234 Bulletin No. 7, 



(Brewer, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, III, 1878, 151; Cory and A lien, 

 ibid., 152). A detailed history of the occurrence of this bird in 

 Massachusetts and neighboring parts of New England is given 

 in Stearns and Coues's "New England Bird Life" (II, 1883, 

 254-257)- 



[90.] Tantalus loculator. WOOD IBIS. Accidental. Re- 

 corded by me (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, VIII, 1883, 187), on what 

 has proved to be doubtful authority, as taken at Georgetown, 

 June 19, 1880. The authenticity of the alleged capture has since 

 been investigated with care, without eliciting any evidence tend- 

 ing to impeach the record, beyond the fact of the untrustworthy 

 character of my informant (see Auk, I, 1884, 295-297). The 

 capture of the species at Glasco, Ulster County, N. Y., July 

 8, 1884 (Fisher, Auk II, 1885, 221), not far from the western 

 border of the State, and also at Troy, N. Y., at Williamsport, 

 Penn. (Allen, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 1876, 96), Elizabethtown, 

 Lancaster Co., Penn. (Sherratt, Orn. and Ool., IX, 1884, 115), 

 and in West Virginia ( Wall, American Field, XXII, 1884, 82), 

 shows that the species occasionally wanders far beyond its usual 

 range, and thus gives probability of its occurrence in Massachu- 

 setts. 



*91. Botaurus lentigiiiOSUS. AMERICAN BITTERN. Common 

 summer resident. 



*92. Botaurus exilis. LEAST BITTERN. Not generally com- 

 mon, but rather frequent at some localities. 



*93. Ardea herodias. GREAT BLUE HERON. A not com- 

 mon summer resident. 



\ 



[94.] Ardea egretta. AMERICAN EGRET. Accidental. Several 

 comparatively recent instances of its capture have been recorded 

 (Hudson, Ashland, and Lynn, Allen, Am. Nat., Ill, 1870, 637 ; 

 Westford, 1873, Pur die, Am. Nat., VII, 693). Also Saybrook, 

 Conn., Aug. n, 1881 (Sage, O. & O., VII, 189, and ibid., VIII, 4). 

 It has been taken also in New Brunswick (Grand Menan), Nov. 

 3, 1878), and Halifax, Nova Scotia (Deane, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 

 IV, 1879, 63). For references to earlier records of this and the 

 two following species see Stearns and Coues's " New England Bird 

 Life," Vol. II, 1883, 260-264. 



