188 General Notes. 



As far as I can learn, there are several nests of this bird in different 

 collections, the identities of most if not all of which are disputed. The 

 description in Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway's work agrees very well with 

 nests of the Traills' Flycatcher which I have seen, but is totally different 

 from that of the nest now before me, and so much so that, although I am 

 well aware of the great differences existing in the nesting habits of birds 

 of the same species, yet I cannot believe them to extend as far as this. 



As we were leaving Grand Menan, a nest was brought to us which I 

 have no doubt is of the same species, as the position and construction, 

 which are, to say the least, peculiar, as well as the eggs, correspond ex- 

 actly ; also the finder's description of the bird. — S. D. Osborne, Brook- 

 lyn, N. Y. 



The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler {Helminthophaga jnnus) ij^ Mas- 

 SACHUSETTS. — Although this species has been recorded * as a bird of the 

 State, and the specimen cited is in the collection of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History (the specimen was captured in Dedham by Mr. Emanuel 

 Samuels and presented to the society b}^ Dr. Cabot), recent writers on 

 Massachusetts birds have seen fit to exclude it from their lists. I have 

 just examined a fine male specimen of this species which was captured in 

 West Eoxbury, Mass., on May 17, 1878, by Mr. C. N. Hammond. It is 

 now in the collection of Mr. John Fottler, Jr., of Boston. This makes the 

 second recorded instance of its capture in the State. — Ruth yen Deane, 

 Cambridge, Mass. 



The Skua Gull (Stercorarius catarractes) on the Coast op Massachu- 

 setts. — Professor Baird has recently informed me that one of his party 

 found, on the 18th of July, at the Fort Wharf, Gloucester, the dead body 

 of a bird that proved upon examination to be an example of the common 

 large Skua. The bird showed marks of having been recently kept in 

 confinement, and a little inc^uiry elicited the information that it had been 

 captured alive by means of a hook on the Georges, and had been kept 

 alive on one of the fishing vessels. This is the first instance on record in 

 which one of this species has been taken on any part of North America 

 other than Greenland ; and as the Georges geologically and practically 

 belong to our coast water, this bird may now be classed not only as of 

 North America proper, but also of New England and ISIassachusetts. — 

 T. M. Brewer, Boston, Mass. 



Rufous-headed Sparrow (Peucmi ruficeps) in Texas. — On April 24, 

 1878, Mr. George H. Ragsdale, of Gainesville, Texas, shot a male and 

 female of this species in Gilliespie County, Texas, about one hundred 

 miles west of Austin. The species was first described from specimens 

 taken in California. In 1873 it was found in Arizona by Mr. H. W. 

 Henshaw, and also at Fort Bayard, N. M. He speaks of finding it numer- 



* Proc. Best. See. Nat. Hist., Yol. VI, p. 386. 



