20o General Notes. I April 



left tibia had been broken and healed again quite recently. The plumage 

 was that of the young male as found here during the spring migrations. 

 On January 19 I purchased a fine male of the Great Gray Owl from a 

 farmer who had shot it the day before at North Haven. Tbe Owl was 

 still alive. — A. H. Verrill, New Haven, Connecticut. 



Notes on Helminthophila chrysoptera, pinus, leucobronchialis and 

 lawrencei in Connecticut. — The brief notes herein given are from Port- 

 land, a locality which seems a favorite resort for these interesting and per- 

 plexing Warblers. 



Helminthophila chrysoptera is a not uncommon summer resident, arriv- 

 ing as early as the 8th of May and frequenting dense swamps and swampy 

 woodland. It is partial to hickory, oak and buttonwood trees, and when 

 migrating in the spring may be found on high scrubby ground and in old 

 pastures and orchards. The past season (1S92) a male was captured in 

 my door-yard — an unusual place, as it is not the custom of this Warbler 

 to visit the thickly settled portions of the village. 



To hunt this bird successfully it is necessary to become familiar with 

 the odd song. Did it not in this manner reveal its identity, it would be 

 almost impossible to find it when perched among the young leaves on a 

 buttonwood or hickory tree. 



My series of skins of this species, taken here during the past eighteen 

 years, shows many odd variations. 



A nest containing four fresh eggs was taken June 4, 1892. It was on 

 the ground in a swampy spot and under a skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus 

 foetidus). The eggs are pure white, evidently an abnormal set. The 

 female was secured as she flew from the nest. The male was also seen. It 

 had the typical black throat. I believe the eggs of this Warbler have not 

 been recorded from the State before. 



In other sections of Connecticut H. chrysoptera is considered rare. At 

 Saybrook, New Haven, Bridgeport and Seymour they are seldom seen. 

 Mr. Willard E. Treat, an experienced collector living at East Hartford, 

 Conn., (fifteen miles north of this place) tells me that he has never found 

 there any of the Warblers mentioned in this article. 



The interbreeding of chrysoptera and pinus, at Portland, was noted in 

 'The Auk' (Vol. VI, July, 1889). 



Helminthophila pinus conies to us the first week in May, and is a reg- 

 ular, but rare, summer resident. While here it does not wander far from 

 a swampy spot grown up with alders, a few maples and an occasional oak 

 and elm. A nest with four eggs, and one of Molothrus ater, was taken 

 May 31, 1887. 



Mr. Brewster's long-named Warbler, Helminthophila leucobronchialis, 

 would seem to be a regular summer visitant, as we have taken it now for 

 seven successive years. It appears by May 10, and is in full song until 

 the middle of June. 



