C 2 Braislin, Notes on Long Island Birds. \j\^ 



Larus minutus. The occurrence of the Little Gull in North 

 America was regarded with doubt by ornithologists, owing to 

 the absence of any satisfactory evidence, until the absolute record 

 in this journal by Mr. William Dutcher, concerning its occurrence 

 at Fire Island, Long Island, New York, in September 1887 (Auk, 

 Vol. V, 1888, p. 171). After a comparatively short interval the 

 bird has been again taken on Long Island and the record of its 

 occurrence here constitutes the second instance for North America. 

 Mr. Robt. L. Peavey of Brooklyn was fortunate in securing this 

 specimen of Larus fninutus, which was in company with a flock 

 of Bonaparte's Gulls, some of which were also secured, at Rock- 

 away Beach, May 10, 1902. This rare specimen Mr. Peavey has 

 generously donated to the Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of 

 Arts and Sciences. The plumage is that of the immature bird, 

 just taking on that of the adult. Evidences of the latter are 

 present on the forehead and at the base of the upper mandible 

 which parts are nearly completely clothed in new, black feathers ; 

 on the chin at either side a few new, black feathers appear, as 

 also over the eyes and a very few on the crown. Sex, 9 (deter- 

 mined by Mr. George K. Cherrie, Curator of the Department). 

 Culmen, 90 in.; wing, 8.20 in. 



Anser albifrons gambeli. At Sag Harbor I recently had the 

 opportunity of examining the collection of mounted birds of Mr. 

 I. C. Byram, a taxidermist residing there. Among other birds of 

 interest was a fine specimen of the White-fronted Goose. Con- 

 cerning it he subsequently wrote as follows : " I have looked up 

 the date of the goose, and find that I killed it Oct. 18, 1889. It 

 was feeding in a fresh-water pond near here. My dog started it 

 out of the water and it flew over my head and I killed it." 



Olor columbianus. A Whistling Swan was killed at Flat- 

 lands, a village within the boundaries of Greater New York, by 

 Asher White, a farmer living there, on Dec. 24, 1901. He had 

 the bird mounted and I recently examined the specimen at his 

 house on Mill Lane. I was informed that the bird had been 

 killed on Flat Creek, one of the tide-water channels emptying into 

 that portion of Jamaica Bay known locally as Flatlands Bay. 

 The father and grandfather of the White who shot the swan, and 

 who also lived here, on occasion 'gunned' for the market, but 



