General Notes. I I 3 



the primitive purity of" its Western fellow. . . . However, they are quite 

 abundant and extremely tame, and being well protected during the greater 

 part of the year by a special law, they are allowed to breed in security, 

 and their ranks are but slightly thinned during the ' off months.'" 



156. Another Captive Woodcock. By H. R. Ibid.. XV. p. 426. — A 

 specimen "picked up in the street" in Montreal alive. 



157. Canvas Backs in Rhode Island. By Fred'k Skinner. Ibid.. XV, 

 p. 417. — Two killed at Point Judith early in November. 



158. The Wavy of Winnipeg the Snow Goose. By H. Ibid.. XV, 

 p. 466. — Ross's Goose not known to occur in the Province of Winnipeg. 



159. Domestication of the Ostrich. By E. B. Biggar. Ibid.. XV. pp. 

 505, 506, xvi. pp. 6, 7. An original account of Ostrich-rearing in South 

 Africa. 



160. Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries and Game, of the State 

 of Maine, for 1SS0. Augusta. 1SS0, 8vo. pp. 1-54. [E. M. Stilhvell and 

 Everett Smith, Commissioners.] — Contains ten pages (pp. 33-43) devoted 

 to the game birds of the State, including six pages relating to the introduc- 

 tion of the European Quail. 



(General Ilotes. 



Abundance of the Hermit Thrush in winter near Washington, 

 D. C. — During the winter of 1S79-80, the Hermit Thrush was commonly 

 distributed throughout the woods of the District of Columbia as well as 

 those of Alexandria County, Virginia. As the occurrence of this species 

 in winter is not recorded in the lists of District birds, I. at that time, 

 considered its appearance as exceptional and due to the unusual mildness 

 of the season. 



The present winter, however, has been one of remarkable severity in 

 this part of the country, the rivers having frozen in November, while the 

 ground has been covered with snow, from nine to twelve inches deep, since 

 December 20. On the 1st of January, while hunting for birds among the 

 wooded hills which border the Virginia shore of the Potomac. I again 

 met with this species. These hills are very wild and steep, densely cov- 

 erved with a growth of young trees, and intersected by numerous deep 

 ravines, through which streams of water work their way to the river. In 

 these secluded places numbers of birds had sought shelter from the cold, 

 which, during the night, had been intense, the thermometer registering 

 a temperature of fourteen degrees below zero. The Hist Thrush noticed 

 was shot about ten o'clock in a clump of saplings a few yards from the 

 river's bank. In the course of the day seven other individuals were ob- 

 served. They frequented the most sheltered and tangled portions of the 

 ravines, principally near the summits of the hills. They were silent and 



