'^"'•'^•''l Cu-iicul Notes. • 10K 



'903 J , O^J 



Early Record for the Piping Plover (. li^^in/i/is melodn) in Rhode 

 Island. — 1 have just oljlaiiieil a I'ipiiifi Plover which was taken on March 

 i\ last l)v Mr. C. B. Clarke, a local taxiilermi.st. The bird, which is a 

 male in s.|)rin<r plumage, was shot on tiie Mitkllelown marshes alxiul 

 tiiree milis east of Newport. I helie\e this is the earliest spring reconl 

 for tile Stale.— J.iiRov KiN(i, Ne-vport, If. T. 



Richardson's Owl [Nycldln /ciii;iH(clvti ricliardsoni) in Illinois. — The 

 only previous capture of this owl in the State was recoriletl in llie 'Oi'ni- 

 thologist and Oologist/ ' one having been taken October 15, iSS^, at 

 Rockford. I am indebted to Mr. Robert II. Van Schaack for the follow- 

 ing infoi'mation : "The Richardson's (Jwl was shot by my son, Lonis l'\ 

 Van Schaack, December 26, 190J, in Kenilworth, 111. He fonntl the binl 

 along a small tliteh that tlrains from the Skokie Swamp; he shot the owl 

 with a toj air gnn." I examined the si)eeimen while in (lie possession 

 ot the taxidermist wlio moiuiled it, who infoi-med me that he- had mounteti 

 another spt'cimeii ol' this species ai)()u1 tin- same lime, vvliiih was said lo 

 have been shot not far from Chicago, bnt I have been unable to get any 

 definite locality or date. — RimivicN Dic.XNic, Chicago^ III. 



Nesting of the Red-bellied Woodpecker in Harford County, Maryland. 

 — Until within tiie last few years, I have foinul the Red-bellied VVootl- 

 pecker (Mcln iierpes carolinns) to be quite a rare bird within a radius of 

 twenty miles of 15altimore, and, until very lately, mosi of my rec(jrds were 

 made dming the winter months. 



P'or the past twenty years it lias ])eeii common in the vicinity of 

 I'rincess Anne, Somerset Count \', Mar\laii(l, bul all my dales were made 

 in the monliis of N()\emi)er, December, ami |aiui;iry, the ()n!\- lime I was 

 there. Still, from all I can find out, I am sure it is a resident there the 

 year round, and my friends on tlu' faiin tell me they lind it very 

 destiiieti\e lo llie cherries. 



()n Ajjiil Ji, 1891,1 made what I called my lirst spring note on the 

 species, a bird being seen in a pieei- of heavy timber at (Jrace's (j^iarter 

 Ducking Shore on Ihe (innpowder River, Hallimore County. This made 

 me think pt'iliaps lliey miglil nest here, but I saw no more birds within 

 the breeding season until April, 1S99, .dthough, on |iily jM, i'S9S, in this 

 same piece of woods Mr. !'". L'. Kiikwood and I saw .-ni immature i)ird 

 busily dodging the tierce attacks of a Reddicaded Woodpecker. 



Again, August 13, 1899, abcnit one half mile from where the tormer 

 young bird was seen, 1 saw two j'Oung, so small that the down was still 

 clinging to their heads. These were app.irenlh hunting for grubs and 

 vvliin (uic would ll\' it was iinmediateh tollowcd bv the other, they 

 seldom keeping more than ten feet ap.nrt. 



l'"in.illy, after a little over twelve years' search for "the nest I was 



niiilthologist and Oiilogist, Vol. X, March, il 



