General Notes. I 25 



the Massachusetts seaboard, I have the following specific reports from 

 Nantucket and Rye Beach, N. H. At the former place Mr. H. S ; Sweet 

 saw no less than fifty individuals on August 22. They were flying over 

 Miacomet Pond, and as they passed his point of observation on their way 

 seaward, were accurately counted. 



A flock seen at Rye Beach by my friend Mr. II. M. Spelman. on August 

 24. was nearly as large, the number of birds being estimated at about forty. 

 They appeared on a small sheet of brackish water locally known as the 

 " Eel Pond." where they stayed several days. They were very shy but 

 Mr. Spelman succeeded in killing four specimens. 



While it is not unlikely that their appearance in such large numbers is 

 exceptional, there can no longer be any question that the Black Tern is 

 of regular and not uncommon occurrence during August and September 

 at most suitable points on the New England coast south of Portland, 

 Maine. — William Brewster. Cambridge. Mass. 



Notes ox Leach's Petrel {Cymochorea leucotrhoa.) — Under date of 

 July 29, 1880. Mr. Manly Hardy of Brewer. Maine. <ji\es me the following 

 notes on Leach's Petrel. The facts regarding incubation, are I think, new. 

 and go to show that, as with the Phalaropes. the female Petrels have 

 strongly imbibed the spirit of the nineteenth century. 



•• I have lately had quite a number of Leach's Petrels taken on the nests 

 and find some things which are not mentioned in such books as I have 

 access to. In the first place, the males do most, if not all. of the incubating. 

 In a number received the 1st of June, five out of six were males. Think- 

 ing that, like Pigeons, the males might perhaps all sit at the same time, 

 I had another lot sent me about June 15, and again, of twelve specimens 

 seven proved to be males. A careful examination showed that while the 

 under plumage of the females was in every case perfect, each male had 

 on the lower part of the breast a bare spot larije enough to cover the egg. 



'• Some writers mention their ejecting oil when irritated. I find that 

 either sex can eject at least one-eighth their bulk of very pure reddish oil. 

 and that it is given forth equally freely when the bird is killed by chloro- 

 form. I think that it is probably intended to serve as food for the young." 

 — William Brewster. Cambridge^ Mass. 



Birds and Windows. — The library building of the Rochester Uni- 

 versity — across the street from us — has very clear windows opposite one 

 another, and during the year, especiallv in the spring and autumn, many 

 birds are killed by flying against them. The greater part are found on the 

 north side. Most of the birds are small: but lately two Robins and one 

 Golden-winged Woodpecker were found among them. Curiously enough 

 there are no English Sparrows among the slain, they probably being 

 sufficiently acquainted with windows to avoid them. — Frederic A. Lucas, 

 Rochester. X. T. 



Notes on Birds Rare or Accidental on Long Island, N. V. — 

 1. Mimus polyglottus. Mockingbird. Two specimens taken: a 



young bird, on October 1, 1880: an adult on October 2. 1880: both cap- 



ured at Fort Hamilton. 



