^°^;^^^] General Notes. 287 



Bird Notes from Shelter Island, Long Island, N. Y. — Lesser Scaup 

 Duck {^Aytkya affinis). — This duck has been noted in this vicinity several 

 times in midsummer. A specimen was shot bj a friend of mine on Aug. 

 18 of last year (1903). A pair were seen by Dr. Braislin and myself at 

 Napeague Harbor on June 20, 1902. None of these were crippled birds, 

 and all possessed normal powers of flight, so that their failure to migrate 

 with their fellows was surely owing to no physical disability. 



Wilson's Warbler ( Wihonia ptisilla). — A specimen was taken on 

 August 22, 1903, — the earliest I have ever observed it in the autumnal 

 migration. 



Water Thrushes (Seiurus noveboracensis) arrived on the same date 

 as the last. 



WiLLET (Sympkemia semipalmata). — A single specimen was taken 

 Aug. 22. This bird has become very rare in this vicinity of late years. 



Maryland Yellowthroat (Geothlypis tri'ckas). — A fine male of this 

 species was noted and watched for some time on November 13, 1903. 

 His late stay was owing, no doubt, to the congenial surroundings, formed 

 by a thick growth of a species of wild honeysuckle, covering the ground 

 and low bushes in a sheltered spot, remaining green late in the winter, 

 and containing many warm and sunny sheltered nooks. 



Pine Grosbeak {Pinicola enucleator). — A few of these rare visitors 

 from the north have been about this winter. A single one was seen 

 November 28, 1903. I received a pair to mount, shot on Dec. 22, the 

 male in the full red-washed plumage, the female gray. They were found 

 feeding around a garbage heap near the back door of a dwelling house, 

 and were very tame. Two more were seen near the same place, but not 

 taken, on January 3, 1904. 



Hermit Thrush (Hylocickla guttata pallasii). — Very scarce during 

 their usual migration dates. For some unaccountable reason their move- 

 ments to the south seem to have been postponed so long that, by the advent 

 of severe weather, many of them came to grief. A single specimen was 

 noted on Nov. 13, 1903; next seen on Dec. 26, and again on Dec. 31. 

 The weather was then very cold, the ground covered with snow, and the 

 specimens were in an emaciated condition. The last chapter in the 

 tragedy was revealed by a specimen found under the edge of a sheltering 

 embankment, frozen to death, on January 5, 1904. The ground was then 

 covered with snow, about a foot deep on the level, and traveling was very 

 hard, so that I covered only a small section of country' during my obser- 

 vations, but, judging by the several instances in which I noted the birds, 

 many hundreds must have perished, in the aggregate. — Willis W. 

 Worthington, Shelter Island Heights, N. Y. 



Notes Concerning Certain Birds of Long Island, N. Y. — Puffinus 

 borealis. Mr. Andrew Chichester shot two birds {^ and ?) of this spe- 

 cies on the ocean some distance off Fire Island Inlet, on Oct. 4, 1902, and 

 sent them to me in the flesh. 



Cathartes aura. Mr. Robt. Peavey, who killed the two specimens of 



