V °!'8* VI ] General Notes. 2JJ 



say that on Oct. 12, 1S94, a beautiful adult male accepted an invitation 

 from mv gun to join some of his cousins in my collection. The bird 

 was shot in an old stubble field bordering the Iowa River, opposite 

 Regens Park, Iowa City, Iowa, and is entered as number 796 in my 

 catalogue. — Paul Bartsch, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 



Nelson's Sparrow (Ammodramus nelsoni) at Toronto, Ontario. — On 

 the 22d of September, 1894, whilst I was Snipe shooting near Toronto, I 

 noticed several small Sparrows, flitting out of the rushes before my dogs, 

 whose manner of flight was new to me. Two of these I shot and found 

 them to be of this species, — the first I had ever seen or heard of in the 

 Province. During the remainder of that autumn I kept a sharp look- 

 out for them but saw no more. 



On the 10th of June, 1895, I saw a small bird flying up the shore of 

 Lake Ontario from east to west ; it was then about thirty yards high, but 

 as it neared the marsh at the eastern end of Ashbridge's Bay, it gradually 

 lowered as if intending to alight. However, I killed it. This was a 

 female with ova about as large as No. 12 shot; in the autumn of that 

 year I saw only two others though I watched for them carefully. 



In 1S96 I saw only one and that was on the 28th of October. This 

 bird was in a marsh about three miles from where I have seen all the 

 others. 



During the autumn of 1897 none appeared until the 9th of October; 

 from that date until the 29th one or more were seen every day but they 

 never became common. 



In the autumn of 1898 the first appeared on the 23d of September, 

 when I saw one; on the 24th several were seen, and from that time until 

 the first of October they were quite common ; on some davs I must have 

 seen fifty or sixty of them. 



They frequent just one spot in the marsh and are, owing to their secre- 

 tive habits, rather difficult to find; when driven out of one clump of 

 rushes they rlv a few yards and drop into another, which affords them 

 perfect concealment. I have not vet heard one of them utter a call note 

 or a chirp of any kind. 



Since I first saw them I have looked for them continually through the 

 spring and summer months, but with the exception of the female taken 

 on the 10th of June, 1895, I have failed to find any. — C. W. Nash, 

 Toronto, Canada. 



Capture of the Black Seaside Finch (Ammodramus nigrescens) in 

 1889.— Mr. Chapman's note on this species (Auk, XV, 1S9S, p. 270) states 

 that it had not apparently been met with since its discovery in 1872, by 

 Mr. Mavnard, till found by himself in 189S. It hence gives me pleasure to 

 report my capture of a pair near Indianola, Florida, March 3 and 5, 18S9. 

 Indianola is situated almost opposite Cocoa, on Merritt Island. While 



