48 General Notes. 



I see no signs of the normal plumage." Mr. Boardman writes me later, 

 under date of September 23, that he has been much interested in watch- 

 ing the moult of the black Robin, and says, " He acts as if he were going 

 to be an albino. His new tail is about half grown out, and is nearly white, 

 with a black stripe down each feather. His breast, head, neck, and back 

 are jet black, but very much out of feather. He would now make a funny 

 specimen, — part albinic, part melanistic." The parents of these young 

 were not peculiar in color. — Elliott Coues, Washington, D. C. 



[Note {December 15, 1877). Since this paragraph was penned, the 

 bird has been killed, stufled, and sent to the Smithsonian, where I have 

 seen it. It is black, with white wings and tail. — E. C] 



The Seaside Finch (Ammodramus maritimus) in Eastern Massa- 

 chusetts. — As the existence of this species in Massachusetts has been 

 challenged, and none are known to have occurred for a number of years, 

 it would seem not amiss to mention that a single specimen of this species 

 was shot by Mr. George 0. Welch at Nahant in August last. It was in 

 company with a immber of A. caudacutus, but was the only one of its 

 kind. It was in the not common plumage described by Audubon as a 

 distinct species under the name of Avimodramus macgillivrayi, was sent 

 to Professor Baird, who found it closely corresponding to Audubon's type, 

 which he possesses. It was a young male, and appeared to have come from 

 the north. In " History of North American Birds" (Vol. I, p. 560) it is 

 given as not occurring north of Long Island Sound. 



In this connection it may not be uninteresting to add that Mr. Welch 

 found Ammodramus caudacutus quite abundant on the shores of St. An- 

 drew's Bay, the estuary of St. Croix River, and lying between the eastern 

 boundary of Maine and New Brunswick. This, if I am not mistaken, 

 is the first time that it has been taken in Maine so far to the east, and 

 not at all, except that Mr. N. C. Brown (this Bulletin, Vol. II, p. 27) ob- 

 tained a single specimen in Scarborough. Mr. Brewster (ibid., p. 28), on 

 the authority of Mr. William Stone, mentions it as abundant at Tignish, 

 Prince Edward Island, — T. M. Bbewer, Boston, Mass. 



The Lark-Bunting (Calamospiza hicolor) in Massachusetts. — The 

 first instance known to me of the capture of this species east of the Mis- 

 sissippi River occurred on December 5, 1877, when a specimen Avas shot by 

 Mr. N. A. Vickary at Lynn, Mass., — a male in autumnal plumage. Its 

 usual eastern limit is well known to be the plains of middle Kansas, 

 where it ranges eastward to about, or possibly a little beyond, Fort Har- 

 ker. The specimen has been kindly shown me by Mr. Vickary, to whom 

 I am indebted for a knowledge of its capture. — J. A. Allen, Cambridge, 

 Mass. 



