^°i-o^''^] General Notes. 385 



The Evening Grosbeak in Central New York in April. — On April 11 

 a neighbor described to me two birds which she had seen in the fruit 

 trees in her yard so accurately that I had no doubt that she had seen a 

 pair of Evening Grosbeaks {Hesperiphona vespertina). A later search 

 failed to reveal them that day, however, but on the following dav I was 

 sent for, and on nearing the place heard their curious notes, and had no 

 difficulty in finding the birds. They were quite tame, and I watched 

 them for a long time. They spent most of the time on the ground or in 

 the lower branches of the trees, and the male in particular seemed very 

 partial to the shriveled and discolored apples that lay on the ground or 

 clung to the branches. Whether he ate the pulp or the seeds I could not 

 tell positively. 



In the winter of 1901-02 these birds were quite common here, but I have 

 since had- no report of them until the present instance, and I was sur- 

 prised to see them here this year after the spring had broken and all 

 the early birds were starting their nesting. — Louis Agassiz Fuertes, 

 Ithaca, N. V. 



The Evening Grosbeak at Beverly, Mass. — In the winter of 18S9-1890 

 there was a great incursion of the Evening Grosbeak {Hesperiphona 

 vespertina) to Massachusetts, a number of specimens being taken at Box- 

 ford and Lynn. This was considered the most interesting flight of birds 

 ever recorded in the State. Most of the specimens secured were placed in 

 the Peabody Academy of Science at Salem. I believe the species has not 

 been seen since then until Wednesday, March 23, 1904, when I came upon 

 a flock of five of them. They were in a willow tree along with some 

 Robins and Rusty Grackles. The Robins and Grackles flew when I passed 

 under the tree, but these birds remained, and to my surprise I discovered 

 that they were the Evening Grosbeak. They were much scattered, and I 

 fired at one old male which I secured. They flew perhaps an eighth of a 

 mile before alighting again. I followed and secured two more, a 

 young male and a female. They were all fine birds, in good condition, 

 and their stomachs were well filled with buds and seed. They have been 

 purchased by Mr. John E. Thayer of Lancaster, Mass. ; two of them will 

 be placed in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History and 

 the other retained for his own collection. — C. Emerson Brown^ 

 Beverly, Mass. 



Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow in North Dakota — On June 12, 1902, 

 while dragging with a long rope, over low prairie land near a small 

 slough, I flushed a little sparrow from a heavy tangled growth of grass. 

 The spot was marked and upon returning an hour later the bird was 

 again started from the grass nearby. A careful search ended fruitlessly ; 

 I then retired a short distance and waited about fifteen minutes. The 

 next time I approached the spot on a run and the bird fluttered from the 

 grass at my very feet, only to drop into the grass a few yards away, as she 



