iSSS.] Smith and Palmer, Avifauna of Washington, D. C. I Ay 



ADDITIONS TO THE AVIFAUNA OF WASHINGTON 

 AND VICINITY. 



BY HUGH M. SMITH AND WILLIAM PALMER. 



Since the publication in 1883 of Drs. Coues and Prentiss's 

 annotated list of the birds of the District of Columbia (Avifauna 

 Columbiana — Bull. No. 26, U. S. Nat. Mus.), the number of 

 species therein enumerated has been considerably augmented by 

 the discovery of specimens in the National Museum and in pri- 

 vate collections, of the existence of which these authors were 

 apparently ignorant, and by the taking of specimens in more 

 recent years that were, properly speaking, new. In ' Avifauna 

 Columbiana' the names of 248 birds are given. To this num- 

 ber Messrs. Ridgway, Henshaw, and F. S. Webster have each 

 added one species, and the writers six ; and we are enabled at 

 this time to cite the occurrence within our limits of twelve addi- 

 tional species and subspecies, and to increase by a species and a 

 subspecies the fauna of the Atlantic slope of the United States. 



Urinator lumme. — In the spring of 1SS2 a Red-throated Loon was 

 caught in a gill-net in the Potamac River, a few miles below Washington, 

 and is now in the possession of Mr. O. N. Bryan, of Marshall Hall, Mary- 

 land. This is the only known occurrence of the bird within our limits. 



Pelecanus erythorhynchos. — There appear to be three well authenti- 

 cated instances of the capture of this bird in our vicinity: — (i) near Alex- 

 andria, Va., April, 1S64, collected by C. Drexler and presented to the 

 Smithsonian Institution (No. 33,701) ; (2) opposite Washington, on the 

 Virginia bank of the Potomac, fall of 1S64, shot by John Ferguson, and 

 seen and identified by several persons who have communicated the facts 

 to us; (3) near Alexandria, Va., October, 1878, killed by John Huxhurst, 

 and seen by a gentleman connected with the National Museum. 



Porzana noveboracensis. — In the collection of the National Museum 

 are two Yellow Rails, both of which were taken in the marshes of the 

 Potomac River near Washington; the first (No. 80,297) by T. E. Clark, 

 October 4, 1879, the second (No. 96,617) by A. Skinner, March 28, 1884. 



Macrorhamphus scolopaceus. — Seven Long-billed Dowitchers were 

 killed from a flock on the Anacostia River, D. C, in April, 1884, by a 

 gunner who sold them in the market for Jack Snipe. One, similar to the 

 others, was secured and mounted by one of the writers, and has been 

 identified by Mr. Ridgway as the western species. 



^gialitis meloda circumcincta. — On May 3, 1884, a specimen of this 

 species was obtained by A. Skinner on the shore of the Potomac River, 

 opposite Washington, and is now in the National Museum. 



Arenaria interpres. — Three Turnstones in the National Museum (Nos. 

 29,176, 29,177, 29,178) were taken in theDistrict by C. Drexler in i860 (.'). 



