THE IE 



AMERICAN NATURALIST. 



Vol. III. DECEMBER, 1869. No. 10. 



NOTES ON SOME OF THE RARER BIRDS OF 

 MASSACHUSETTS.* 



BY J. A. ALLEN. 



THE Natural History of any portion of country cannot, 

 of course, be too fully known; and the few ornithological 

 notes at this time presented I feel sure will be acceptable to 

 those who are interested in the study of the New England 

 birds. While a large portion of the facts now communi- 

 cated are of my own observing I am greatly indebted to 

 the kindness of other persons for many of the interesting 

 notes that, during the last five years, have been accumu- 

 lating in my note-book. As the authorities upon which the 

 observations not my own in the following pages are commu- 

 nicated are always indicated, I have here but to return 

 thanks to my numerous ornithological correspondents and 

 friends who have so generously favored me from time to 

 time with their valuable contributions. Only by knowing 

 thoroughly the fauna of a locality can the subsequent changes 

 in it, induced by its becoming more densely settled, or by 



* A supplement to a Catalogue of the Birds of Massachusetts, published five years 

 since by the writer in the fourth volume of the Proceedings of the Essex Institute. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1869, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF 

 SCIENCE, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. III. 64 (505) 



