174 General Notes. [jgjjj 



ney, — not " Whiting." It came into my hands at once, was preserved by 

 myself, and is now in my collection. Great importance should not, of 

 course, be attached to the closing sentence of the paragraph above quoted, 

 which was based on the statements of a gunner not skilled in identifying 

 birds, though undoubtedly truthful. — Henry H. Brock, Portland, Me. 



Baird's Sandpiper in Michigan. — On August 20, 1895, Mr. Leon J. 

 Cole and myself collected a female Baird's Sandpiper {Tringa bairdii) 

 in Ottawa County, Michigan. This is the second or third, if not the first 

 record of this bird's occurrence in the State. — W. E. Mulliken, Grand 

 Rapids, Mich. 



Western Sandpiper {Ereunetes occidentalism more abundant than the 

 Semipalmated {E. pasillus). — On Two-mile Beach, Cape May County, 

 New Jersey, from the 1st to the 15th of September, 1895, I found both 

 varieties of Ereunetes quite abundant in large flocks ; and out of thirty- 

 five specimens taken, twenty were unquestionably occidentalis and fifteen 

 pusillus. The birds were all carefully measured and the colors noted. 

 The bills of the so-called western variety varied from .87 to 1.07, males and 

 females, ten measuring over 1.00, and the back of each was uniformly 

 colored with a very reddish tinge. 



The bills of the fifteen Semipalmated measured from .63 to .7S, and 

 were uniformly gray on the back, excepting three which had a slight tinge 

 of red. I have never met with the western variety before, that is, to my 

 knowledge, for it was only of late that I learned the difference, which is 

 probably the excuse of many of us who otherwise might have found the 

 bird just as common as I did. In the spring migration, and perhaps in 

 the fall, I hope to look for it again. 



Mr. Brewster mentions in ' The Auk ' (Jan., 1889, p. 69) that a number 

 of these birds {occidentalis) were taken by Mr. J. C. Cahoon on Monomoy 

 Island, Mass., during July, August and September, 1S8S, and it may 

 be that the bird is not nearly so accidental as it has been heretofore 

 supposed. — Wm. L. Baily, Philadelphia, Pa. 



Woodpeckers' Tongues — a Plea for Aid. — The tongues of our North 

 AmericanWoodpeckers are, as the readers of 'The Auk ' well know, mostly 

 barbed at the tip. Unless they have devoted some attention to the subject 

 they may not, however, know that the tongue of young Woodpeckers are 

 barbless, and that it is an interesting question just when the barbs make 

 their appearance. The tongue of a full-fledged nestling of Dryobates 

 villosiis, a species whose tongue is remarkably well armed when adult, 

 bears only fine reflexed hairs along the edge, and just at present no 

 specimens are available to show when the barbs make their appearance. 

 I should be greatly obliged to any readers of ' The Auk ' who may collect any 

 voung Woodpeckers during the year, especially such as are about to leave, 

 or have recently left the nest. if. they will kindlv send me the tongues. It 



