^°'ifio^"] ^^^^^'■«^ ^'''^«- 211 



Cold weather and snowfall in the north and northwest may have driven 

 the birds down. It would be interesting to learn whether they were 

 observed south of Chicago. — Ralph W. Chaney, Chicago, III. 



Winter Migration at Night. — A remarkable flight of birds, which I 

 believe were Lapland Longspurs, occurred on the night of December 13, 

 1909. Thousands of birds passed southward during the snow-storm, their 

 voices coming from above, as we hear them during the spring migrations. 

 They were first heard about dark, and through the evening until ten 

 o'clock, when I retired. They passed over steadily, their notes being 

 heard from the sky from every direction. This is the first time I have 

 ever heard of such an occurrence in winter. — Henry K. Coale, Highland 

 Park, III. 



The Seaside Sparrow on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in Winter. — On 

 December 29, 1909, while duck shooting in the salt marshes at Barnstable, 

 Mass., I secured two specimens of the Seaside Sparrow {Ammodramus 

 maritimus). The birds were found in the tall thatch bordering a large 

 creek about three hundred yards from Sandy Neck. They were the only 

 birds of the species seen during four days spent in the marshes. One 

 proved to be a male, the other a female. 



Howe and Allen's 'Birds of Massachusetts' records the capture of one 

 Seaside Sparrow in the Barnstable marshes on February 9, 1898, by Messrs. 

 H. B. Bigelow and G. C. Shattuck, and of another, a male, on February 9, 

 1901, by Mr. Howe. No later records have come to my notice, so appar- 

 ently mine is the third winter record of this species in Massachusetts and 

 would suggest that the bird is perhaps not such an irregular straggler there 

 in winter. — Alfred C. Redfield, Wayne, Pa. 



Further Notes on the Lark Sparrow in Southwestern Pennsylvania. — 



During the latter part of August, 1909, while driving along a road near 

 Leetsdale, Pa., I saw four Lark Sparrows {Chondestes grammacus) at pre- 

 cisely the same spot at which I collected my first specimen in June, 1908.* 

 I had no time to look for more of the birds, but they undoubtedly breed 

 in this locality, and this spring I mean to investigate more thoroughly as 

 regards this bird's presence in a region so far from his usual range. — Wm. 

 G. PiTCAiRN, Allegheny, Pa. 



A Chipping Sparrow in late December at Boston, Mass.— On December 



21, 1909, close to the shore of Chestnut Hill Reservoir within the limits of 

 the city I found a brightly plumaged Chipping Sparrow {Spizella passerina) 

 picking busily and happily on the grass about some evergreens at midday. 

 The temperature was at the frost point, but no snowfalls to remain had 

 occurred up to that time. There had been several mornings of tenipera- 



' See Auk, Vol. XXV, 1908. p. 476. 



