144 Swales & Taverner, Birds of Southeastern Michigan. [April 



Ornith. Club, 1905, pp. 3-7). We surmise that they came down 

 from some point to the northwest of us, and at the head of Lake 

 Huron divided into streams, one following the main land around 

 the indentation of Georgian Bay and then overland to Toronto; 

 and the other cutting across the mouth of the bay via the Manitou- 

 lin Islands to the Bruce Peninsula, and thence down the shores 

 of Lake Huron to their present recorded distribution. 



Empidonax flaviventris. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. — Up 

 to the summer of 1906 we regarded this species as a rare migrant, 

 but August 12, 1906, we secured one and observed several more, 

 and from then on found it one of the commonest of the Empi- 

 donaces. At Point Pelee we have found it abundant all through 

 September in both 1905 and 1906. It is probable that hitherto 

 it has been overlooked here owing to the notorious difficulty of 

 separating the small flycatchers in the field, and the lack of atten- 

 tion that is generally given them. The seeming absence of this 

 flycatcher along the Ohio lake shore is probably due to the same 

 cause, as it is most improbable that it should be so abundant at 

 Pelee and as rare on the Ohio shore as the published records 

 would lead one to suppose. From our experience with the Yellow- 

 bellied Flycatcher, we regard it as a more or less common and 

 likely regular migrant in southeastern Michigan. 



Hesperiphona vespertina. Evening Grosbeak. — This winter 

 (1906-07), this rare straggler has again been with us for the first 

 time since the general flight of 1889-90. We had received reports 

 of its occurrence a few miles inland but it was not until December 

 30 that its appearance here was announced by a male being brought 

 in to one of the taxidermist shops of the city. So far, January 28, 

 this is all we have heard of in the immediate vicinity. 



Carpodacus purpureus. Purple Finch. — Although this bird 

 is reported as a not uncommon winter resident inland (Ann Arbor 

 and Plymouth), we have no winter dates for its occurrence here. 

 During the past fall we met with a great number of Purple Finches 

 both here and at Point Pelee. The interesting feature observed was 

 the silence of the adult red birds. The olive juveniles sang freely, 

 but the bright ones uttered but monosyllabic call notes, and in no 

 case made any attempt to sing. Also there were but two types of 

 plumage observed, good bright red adults and plain olive juveniles ; 

 there were no intermediates. 



