^'° mf^^] General Notes. 549 



Racine, Wis., the late Dr. P. R. Hoy personally examined 645 specimens, 

 including 22 species, of which 437 were warblers. They were picked up 

 in one locality. Imagine the devastation which must have occurred, 

 even between these points, right in the tide of the migration. 



Another instance has just come to pass, and while comparatively few 

 specimens were seen that had perished, there is no question but that the 

 mortality was great. 



Mr. W. B. Mershon and my brother Charles E. Deane, reached the 

 Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, on June 6, 1914, for salmon fishing on the Grand 

 Cascapedia River. They learned that from the third to the fifth the re- 

 gion about had experienced a very severe storm of rain and snow, accom- 

 panied by a fierce gale of wind. Snow fell to the depth of four inches at 

 Matapedia and other points, with a temperature down to 34°, and reported 

 even lower further east. The snow did not remain long except on the high 

 hills. One guide at Grand Cascapedia reporte"d that he picked up five dead 

 birds near his barn, while numbers flew into the barn and around the doors 

 of his dwelling, seeking protection. Other guides reported dead birds 

 lying around their buildings and along the road, and brought in specimens. 

 Three that were forwarded to me proved to be females of the Redstart, 

 Canadian and Blackburnian Warblers. 



That this unusual storm and low temperature was general over the penin- 

 sula, is shown by the following letter, received from the director of the 

 Canadian Meteorological Office under date of June 25, 1914. 



" With reference to your letter of the 23rd. inst. I would inform you that 

 between the 4th. and 5th. of June, 1914, quite a severe northeasterly storm 

 occurred on the Gaspe coast caused by the development and movement of 

 an area of low pressure from the New England States to the Gulf, taken in 

 conjunction with the approach at the same time of a pronounced cool wave 

 from the Hudson Bay Region. The temperature along the Gaspe coast 

 varied between 36 and 42 degrees. The precipitation was largely rain, 

 but at the same time wet snow fell locally, and in a few localities the fall is 

 reported to have amounted to as much as six inches. On the 3rd. there 

 was also some light local snow in the Gaspe Peninsula, but unaccompanied 

 b}^ wind, the temperature then fell to the freezing point or a little below." 



Mr. Mershon states that he has never been in a region where warblers 

 were more abundant in June, his observations covering a series of year 

 dating back to 1886 — Ruthven Deane, Chicago, III. 



