Vol. XlVn /- 7 Ar . ^^^ 



,8g7 J General A/ofes. 209 



other parts forwarded to the National Museum by Mr. R. S. Allen for 

 identification. 



I, have a cutting from a Richmond, Virginia, paper, name and date 

 unknown, which notes the occurrence in New Kent County of four Wood 

 Ibises, one of which was shot by Mr. W. J. Taylor and the head and wing 

 exhibited in Richmond. The date was evidently the summer of 1893. 

 Two, an adult and a young, were killed in Washington, July 2, 1892, as 

 previously mentioned in 'The Auk,' (X, 1S93, p. 91). — William Palmer, 

 \VasJi{)igto7t, D. C. 



A North American Snipe New to the A. O. U. List. — Swainson in Sw. 

 and Rich., Fn. Bor.-Am., II, 1831, p. 501, describes Scolopax leucurtts sp. n., 

 from Hudson Bay, and says that " a single specimen of this bird in fine 

 and perfect plumage, exists in the British Museum." It is a large species 

 with 16 rectrices, whereof the three outer pairs are almost entirely white. 

 Swainson's type is still extant in the British Museum, and has been 

 identified with Galli?tago major by Dr. Sharpe, who cites 5. leticurus 

 among the synonyms of this species, and catalogues Swainson's type from 

 "Hudson's Bay" (Cat. B. Brit. Mus., XXIV, 1896, p. 628 and p. 631). 

 The specimen appears as one of a large lot acquired by the British 

 Museum by purchase from the Hudson Bay Company many years ago, to 

 none of which does any doubt of locality attach ; and as there is obviously 

 no reason to call Dr. Sharpe's identification in question, we may rely upon 

 the record for the following addition to our Check-List: 



[230.1.] Gallinago major (Gm.). 



Greater Snipe. 



Scolopax major Gm. Syst. Nat. i, 1788, p. 661. 

 Gallinago major Koch, Syst. Baier. Orn. 1816, p. 313. 



Geog. Dist. — Europe, Asia and Africa. Accidental in North America 

 ("Hudson Baj'"). 



There may be a question about the specific name of this bird, under our 

 Procrustean rules. According to Dr. Sharpe's synonymy, it is Scolopax 

 media Frisch, 1763, and Gallinago media Gerini, 1773 — both antedating 

 Gnielin's ^9. major. Dr. Sharpe sensibh- passes over media and adopts 

 major — for to call a bird media in Latin and Greater or Double Snipe in 

 English w'ould be absurd. I hope some way can be found to square 

 common sense with the Code in this case — if it cannot be, so much the 

 worse for the latter. — Elliott Coues, Washington, D. C. 



The Occurrence of Tryngites subruficollis in the New England States- 

 — There are several instances of the capture of the Buff-breasted Sand- 

 piper in Connecticut and Massachusetts which do not appear to have 

 been i-ecorded. This Sandpiper, although common in certain sections in 

 the West, is not very often met with along the North Atlantic seaboard. 

 27 



