BIRDS OF SPRINGFIELD, MASS., ETC. 49 



supposed. This subject is noticed at length under Turdus 

 Swansonii. 



Springfield being situated near the northern confines of the 

 Alleghanian Fauna, some of the more southern species found 

 here are represented merely by a few individuals in the breed- 

 ing season, while the southern limit of many others properly 

 belonging to the Canadian Fauna is removed but a few miles to 

 the north, varying from sixty to one hundred miles in the Val- 

 ley o the Connecticut, and in the mountainous districts of Wes- 

 tern Massachusetts falls nearly as low as Springfield. 



I have designed to include no species, in the following list, 

 which I have not known taken or observed in the immediate 

 vicinity of Springfield, (except in the case of a few Ducks, 

 noticed below,) preferring to err in omitting some really existing 

 in the prescribed region than to include a single species not be- 

 longing to the locality. I have introduced, however, those very 

 probably occurring, which have not, to my knowledge, been 

 observed here ; but these are not reckoned as a part of the list. 

 The times of migration given are generally an average* of obser- 

 vations covering several years. 



In order to render the list as complete and valuable as 

 possible, I have not failed to solicit aid from others, and 

 am pleased to be able to acknowledge valuable assistance; 

 chiefly from 'Messrs. C. W. Bennett and L. Hyde, whose 

 very complete collection of our native birds forms a val- 

 uable part of the collections of local natural history in the 

 "Ethnological and Natural History Museum" established a 

 few years since in Springfield ; to Mr B. Hosford, for various 

 useful notes, and to Dr. Wm. Wood, of East Windsor Hill, Ct., 

 who has kindly furnished me with many valuable facts, particu- 

 larly in reference to the water birds. The names of contribu- 

 tors follow the facts resting on their authority. Several of the 

 Ducks included in the list, (Aythya vallisneria, BucepJiala 

 albeola, Harelda glacialis, Melanetta velvetina^) are inserted 

 from their having been taken on the Connecticut River, by Dr. 

 Wood, some fifteen miles below Springfield ; and though not 

 known to have been taken here, undoubtedly occur, and have 

 only been overlooked from a want of more thorough searching 

 on the part of collectors. The whole number of species inclu- 

 ded in the Springfield list is one hundred and ninety-five ; the 

 number of those found in Massachusetts not observed at Spring- 

 field is HH&ety-twe; of which the greater part are truly coast 

 species. 



ESSEX INSTITUTE PROCEED. VOL. IV. C. 



