Vol. XVII 
ic General Notes. 63 
The attendance of members at the recent Congress was much 
'Jarger than at any previous one. ‘They came from distant parts 
of the United States and from Canada. 
Jno. H. Sacer, 
Secretary. 
GENERAL NOTES. 
A Rare Record for Eastern Long Island.—On October 7, 1899, I 
received a fine specimen of the Fork-tailed or Sabine’s Gull (Xema 
sabinit). It was shot the day before in Gardiners Bay, between Orient, 
L.1., and Shelter Island, and sent me in the flesh. It was the only one 
seen. It was in young-of-the-year plumage, and on dissection proved to be 
afemale. It was in excellent condition, with a thick layer of fat all over 
the body. The stomach contained an entire cut-worm moth (Agvofis), 
and the macerated remains of other insects, picked up, without doubt, 
from the water where they had fallen exhausted, having wandered from 
the land. The above, so far as I am aware, is a new record for Long 
Island, and the farthest south for the species under consideration. — 
W. W. WortTHINGTON, Shelter [sland Heights, N. Y. 
Some Notes on the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus).— The evidence 
that there is no such bird as Larus argentatus smtthsontanus continues 
to accumulate. Doubts of the validity of this subspecies have been 
expressed before, both orally and in print. (Cf Knight, List of Birds 
of Me., p. 19; Maine Sportsman, July, 98, p. 13; Journal of the Me. 
Orn. Soc., Oct. 1899, p. 37). These records refer to the occurrence in 
Maine of specimens referable to LZ. argenfatus, and finally question the 
existence of any subspecific differences between American and European 
specimens. While in Portland a short time ago I had occasion to visit 
the shop of a local taxidermist and noticed a large number of these 
birds which he had skinned for sale to milliners. After carefully exam- 
ining fully 100 specimens, which had been shot in Portland Harbor and 
vicinity, I was delighted to find ten specimens which were, as regards 
the first primaries, typical examples of ZL. argentatus. Three of the 
birds had the first primary entirely white at the tip without any trace 
of a black bar or dot, and the others had the black bar only slightly 
indicated. Other specimens had the black bar more complete, and a 
perfect series of gradations could be found between adult birds with 
