46 General Notes. 



1878; pp. 106, 107, Feb. 1, 1879; pp. 120, 121, Feb. 15, 1879 ; pp. 132- 

 134, March 1, 1879; pp. 151-153, March 15, 1879. Quite extended and 

 important biographical notes on 27 species, relating especially to their 

 breeding habits and nests and eggs. Among the species treated are the 

 following : " Black-crested Titmouse (Loph. cristaius," — lege nlrocristatus), 

 Auriparus flacifrons, Parula nigrilora, Emhernagra rufivirgata, Icterus 

 melanocepJialus auduhoni, Centurus aurifrons, Buteo unicinclus harrissi, 

 Buteo albicaudatus, etc. 



17. How to coiled Birds' Nests and Eggs. By Ernest Ingersoll. Ibid., 

 pp. 166-169, pp. 179, 180, pp. 205, 206, pp. 222, 223, pp. 251, 252, 

 pp. 268, 269, pp. 284, 285, pp. 297-299, pp. 315, 316. — An elaborate 

 and valuable series of papers on the collection and preservation of nests 

 and eggs of birds. 



18. A Substitute for the English Sparrow. By Chas. C. Abbott, M. D. 

 Ibid., pp. 255, 256. — Urges the protection and encouragement of our 

 native birds, with observations on their fecundity and food. 



In the department of " Notes and Queries " are several short notes of 

 interest, mainly on Texan and Californian birds, principally by George H. 

 Ragsdale and Walter E. Bryant. — J. A. A. 



A Black Robin (Turdus migratorius). — I have been greatly interested 

 in a case of melanism, — a black Robin. The color is very decided, and 

 covers the entire bird, with a very trifling exception. The lower man- 

 dible is yellow, but its upper one is black. I noted three specks on the 

 breast, of the normal mahogany-red ; but all put into one would not make 

 an area of more than a quarter of an inch. The bird is lively, thrives in 

 confinement, is a male, and was taken from a nest in Freehold, New Jersey, 

 this last summer. There was but one other bird in the nest, also a male, 

 which was normally colored.^ Samuel Lockwood, Freehold, N. J. 

 [For another case of this affection of the same bird, see this Bulletin, 

 Vol. Ill, p. 47 ; Forest and Stream, Vol. XIII, Aug. 7, 1879, p. 525. — 

 E. C] 



Interesting Birds found on Long Island, N. Y. — Mimus poly- 

 glottus. — I shot a young Mocking-bird at Gravesend, L. I., on August 9, 

 1879, in such immature plumage as to render it probable that it had been 

 bred in the neigliborhood. I am not sure that this bird can be considered 

 rare on Long Island though it is at least uncommon. 



Contopus borealis. — In September, 1877, I shot an Olive-sided 

 Flycatcher in my yard at Fort Hamilton. It is the only record of this 

 species for Long Island. 



