NOTES ON NOVA SCOTIAN ZOOLOGY PIERS. 257 



" in the flesh " and found it to be an adult male in full 

 breeding plumage ; total length, 14 ins.; wing 4.70 ; bill 1.88. It 

 had been shot by Thomas Beck on the 16th of the above men- 

 tioned month, at Upper Prospect, Halifax County. 



This small, handsome species has never before been met with 

 in Nova Scotia, and its occurrence here is remarkable. Its 

 regular range in the east only extends as far north as Massa- 

 chusetts, but stragglers have been taken in Maine and New 

 Brunswick. In the latter province some five individuals were 

 shot between 1877 and 1881, on the Bay of Fundy shore 

 between Black River and Mispeck (Chamberlain, " Catalogue 

 of Birds of New Brunswick"). In Ontario, Mr. Mcllwraith 

 reports it as generally distributed throughout the south part of 

 the province, and as a regular summer resident at Hamilton Bay 

 (Birds of Ontario, 2nd ed., p. 108.) Its presence in Nova Scotia 

 is the more remarkable when we consider the very early period 

 of the year in which it was taken ; a time when only the more 

 hardy birds arrive here. 



LITTLE BLUE HERON (Ardea ccerulea). On March 18th, 

 1896, a male of this species, in adult plumage, was killed at 

 Lawrencetown, Halifax County. The bird was thin and had 

 evidently had but little food for some time. It was brought to 

 Mr. Egan. On April 10th, 1897, another specimen, an adult, 

 was taken at Sheet Harbour. It was mounted by Mr. Egan 

 and now belongs to Mr. Hart of Halifax 



With these two exceptions, the species has only once been 

 collected in the province. The late Mr. J. Matthew Jones 

 reported that a specimen was taken at Cole Harbour, near 

 Halifax, during the summer of 1884, (vide Chamberlain's 

 Catalogue of Canadian Birds). The specimen referred to by 

 Mr. Jones was formerly in the collection of Mr. Egan, but is 

 now owned by the Fisheries Department at Ottawa. It was in 

 whitish immature plumage. 



PURPLE GALLINULE (lonornis martinica). This handsome 

 but somewhat bizarre species is an accidental visitor in Nova 

 Scotia. Two specimens have been taken in the -province in pre- 



