ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS 231 



utterly false impression of its rarity. The bird is absolutely 

 silent on migration, is always perched on the tops of the high- 

 est trees, usually in dense woodlands, and is certain to be 

 overlooked unless the neck is constantly craned upwards. 

 Moreover, interest usually decreases rapidly after the height 

 of the migration is over in spring, and does not revive until 

 the middle of September. Those who would see this species 

 must be afield regularly in late May, early June and August. 

 The large head, short neck, generally dark coloration, and 

 narrow stripe of whitish down the middle of the underparts, 

 make it readily recognizable. 



Long Island. Rare transient, especially in spring; May 15 

 to June 12, 1908 (Prospect Park, E. Fleischer); August 19 to 

 September 27. 



ORIENT. Rare transient; May 22, 1916 to May 30, 1915; 

 September 14, 1913 to October 16, 1920. [The fall dates are 

 just a month later than normal; the October record, if correct, 

 is casual and unprecedented. GriscomJ 

 MASTIC. No record. 



LONG BEACH. Casual transient, September 14, 1916 

 Bicknell). 



New York State. Uncommon in the Hudson Valley in Central 

 Park, New York City, and Ossining (Fisher). Rare or very rare 

 elsewhere. 



CENTRAL PARK. Uncommon transient, recorded almost 

 every spring and fall; May 10, 1922 (Griscom) to May 31, 

 1907 (Hix and LaDow); August 12, 1922 (Griscom) to 

 September 8, 1918 (Hix). Rarely seen before May 20. 



BRONX REGION. Apparently very rare, only three recent 

 records, but very little early fall observation in this section; 

 May 22, 1920 (C. L. Lewis); about August 20, 1917 (Griscom) 

 and August 30, 1918 (C. L. Lewis). 



New Jersey. Over most of the area a very rare spring and 

 rather rare fall transient. While the dearth of records may in 

 part be due to lack of observation, this is certainly not the case 

 at Plainfield, where there are only two spring records in twenty- 

 five years. Mr. W. DeW. Miller tells me that in the fall he would 

 sometimes see no birds, another year several. At Englewood, in the 

 immediate vicinity of the Hudson Valley, the bird is by no means so 



