436 General Notes. [g°J 



birds, but as they sang from the tops of the pines or other trees, it was 

 difficult for me to secure a good view with my glass. Early the next morn- 

 ing I was more fortunate, and secured a much better view of a rather tame 

 bird, and was convinced that I had to do with Hermit Thrushes (Hylocichla 

 guttata pallasi) resident on Long Island in mid-summer. This idea, how- 

 ever, was not strengthened by an examination of the literature, and it 

 seemed from the records quite improbable that a colony of Hermit 

 Thrushes should reside so far south as Yaphank, Long Island, and only 

 40 feet above the level of the sea. 



Later I read with interest the article by Mr. Francis Harper in ' The Auk ' 

 for October, 1908, wherein he records a Hermit Thrush singing in the woods 

 between Holbrook and Patchogue, Long Island. He also mentions the 

 two previous Long Island records for immature birds and quotes from Dr. 

 Braislin that, "Further investigation will probably show that the Hermit 

 Thrush is, though rare, a regular summer resident on Long Island." 



From observations made during July, 1909, I may state that the Hermit 

 Thrush is one of the most common birds at Yaphank, and that I have 

 heard as many as four singing at one time. On one occasion on the 31st of 

 the month, one sang for over an hour with only momentary intermissions 

 caused by its changing its position among the trees, or by my approaching 

 too near. It, however, was a tame bird, and very accommodating. I 

 found that the thrushes were not only abundant in the pitch pine and oak 

 woods at the easterly end of the village, but that they were to be met with 

 in the woods several miles to the north, in the vicinity of Longwood manor 

 house. This district appears then to be the chief summer home of the 

 Hermit Thrush on Long Island, and the ornithologist may with certainty 

 expect to hear this fine songster if he but repair to Yaphank at the proper 

 season. — Wm. T. Davis, New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y. 



f North Carolina Notes. — Dovekie (Alle alle). This bird appeared in 

 numbers on the North Carolina coast last winter. In January, 1909, 

 reports came in of a small black and white " duck, with a bill like a chicken," 

 hitherto unknown, these reports covering the coast line from Roanoke 

 Island to Beaufort. A man living on the point of Cape Lookout told me 

 that he had seen not less than fifteen or twenty dead ones washed up along 

 shore, and that flocks of them "used" in Lookout Cove during the winter. 

 The game warden at Cape Hatteras said that they were on Pamlico Sound 

 in flocks of hundreds. Flocks were also reported from Core Sound. Sev- 

 eral were taken at Beaufort and forwarded to northern ornithologists. 

 The Museum received three specimens in the flesh, all from Beaufort, and 

 two skins from the coast a little south of Roanoke Island. From what 

 I can learn there was a flight of Dovekies on this coast about twenty years 

 ago, with only a very few stragglers recorded since. All those found dead 

 were reported as much emaciated, as was certainly the case with the three 

 received by me. 



