54 Meeeiam on Birds of Leivis County, Nmv York. 



" Surnia ulula var. hudsonica. Hawk Owl. — Dr. Kirloy has two 

 specimens, male and female, taken near Lowville, October 24 and No- 

 vember 16, 1877. 



" Lobipes hyperboreus. Northern Phalarope. — I shot a yoimg 

 male on Black River, September 6, 1877. One other was taken about the 

 same date, near Boonville. 



"CEdemia americana. American Black Scoter. — Saw a flock of 

 four on Black River, September 27, 1877, and secured them all. The 

 gizzards of all these birds were absolutely empty, with the exception of a 

 fragment of a shell in one." 



Much of interest attaches itself to the breeding of two of these 

 species (Eremophila cdpestris and CoUurio ludovicianus var. excu- 

 bitoroides) in this the northeastern portion of the State. Regard- 

 ing the first of these. Dr. Coues, in his inexhaustible " Birds of the 

 Northwest " (p. 39), says : " East of the region above specified [from 

 Iowa and Minnesota westward] the Horned Lark is not known to 

 breed in the United States ; and the only record of its occurrence 

 in summer which I have seen, that given by Mr. Maynard, as 

 above [Massachusetts in July], most probably indicates a highly ex- 

 ceptional instance." Since the publication of the above (1874) it 

 has been ascertained that the bird in question bi'eeds, sparingly, in 

 the western and central portions of the State. In the last number 

 of this Bulletin (p. 40) Mr. John M. Howey calls attention to the 

 fact of its breeding in the vicinity of Canandaigua, in Western New 

 York, but states that he does not " know of a previous instance of 

 this bird's nesting in this State," thus overlooking Mr. Rathbun's 

 record in his " Complete List of the Birds of Cayuga, Seneca, and 

 Wayne Counties," which appeared in the "Auburn Daily Advertiser " 

 of August 14, 1877. Mr. Rathbun states that it is "resident and 

 tolerably common in winter," and that " a few breed," in Central 

 New York. Mr. Dayan's note (on the authority of Dr. C. P. Kirley) 

 is particularly interesting, as it extends the known breeding range 

 of the species, tvithin the United States, eastward to the western 

 border of the Adirondack Wilderness, beyond which it must pass 

 to the northward (through St. Lawrence County) into Canada, and 

 thence to Labrador. Whether it has for many years bred within 

 the limits of the State of New York, or has recently extended its 

 breeding range, as seems to be the case with the Lark Finch 

 (Choiidestes grammaca) and some other species, remains to be de- 

 cided ; I incline to the latter view. It breeds about Hamilton, Can- 



