Vol iS VI ] General Notes - 309 



this species that has come from Point Pelee within three years. — W. E. 

 Saunders, London, Ontario. 



Prothonotary Warbler taken on the Coast of Maine. — A number of bird 

 skins collected between about 1867 and 1S74 by the late Levi L. Thaxter 

 and his two sons have recently come into the possession of the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology. Among them is a beautiful adult male Prothono- 

 tary Warbler in fresh nuptial plumage. Like many of the others it is 

 encircled by a broad, close-fitting paper band into which, no doubt, it was 

 slipped when freshly skinned and put away to dry, according to a practise 

 much in vogue half a century ago and one followed rather frequently, 

 although not invariably, by the Thaxters. This band was made to serve 

 the place of the usual tag or label, for on it is clearly inscribed in ink, and 

 in the handwriting of Mr. Levi L. Thaxter, the following brief record: — 

 "Matinicus Id., Me., August, 1868." 



In addition to these data there is the word "Lonys" faintly written in 

 pencil. "Lony," it seems, was a familiar nickname applied to Dr. Roland 

 Thaxter in his early youth and sometimes used in the possessive case to 

 designate the birds which he himself had killed. Although he has no 

 distinct recollection of the Prothonotary Warbler his brother John, whom 

 he has just questioned on the subject, remembers it perfectly and is certain 

 that it was shot on Matinicus Island. It is not less reassuring than satis- 

 factory to have so positive a statement from such a source; for when Mr. 

 Samuel Henshaw first called my attention to the bird I could not help sus- 

 pecting, and indeed, suggesting to him, that its original paper wrapper 

 might easily have been exchanged through accident for that of some other 

 skin of similar size, prepared in the same way. There is, I believe, but one 

 record besides this of the occurrence of the Prothonotary Warbler in Maine. 

 It relates to a specimen taken by the late Mr. George A. Boardman at 

 Calais on October 30, 1862. ' — William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. 



The Races of the Parula Warbler. — On a short trip to Seaford, Delaware, 

 in June, 1908, Mr. James Chapin and the writer found the Parula Warbler 

 an abundant bird along the Nanticoke River. The subspecific identity of 

 the breeding bird of Delaware has heretofore been uncertain, Ridgway 

 stating that the southern form, true Compsothlypis americana, probably 

 reached the State. To settle this question, five males and one female were 

 collected. The males are all fully adult birds, none being in the immature 

 first nuptial plumage. They prove conclusively that the Delaware bird 

 belongs to the northern form, usneee. The size and proportions of wings 

 and bill agree nearly with usneee, while the coloration, though perhaps not 

 typical, is nearer this race. Three of the specimens have a blackish jugular 

 band, while the two others have no trace of it. In this species, however, 

 the total absence of blackish seems to be an individual peculiarity and as 



1 Verrill, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., IX, 1863, p. 234. 



