24 The Ornithology of Chester County 



a large number of unusual and several manifestly 

 impossible breeding records, including the American 

 Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Red-shouldered Hawk> 

 Barred Owl, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Least Fly- 

 catcher, Lincoln's Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 

 Tree Swallow, Golden-winged, Nashville, Parula, 

 Blackburnian, Pine and Hooded Warblers, Water- 

 thrush, Redstart, Chickadee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 

 and Wilson's Thrush ; according to competent crit- 

 ics, a most questionable list, especially so many rari- 

 ties to have fallen to the lot of a novice. Some years 

 later, I published some of the manuscript notes fur- 

 nished me by Wm. D. Doan, including disagree- 

 ments in dates and localities or disavowal in toto of 

 many of the more important records given in Res- 

 sel's list; also my final decision to reject all of this 

 unsatisfactory matter, especially as the Doan collec- 

 tion is no longer extant. It is refreshing to turn to 

 the work of Dr. Thos. H. Montgomery, 38 Profes- 

 sor of Zoology in the University of Pennsylvania; 

 issued in 1897. It is one of our best local lists, 

 avoiding the larger and rather misleading title so 

 often given to personal and neighborhood lists. The 

 periods of observation were from 1885 until 1891, 

 and again renewed in 1895. The greater part of the 

 collecting was limited to a five mile radius of West 

 Chester, i. e. the higher ground of West White- 

 land, East and West Goshen townships, and along 

 the Brandywine in East Bradford township. All 

 the species listed were shot and identified by the 

 author, with the exception of a few taken by col- 

 lecting friends, and no species included unless the 



