CONTENTS. 



Notes on a Captive Hermit Thrush. By Daniel E. Owen i 



Recent Investigations of the Food of European Birds. By F. E. L. Beal. ... 8 



Some Notes on the Nesting Habits of the White-tailed Kite. By Chester Barloiu. . 14 

 Report of the A. O. U. Committee on Protection of North American Birds. By 



William Dntcher. zi 



Evidence Suggestive of the Occurrence of ' Individual Dichromatism ' in Megmcops 



Asia, ^y Arthur P. CJuidbourtie, M. D. ( Plate I.) 33 



Zamelodia against Habia. By Dr. Elliott Cones. 39 



Preliminary Descriptions of New Birds from Mexico a.nd Guatemala in the Collec- 

 tion of the United States Department of Agriculture. By E. IV. Nelson. . 42 



Description of a New Subspecies of Dendroica. By Harry C. Oberholser 76 



On the Nomenclature of Certain FoR^Ls of the Downy Woodpecker {Dryobates pnbe- 



scens). By William Brewster. ............. 80 



F'ourteenth Co.ngress of 1 he American Ornithologists' Union. By John H.Sage. . 82 



General Notes — The Nostrils in Young Cormorants, 87: Labrador Duck, 87; Nesting of the Larger 

 White-cheeked Goose (Branta canadensis occidentalis ) in Okanogan County, Washington, 87; 

 A New Bird for the Virginias, 88 ; Asarcia spinosa, 8ii ; The Passenger Pigeon {Ectopistes migra- 

 tor ins) ia Lewis County, N. Y., 88; JMelopelia lencopiera in Osceola County, Florida, 88; The 

 California Vulture in Alberta, Sg ; Golden Eagle (.Aquila chrysa'etos ) taken near New Haven, 



» Conn., 8g ; Abundance of Owls on the Coast of British Columbia, 8g ; The Cuculidse of the A. O. U. 

 List, 90 ; Broad-tailed Hummingbird in California, gi ; Authority for the Name Myiarchns mexica- 

 nies,q2; Hepburn's L.euco'ilicte ( Leucostiete tephrocotis littoralis) in Summer in (jkanogan County, 

 Washington, g2 ; Aminodraniiis { Passe) cuius } sanctorum, 92; Occurrence of Baird's Sparrow 

 {Ammodramus bairdii) in Washington, g3 ; Acadian Sparrow in Yates County, N. Y., g3 ; Note on 

 Junco annectens Baird and J. ridgw/tyi Mearns, 94; Rectifications of Synonymy of th:; (ieuus Junco, 

 g4; Spiza itnericana near Kingston, New York, 95 ; Correct Nomenclature of the Texas Cardinal, 

 95 ; Natural Breeding Haunts of the Barn Swallow (Chelidon erythrogaster), 95 ; Characters of 

 Dendroica ccerulescens cairwii, 96^; Dendroica cirru/ea vs Dendroica rara, 97 ; Note on the Genus 

 Lticar oi Bartram, 97 ; BreeAmg oi \.\\^ Qa.ro\in!i.\Wr&n {'J'hryothorus ludovicianus) on Long Island, 

 N. Y., 97 ; A Remarkable Nest of the Tufted Titmouse (i"rtr7« bicolor), gS ; The Whistled Call of 

 Parus ttricapillus common to both .Sexes, g y ; J'asser domesticus at Archer, "t'la., and other Florida 

 Notes, gg ; Records of Two Birds rare on Long Island, N. Y., 99; Unusual Visits of Birds in 

 Western Alassachusetts during i8g6, 100; The Michigan Ornithological Club, 101. 



Recent Literature — .Sharpens Catalogue of the Limicols, 102; Bendire's 'Life Histories of North 

 .American Birds.' 104; Bird-Nesting with a Camera, 106; Thompson's Art Anatomy, 106; Miss 

 Merriam's ' .^-hiirding on a Bronco', 107 ; ' Papers Presented to the World's Congress of Ornithol- 

 ogy', loS; The Revised New Nuttall, 109; Millais on Change to Spring Plumage without a Moult, 

 log ; . Wintle's ' Birds of Montreal', 112; Oberholser's Birds of Wayne County, (Jhio, 112; Publications 

 Received, 113. 



Notes and News. — Obituary — Howard Gardiner Nichols, 115; Amendments to the .\. O. U. By-Laws, 

 115; New Publications, 1 15 ; Velocity of Flight of Ducks, 116 ; A. O U. Committee on Bird Protec- 

 tion, 116. 



Eighth Supplement to the American Ornithologist's Union Check-List of North Amer- 

 ican Birds 117 



'THE AUK,' published as the Organ of the American Ornithologists' 

 Union, is edited by Dr. J. A. Allen, with the assistance of Mr. F. M. Chap- 

 man. 



Terms: — $3.00 a year, including postage, strictly in advance. Single num- 

 bers, 75 cents. Free to Honorary Members, and to- Active and Associate Members 

 of the A.O.U. not in arrears for dues. 



Subscriptions and Advertisements should be addressed to the publisher, 

 L. S. FOSTER, 3S Pine Street, New York, N. Y. Foreign Subscribers 

 may obtain 'The Auk' through GURNEY AND JACKSON, i Paternoster 

 Row, London. 



All articles and communications intended for publication, and all books and 

 publications for notice, should be sent to Dr. J. A. ALLEN, American Museum 

 of Natural History, Central Park, New York City. 



Authors' Separates. 

 Authors of general articles will receive 25 separates of their articles gratis. 

 Additional copies may be ordered, if desired, but such orders must ahvays 

 accompany the manuscript. The prices of separates are as follows : 



