1^04 General N^o/ea. [July 



The bird-dealer from vvlioin Mr. Brown purchased this specimen told 

 him it was one of a nest of four he procured in June, 1891, and the follow- 

 ing December or January they all changed to the same color as the example 

 just described. There are a number of recorded instances of black Robins,* 

 but so far as I am aware melanism has not before been noticed in the 

 Wood Thrush. — Frank M. Chapman, American Museum of Natural 

 History, New York City. 



Water Birds at Nantucket, Massachusetts. — Larus argentatus smith- 

 sonianus. — ^May i, 1892, I saw eight Herring Gulls, two of which were 

 adults, the others young in the gray plumage, resting in the llummuck 

 Pond. They frequent the large ponds to rest, as do also the Great Black- 

 backed Gulls (^Larus marinus) . 



Larus Philadelphia. — At Tuckernuck and Nantucket Islands the first 

 Bonaparte Gulls this spring appeared May 10, 1892, four or five pairs, 

 during a heav\- southeast rainstorm. 



Sterna hirundc— At Tuckernuck and Nantucket the first arrivals this 

 spring of the Common Tern appeared May 10, 1892. They came in 

 flocks of fifty or more, drifting sidewise before a heavy southeast rain- 

 storm. They scaled around several times, screaming, before alighting. 



Merganser serrator. — May i, 1892, I saw about thirty' Red-breasted 

 Mergansers in the lluniniuck Pond, and on May 4 there were still cpiite a 

 number living thei^e. 



Anas americana. — Feb. 22, 1891, I saw two Baldpates and shot one, 

 a young male, the stomach of which contained only a little white sand. 

 In former years they used to be fairly abundant here, but are now rather 

 scarce. 



Aythya americana. — ^Feb. 22, 1891, I saw three male Redheads in full 

 plumage which were shot from a flock of about forty. They had been 

 frequenting Coskata Pond in the eastern part of the island. These 

 Ducks were fairly numerous here in former years; a few are at times 

 seen here during the winter. 



Aythya marila nearctica.— May i, 1892, I saw two flocks of American 

 Scaup, about twenty-five in each fiock ; thej- were resting in the Hum- 

 muck Pond. They were probably the remainder of those which have 

 been in this locality all winter, numbering fully five hundred. I saw 

 several hundred of them in the same pond on Feb. 21. There have been 

 more of these Ducks about the island during the winters of 1891 and 

 1892 than for many years. In times past they were abundant every year. 

 1 noted a good many more of theni during the past autumn, winter and 

 spring than in the previous year. They appear early in November and 

 are mostly gone b\' May i. 



Aythya affinis.— Feb. 22, 1892. — I have not noted any of these Ducks 

 here before. While shooting at the Hummuck Pond on the above 

 date, a single Lesser Scaup came to the decoys and was secured. 

 There were a number of A. m. nearctica in the pond at the time. 



*Deane, Bull. N. O. C, I, 1876, p. 24; Coues, ibid., Ill, 1878, p. 48; Barrows, 



Auk, I, 1884, p. 90; II, 1885, p. 303; Faxon, ibid., Ill, 1886, p. 284. 



