"2 02 General Notes. I \ u i v 



Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus and Spiza americana in Maine. — A 

 female Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus was collected by Mr. Fred. 

 Rackliff, on Metinic Island, Knox Co., Maine, Aug. 17, 1S82. The bird 

 was discovered quite early in the forenoon in a piece of oats on the north- 

 east part of the island, where it remained until a little after noon, when it 

 was shot. The island lies about four miles southeast of the mainland of 

 the town of St. George. The capture was effected directly after a 'fog 

 mull' and light rain, but no heavy wind was experienced here. The bird 

 was flushed several times before it was shot, but showed no disposition to 

 leave the place. Mr. Rackliff mounted it for his collection. I believe 

 this is the first instance of the bird's capture in Maine. 



A young male Spiza americana was taken by Mr. Ralph H. Norton a»t 

 Westbrook, Cumberland Co., Maine, Oct. 10, 1S88. The bird was flushed 

 from the rushes growing by a low field drain, and was in company with 

 several species of Sparrows. The throat mark was indicated by a few 

 black-centred feathers scattered over the upper throat. The skin is now 

 in my collection. So far I have been unable to find any record of its 

 occurrence in Maine. — Arthur H. Norton, Westbrook, Maine. 



The Ipswich Sparrow (Ammodramus firince.ps) on the coast of Georgia. 

 — Mr. W. W. Worthington has very kindly given me permission to 

 announce the occurrence of this Sparrow in Glynn County, on the coast of 

 Georgia, where he took two specimens in January, 1S90, — one on the 8th, 

 the other on the 15th. I have examined both birds, and find them perfectly 

 typical representatives of A. princeps which has not been previously 

 recorded, I believe, from any point on the Atlantic Coast south of Cobb's 

 Island, Virginia. — William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. 



A Hybrid Tanager. — While in Omaha last fall for a" few hours I called 

 on Mr. Leonard Skow who called my attention to a Tanager in his collec- 

 tion that did not fit the keys. On my return to Washington I arranged 

 to have the bird sent on for examination, and Mr. Ridgway pronounces 

 it an unmistakable case of hybridism between Pyranga rubra and P. 

 erythromelas — the first known instance of this phenomenon in the genus. 



The bird is a male. Its bill is rather thicker than in P. erythromelas, 

 but not so long as in P. rubra, with the median notch of the upper man- 

 dible well developed. The wings are rusty black, the primaries are edged 

 with red on the outer web, while the secondaries and coverts are washed 

 with brick red, giving the whole wing the appearance of having been 

 brushed over with a water color of reddish yellow. The tail is marked in 

 the same manner, but with more of the appearance of having been dipped 

 in the red stain, as the whole web of each feather is tinged more deeply 

 on the outer than on the inner web and at the base than at the tip. The 

 body has the scarlet color of P. erythromelas, with no trace of the ver- 

 million of P. rubra, though there is a little of the bronze of immaturity 

 on the nape of the neck and on the belly. In a series of about thirty 



