198 General Notes. [**£ 



of robins derived from this hypothetical pair in City Park, though most of 

 the later generations may show no albinism at all. Considerable proba- 

 bility is lent to this hypothesis by the fact that the mother of the bird of 

 June 3, 1908, was decidedly ivhite on the belly and breast. It came a 

 number of times to feed the albino young one while the young bird was on 

 the writer's premises, and gave ample opportunity to note this variation 

 from the normal. The writer also noted later on during the summer just 

 passed in the same neighborhood two young robins which were nearly gray 

 all over, both showing very little blackish even on the head or back ; one 

 of these two birds had the right outer tail feather pure white, and the left 

 one half white. The coming summer will be of more than usual interest in 

 anticipation of seeing about the writer's neighborhood these partial albino 

 birds, or other young pure albinos. 



The almost complete absence of pure white species of birds inhabiting 

 dark areas like forests, and the commonness of white forms in bright areas 

 like the sea, or seashore, may be accounted for by detrimental environ- 

 mental conspicuousness, or by beneficial inconspicuousness, respectively; 

 one might infer from the failure of these six albinos of 1905, 1906, and 1907 

 to return to the region of origin, that they perished through being con- 

 spicuous marks for predaceous birds. 



These observations on the three young of 1908 shed no light on the 

 assumption held by some writers that albinos are more apt to be females, 

 because the sex of but one of the three could with certainty be determined; 

 it was a male. — W. H. Bergtold, M. D., Denver, Colo. 



Unusual Dates for some Birds at New Haven, Conn. — White-throated 

 Sparrows have been present in large numbers in Edgewood Park up to 

 date (Jan. 2, 1909). Five Rusty Blackbirds have been in the same Park 

 since December 26. I saw a Fox Sparrow on Dec. 22 and two of them 

 on Jan. 2. On Dec. 22, near Lighthouse Point I saw two Red-winged 

 Blackbirds and about twenty-five White-winged Crossbills. The date 

 cannot be called unusual for the Crossbills, but they are rare here. On 

 Dec. 26 and 28, I saw a male Towhee in Edgewood Park. On Dec. 21, at 

 Mitchell's Hill, I saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and on Dec. 25, at 

 Saltonstall Ridge, I saw four Red-breasted Nuthatches. Robins and 

 Bluebirds have been seen occasionally, and on Dec. 25 Mr. A. W. Hony- 

 will, Jr., saw a Hermit Thrush at Mitchell's Hill. On the next day Mr. 

 Honywill and I saw the thrush at the same place. These birds were all 

 positively identified although none of them were taken. — Clifford H. 

 Pangburn, New Haven, Conn. 



Unusual Records for Massachusetts. — Chsetura pelagica. Chimney 

 Swift. I saw three in Sharon, Mass., on Oct. 12, 1907, which is appar- 

 ently the latest date for the State. One of them flew almost directly over- 

 head, affording perfectly satisfactory identification. 



