'893-] General Notes. 



203 



Some Birds Recently Added to the Collection of the New York State 

 Museum. — During the year closing Sept. 30, 1S91, the tbllowing inter- 

 esting birds have been added to the New York State Museum's collec- 

 tion. 



A pair of Evening Grosbeaks {Coccotkraustes vespertuta). These birds 

 are interesting because they were shot at Wayland, Steuben Co., N. Y., 

 in February, 1890. The locality is an unusual olie for the species. The 

 irruption of the species into the State of New York from the westward in 

 1890 has already been noticed in ' Forest and Stream.' 



A pair of Heath Hens {Tympanuchus cupido). The female was taken 

 on the Island of Martha's Vineyard, on December 24 or 25, 1890. Her 

 measurements, taken after mounting, are: length, 15 inches; length of 

 wing, 8.50 inches. The male was taken at the same locality on December 

 22, 1890. His measurements, taken while in the flesh, were reported to 

 me as follows: "Length, 16 inches; expanse, 28f inches; wing, 12^ 

 inches." The length of the wing, as given above, means the length of the 

 expanded wing. The length of the wing from the carpal joint to the 

 end of the longest primary is 8.75 inches (measured on the mounted 

 bird). His crop was reported to contain leaves and grasshoppers. 



A Turkey Buzzard {Carthartes aura), an adult, probably a male, 

 shot in the town of Clarendon, Orleans Co., N. Y., on July 18, 1891, by 

 Mr. A. E. Snyder. Attention is called to this specimen because of the 

 locality in which it was taken. The Turkey Buzzard is said to be of rare 

 occurrence so far north. 



Last spring Mr. Frank A. Ward of Rochester told me that he had in 

 his possession a bird, taken near Lake Ontario, which he supposed to be 

 a Harlan's Hawk. He afterwards changed his mind about the name of 

 the bird, as he sent it to me without a name. It proved to be a rather 

 immature specimen of the Black Gyrfalcon {Falco rusticolus obsoletus). 

 Mr. Austin F. Park of Troy has since seen the specimen and confirms my 

 opinion that the bird is a Black Gyrfalcon. It is a female, and was shot 

 near Lake Ontario, in Monroe Co., N. Y., in October, 1890. The label 

 sent with the specimen contains the following field-notes. — "Length, 

 22| inches; tail, 9^ inches; wing, 15^ inches; spread 51 inches. Cere 

 and feet gray (not so bright a gray as in the Osprey)." This is the only 

 specimen of Black Gyrfalcon that I have ever had an opportunity to ex- 

 amine. Its color is very dark. Dr. F. J. H. Merrill of the New York 

 State Museum, who has seen the specimen exhibited in the U. S. National 

 Museum, assures me that our specimen is several shades darker. — 

 Wm. B. Marshall, Neiv York State Museum, Alba?iy, N. T. 



Winter Birds of Cape May, New Jersey. — In the early part of the 

 present year Mr. S. N. Rhoads and myself spent a few days (January 

 26-29) at Cape May City, N. J., with the object of investigating the avi- 

 fauna of the vicinity. The weather at the time of our visit was extremely 

 cold, and of course no migration had begun at this early date, so that we 

 could without question consider all the species found by us as regular 



