114 General Notes. fi" 



an. 



notice, is an adult male in perfect plumage, which has recently been 

 mounted by R. A. Turtle, the Chicago taxidermist. 



This specimen was taken November 10, 1918, by Mr. J. Cropley, who 

 saw two strange birds in a ravine at Lake Forest, one of which seemed to 

 be crippled. He caught it and kept it alive for two or three days, when it 

 died. About half the upper mandible was missing, evidently from an old 

 wound; its stomach was empty. 



Its mate flew off and was not seen again. — Henry K. Coale, Highland 

 Park, Illinois. 



Proper Name of the Tree Sparrow. — The correct name of the Tree 

 Sparrow must still be determined. We are not specialists in the American 

 avifauna but herewith adduce facts that Spizella monticola (Gmelin) can- 

 not be maintained. In ' The Austral Avian Record ' (Vol. iii, No. 2, 

 p. 41, Nov. 19, 1915) we wrote as follows: " Fringilla canadensis (Bod- 

 daert). This name, given on p. 13 to pi. 223 f. 2 was not admitted in the 

 ' Catalogue of Birds,' and does not seem to have since been recognized. 

 Consequently the name used for the bird there figured, viz., Spizella 

 monticola Gmelin, still persists in the Amer. Ornith. Union Check-List 3rd 

 edition p. 263, 1910. As Gmelin's name (Syst. Nat,, p. 912, 1789) is 

 absolutely equivalent and later than Boddaert's, the bird must be known 

 as Spizella canade7isis Boddaert." 



Oberholser (Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. 31, p. 98, June 29, 1918) rejects 

 Boddaert's name, concluding that without doubt the figures and descrip- 

 tion apply to Zoriotrichia leucophrys but stating that Gmelin's name is 

 still correct for the Tree Sparrow. 



Gmelin cites 1st Passer canadensis Briss; 2 Soulciet Buff; 3 Moineau de 

 Canada Buff. ; 4 Mountain Finch Lath. ; 5 Tree Finch, Arct. Zool. The first 

 three references are the basis of Boddaert's name and must also be accepted 

 as the foundation of Gmelin's species so that when it is concluded that 

 Boddaert's name is inapplicable, so also must Gmelin's be. There does not 

 seem to be any word in Gmelin's description controverting the above 

 references, and Oberholser's continued acceptance of Gmelin's name is 

 inexplicable. We do not question for a moment the accuracy of his de- 

 termination of Boddaert's species, but the conclusion is that the figures 

 have never before been critically examined. — G. M. Mathews and Tom 

 Iredale, England. 



The Rose-breasted Grosbeak in Connecticut in November. — On 



November 4, 1918, I observed a Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Zamelodia ludo- 

 viciana) at Norwalk, Conn. The bird was in the plumage of an adult 

 female, and was so tame that it was observed clearly from a distance of less 

 than ten feet. However it was at a time when I was not equipped for 

 collecting, and in a place where collecting would have been impossible. 

 There are two other November records of this species from Connecticut. — 

 Aretas A. Saunders, Norwalk, Conn. 



