VOl 19OT VI ] General Notes. 431 



here about a quarter of a mile wide. From five to fifteen years is required 

 before species, well established in Bangor, come over here, just across the 

 river, to breed. There have been Meadowlarks in Bangor for many years. 

 Mr. Ora Knight states in his 'Birds of Maine' that he has known of their 

 breeding in one place there as early as 1894. They have been exceedingly 

 local, and Mr. Knight, in his book, which was published in 1908, speaks of 

 knowing of only a few within a radius of forty miles — I speak from mem- 

 ory, but I think he says, five pairs. I have known of their breeding at the 

 Hersey Farm, back of the city; at the Waterworks, two miles above the 

 center; and this year in Hampden, five miles below the center. Last year 

 my brother and father saw one on the Brewer side of the river, the first 

 I had ever heard of being here. It was not seen again. If it bred at all, 

 it was in a range of meadows so extensive that it was out of hearing from 

 any travelled road. 



This spring about the middle of May reports came to me from three 

 quite separate localities of their being seen in Brewer. Also a fourth at 

 Seboois Lake, which tarried a day on an island and then departed, prob- 

 ably to Nova Scotia or northward. May 14, 15, 16, 17 I heard of Meadow- 

 larks being seen. Just about a week later a small boy told me of finding 

 a nest containing two eggs. He seemed to know the bird and gave a 

 clear description of the nest and eggs. These eggs were taken by some- 

 thing, probably a boy, as no shells were left, and the child told me to-day 

 that he had not seen the larks since. Last Saturday, however, June 12, my 

 son discovered a nest with five eggs. Monday morning I went with him to 

 photograph the nest. While we did not flush the old bird, there could be 

 no doubt about the eggs being Meadowlark's. Both old birds, very shy 

 indeed, were seen in the vicinity but would not come within a quarter of a 

 mile of the nest. When we were a long way off, one of them took a flight of 

 three fourths of a circle and dropped just behind the crest of the hill where 

 the nest was, undoubtedly planning to run up to it stealthily. As we did 

 not disturb the eggs and shall not visit the place again, there is a good 

 chance for the young to hatch. (The nest reported from Hampden had 

 well grown young on Sunday.) These young birds stand a good chance of 

 growing up. Though in a field which will be mowed by machine after the 

 Fourth, the nest is only two rods from the edge of a cow pasture where 

 they would be perfectly safe. We are anxious to see the birds well estab- 

 lished here and would regret having their attempt to breed defeated. 



May 15, some thirteen miles east of Brewer, I saw a Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). The only other instance I ever 

 heard of in this region was in 1878, when my father killed an immature bird 

 on Machias waters far east of here. 



About the same time a young man wrote me to identify for him a bird 

 which he had seen on a fence near the Brewer line, in a thickly settled 

 farming district, miles from any heavy woods. He described it as about 

 the size of a small crow with a tuft of scarlet feathers " which stuck out like 

 a boy's scalp lock that will not lie down." I had no hesitation in calling 



