190 General Notes. 



season, it is fair to suppose that the Titlark also touches at t'a\orable 

 points in Maine while en route to its breeding grounds. Nevertheless 

 neither my own observations nor the records of other observers substan- 

 tiate this hypothesis. 



The once prized Ipswich Sparrow {Passerculus princeps) must now take 

 its place among the common autumnal migrants of southern Maine, though 

 restricted, so far as I am aware, to the sea-coast. In spring, however, it is 

 uncommon if not rare. Since the capture of the first Maine specimen,* 

 March 20, 1875, I have seen but two other spring specimens. These I 

 found upon Old Orchard Beach, March 28, 1882, and one of them is now 

 in mj collection. In their autumnal migration the birds reach Cumberland 

 County about Oct. 13, remaining at least until Nov. 6, later than which I 

 have never looked for them. Upon almost any day between these dates 

 the collector may find a dozen or more individuals along the sandy shore 

 between Scarborough Beach and the Saco River. 



In the Proceedings of the Portland Society of Natural History for April, 

 1882, I spoke of the Ring-necked Duck {Fulix collaris) as having but once 

 been taken in the vicinity of the city within my experience. On the very 

 morning upon which my paper left the press, I found in one of the city 

 markets two adult males which were killed in the Presumpscot River, 

 March 31, 1882. On April 12 I found another male in the market; the 

 next day I purchased a pair from a sportsman in Deering; and on April 

 17 detected another male in the market. That the bird's occurrence in 

 such numbers is very unusual there can be no doubt. In fact, so far as I 

 have been able to learn, our most experienced hunters of wild fowl either 

 knew the species only by tradition, before this year, or else were wholly 

 imacquainted with it. 



Mr. Brewster has more than once advanced good evidence to the effect 

 that the Short-tailed Tern {Hydrochelidonlariformh) should be considered 

 a regular and not uncommon visitor to suitable localities on the New 

 England coast.f Specific records for Maine are. notwithstanding, few as 

 vet. I Two recent specimens should go on the list. One of these was 

 killed in Scarborough, the other at Wells Beach, "^'ork County, in 

 the autumn of 1881. — Nathan Clifford Brown. Portland. Maine. 



Maine Notes. — Oporornis agilis (JVt'/s.) Baird. Connecticlt 

 Warbler. — Mr. Nathan Clifford Brown, in a paper read before the 

 Portland Society of Natural History April 3, 18S2, gives this bird for the 

 first time a place in the Maine fauna. He met with it Aug. 30, 1878. on 

 Cape Elizabeth. I would record a specimen which I took in August. 

 1879, at Ebeme Lake. This makes the second record for this State. 



Hylocichla unalascee pallasi ( Crt(^rt;/.) Ridg-M. Hermit Thrush. — 

 These birds breed commonly with us every year (Bangor). Their eggs 



* See Rod and Gun, Vol. VI. p. 65. 



fSee especially this Bulletin, \'ol. \'I, pp. 124-25. 



+ See tills Bulletin, Vol. IV, p. 108, and Vol. V, p. 63. 



