250 General Notes. [^^ 



the writing of this note. Occasionally the flock has been divided and 

 fewer individuals only have been seen; yet it appears to have remained 

 essentially intact, for on February 4 and 13 the number was reckoned as 

 fifty or more. On December 25 seventy-three birds were actually counted, 

 as they passed in squads in the same direction from one group of trees to 

 another group. On January 30 one was singing very prettily, perched high 

 and alone in an oak. This is the first flock to appear in the vicinity of 

 Boston. A single bird only has been hitherto reported, seen at Squantum 

 Head, March 26, 1912 (Auk, XXIX, July, 1912, p. 394), which disappeared 

 and was not further noted. The Cambridge flock has remained in and about 

 the Fresh Fond reservation. It is interesting that an employee in the park, 

 who told me that he was fifteen years from Ireland, recognized these birds 

 at once on their appearance, feehng sure they were what were called in the 

 Old Country 'Stares,' in England, Starlings. He was pleased to have the 

 identification confirmed. — Horace W. Wright, Boston, Mass. 



The Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) in Connecticut in Win- 

 ter. — On January 18, 1914, I observed two Rusty Blackbirds in Edgewood 

 Park, New Haven, Conn. The birds were in a portion of the park that is 

 rather swampy in character. These swamps are evidently fed by springs, 

 as the shallow water does not freeze throughout the year. This makes 

 the third winter record for this .species in Connecticut. The other two are 

 both December dates and are regarded, probably correctly, as instances of 

 late fall migration (Birds of Connecticut, 1913, p. 115). It is interesting 

 to note that both of these December records — one by Mr. C. H. Pangburn 

 and one by myself — are from this same swampy area in Edgewood Park. — 

 Aretas a. Saunders, New Haven, Conn. 



The Bobolink ( Dolichonyx oryzivorus) as a Conveyer of MoUusca. — 



On April 18, 1913, there appeared some flocks of northward bound Bobo- 

 links; a rare bird at this time of the year, as they usually pass at night, 

 without stopping, on their northward trip; quite the contrary to their 

 fall migrating habits, when they stay with us, in great numbers for nearly 

 a month. I shot three or four birds, all males, and was very much sur- 

 prised to find live Mollusca among their feathers; having sent some of the 

 snails to Dr. H. A. Pilsbry, of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia, for determination, he kindly informed me that they were Succinea 

 riisei (Ph.) known from the Islands of St. Croix and Porto Rico, but not 

 from Cuba. It would be interesting to know the date of arrival of the 

 Bobolinks at Porto Rico in the Spring of 1913, and thus tell whether the 

 shells came from there or from St. Croix. — ■ Chas. T. Ramsden, Guan- 

 tanamo, Cuba. 



Cowbird Note. — May 30, 1909, I was lying partly hidden behind a log 

 at Westerly, R. I., and trying to discover the nest of a pair of Black and 



