A.20 Crpncral Notes. [October 



elder seeds. Tlieir habits of feeding were exactly as given hy Mr. Keyes 

 in the January 'Auk' (p. 114). The remaining flock of six females 

 stayed for three weeks and then departed. — Geo. A. Coleman, London, 

 Nemaha Co., Nebraska. 



Tameness of the Pine Siskin. — On April 29, 1S88, while walking 

 near Oak Hill in Newton, Mass., I noticed two Pine Siskins {Sphius 

 pinus), about a heap of hops by the roadside. One of them flew away at 

 my approach, but the other remained there feeding, and. though perfectly 

 able-bodied and in good condition, was remarkably tame. I stood watch- 

 ing him some time. After a while I reached out and stroked him, and 

 finally succeeded in catching him in one hand. When I let him go, he 

 flew ofi^to some distance.. Before I caught him, he went and perched in a 

 bush near by and apparently went to sleep, putting his head over his left 

 wing under the scapulary feathers, so that it was completely hidden. 

 When I approached too near, he would take his head out and look at me 

 and then put it back again when I drew back. The ground about there 

 was sprinkled with droppings, showing that the birds had probably been 

 therefor some time. Was this bird aftected by the hops, or is there any 

 other explanation of his curious conduct.? The hops were to be used as 

 dressing for a field of grass. — Francis H. Allen, West Roxbury, Mass. 



Further Notes on Seaside Sparrows. — A series of six specimens of Sea- 

 side Sparrows kindly loaned me for examination by Mr. G. S. Miller, Jr. , 

 of Peterboro, N. Y., includes four specimens from Sapelo Island, coast of 

 Georgia, one from Cedar Keys, and one from Corpus Christi, Texas. 

 The Corpus Christi specimen (male, May 26, 18S6) is typically Atnmo- 

 dramjis maritimus sennetti ; the Cedar Keys example (female, Jan. 30, 

 1880) is typical A. m. feninsulce, as is also one of the four specimens from 

 Sapelo Island, the other three being A. maritimus. All of the Sapelo 

 Island specimens were taken in December, examples of both forms being 

 labelled Dec. 14, 1887. Mr. Miller kindly wrote me concerning the Sapelo 

 specimens before sending them, as follows : "They all seem to be triSe 

 A. maritimus, excepting one female taken Dec. 14, which is, so far as I 

 can see, typical /e«/«5?<te. It agrees in almost every particular with a 

 specimen taken at Cedar Keys, Fla., which I should refer without hesita- 

 tion to this form. Should the Sapelo Island specimen prove to be fefiiti- 

 sulce, it would extend the range of that form considerably." — ^J. A. Allen, 

 A?n. Mus. Nat. Hist., Netv York City. 



A Second Instance of the Breeding of the White-throated Sparrow 

 in Eastern Massachusetts.— On the 13th and 14th of June (1888) I 

 found a White-throated Sparrow {^Zonotrichia albicollis) singing in 

 Wakefield, Mass. ; and on the i6th and 17th, in the same spot (a bushy 

 roadside swamp), I saw a female of the same species. The male was in 

 full plumage, and the identification was absolute in every case. I saw 

 nothing more of either bird, as I left home on the iSfh and did not return 



