least if 

 not exhausted more or less disabled by the storm. While investigating 

 the damage done in my garden / again heard my friend the Carolina 

 Wren. This being the third time that he has intensely surprised me, I 

 lose no time to report it. Is it common for Carolina Wrens to linger 

 beyond the summer time as far north as this? I cannot find any record 

 of it and imagine that I have a very odd specimen of the bird here. — 

 R. G. Hazard, Peace Dale, R. I. 



The Finishing Stroke to Bartram. — I have changed not, and see no 

 reason to change, my view of Bartram's case published in Pr. Phila. 

 Acad. 1875, pp. 338-35S, where I contend that he is a binomial author 

 who sometimes lapses, and whose identifiable binomials which rest upon 

 description are available in our nomenclature. On that occasion I anim- 

 adverted upon the fact that Bartram had been systematically ignored, 

 though freely used when we wanted some binomial convenience like 

 Vultur atratus or Corvus Jloridanus, for example — two specific names 

 which still hold their proper place in the A. O. U. Check-List, showing 

 the inherent difficulty of doing entire injustice to Bartram. But to be 



