-7 ^7 2 General Notes. I 0ct 



Strix pratincola. — March 14, 1893, Mr. A. Wolle, the well-known Balti- 

 more taxidermist, shot an adult near the Old Marine Hospital, Anne 

 Arundel County, and ten days later procured a second individual at 

 Hawkins Point about a mile distant. While passing through the tract of 

 woods near the Marine Hospital about July 15, Mr. Wolle found a Barn 

 Owl's nest containing five young. The nest was situated in a hollow tree 

 but a short distance from the spot where he had first observed the Owl shot 

 March 14. The young varied considerably in size, the smallest being 

 apparently about twelve days old while the largest was perhaps two weeks 

 older. The Barn Owl is a rare bird here, and, as far as I am aware, has 

 never been found breeding before. 



Lanius borealis. — A female in the flesh was presented to me during tbe 

 past winter by Mr. Wolle. It was shot by him Jan. 10, 1893, a few miles 

 east of the city. Later in the winter two or three other Butcher-birds were 

 observed by local collectors. Mr. Wolle informs me that on several 

 occasions he has observed birds of this species during severe seasons. 



Dendroica caerulea.— About July 7, 1S93, I heard an unfamiliar bird 

 song in the top of a large oak overhanging our country residence near 

 Towson. Although field-glasses were brought into use, I was unable to 

 discover the bird among the leaves. A few days later this song was 

 noticed a second time, but I was equally unsuccessful in locating the bird 

 uttering it. July 14 I again heard the same notes in an oak some hundred 

 feet distance from the house. Half way up in this tree, at a height of 

 perhaps thirty feet, three or four birds were observed moving about in a 

 rather nervous way in search of insects. Not being able to identify them I 

 shot one, and it proved to be an immature male Cerulean Warbler. After 

 an interval of silence lasting but a few moments the now familiar song 

 be^an again. This time the singer, an adult male of the same species, was 

 in full view, and I quickly secured it. Returning to the same tree about 

 ten minutes later I succeeded in taking a second immature bird. Although 

 careful search was made I was unable to discover any more of these birds 

 in the neighborhood. 



The occurrence of an adult accompanied by young early in July sug- 

 gests that the latter were reared in the neighborhood. Although a bird 

 of the Carolinian Fauna, the Cerulean Warbler has not previously been 

 observed in summer east of the Alleghanies, so that the capture of these 

 birds adds considerably to the breeding range of this species. 



Geothlypis Philadelphia. — I shot a female May 23, 1891, in a swampy 

 thicket about a mile east of Towson. It was in company with another bird 

 apparently of the same species, but owing to the character of the surround- 

 ings I was unable to obtain them both. Since the capture of this bird two 

 other Mourning Warblers have been observed in the neighborhood of Balti- 

 more. A letter from Mr. George H. Gray to me states that he saw one 

 singing in "a damp clump of maple saplings near Gwyn's Falls on the 

 Franklin road," June 3, 1893. He says that there can be no doubt as to the 

 identity of the bird, since he watched it for quite a while with a strong glass. 

 Mr. Gray also informs me that one of these Warblers was noted by his 

 friend Mr. P. Blogg about a year ago not far from the city. — J. Hall 

 Pleasants, Jr., Baltimore, Md. 



