330 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [1896 



"On December 11, '86, while Dr. Fisher and I were riding 

 along the road to Falls Church, Va., and distant from Wash- 

 ington perhaps four miles, we saw a flock of 15 or 20 Horned 

 Larks by the roadside. Scattered through the flock were half 

 a dozen or more Longspurs, one of which was secured. Com- 

 paratively little collecting has ever been done about Washington 

 in winter, and to this fact, rather more than to its excessive 

 rarity, is due, I am persuaded, the absence of the species from 

 the local lists. Although probably not a regular migrant, the 

 species occurs here in small numbers, I am inclined to believe, 

 every hard winter. However, it is to be remarked that the 

 records for this bird so far south are very few " (H. W. Hen- 

 shaw, Auk, iv, 347). 



Poocaetes gramineus (540). Vesper Sparrow. 



Resident; abundant during migrations from March 20 ('92,) 

 ,to May 23 ('93, Wholey), and from September 22 ('95) to 

 December 2 ('94). During summer they are not very com- 

 mon, and only a few winter with us. On June 19 ('90, J. H. 

 Fisher, Jr.) 3 slightly incubated eggs were taken. At Hagers- 

 town it is given as "not common; occasionally seen in June, 

 July, September and October " (Small). At Vale Summit on 

 June 11, '95, I found one pair feeding young just out of the 

 nest. 



Ammodramus princeps (541). Ipswich Sparrow. 



"Breeding on Sable Island, N. S.; in winter migrating along 

 the Atlantic coast south to Virginia." (Manual 407). "Winter 

 resident along the New Jersey coast; not abundant, though prob- 

 ably regular." 9 specimens are recorded between November 

 16 ('80) and April 3 ('89) (Birds, E. Pa. and N. J., 112-3). 



" Those who care to visit in winter the bleak, wind-swept 

 sand hillocks of our Atlantic coast will find this bird much less 

 rare than it was once supposed to be" (Chapman 291). 



