194 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



Letters from Mr. Boardman to Prof. Baird 



Milltown, Maine, Jan. 4, 1865. 

 Dear Baird: 



I received your last letter and should be glad if I could give 

 you any information that would be new in the northern distribu- 

 tion of many common birds. I have long been a close observer of 

 the habits and for some time have been a collector of birds, and in 

 my journeyiugs from Massachusetts to Western Maine, to this 

 neighborhood, North Eastern Maine and New Brunswick there 

 appears to be a different fauna. We do accidentally find many 

 more southern birds but only as stragglers and in this neighbor- 

 hood have found two hundred and forty species, and I think this 

 is about the southern locality for the breeding in abundance of 

 many northern birds, and too far north and east for the breeding 

 grounds of many most common Massachusetts and Western Maine 

 birds. Among the birds that breed common with us and are best 

 known are the little blue Snow Bird, one of our most common 

 summer birds. The White Throat Sparrow very common, Yellow 

 Rump very common, Black Poll Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Canada 

 Jay, Pine Finch, both Bed and White Cross Bills, Spruce Par- 

 tridge, Winter Wren, Black Back Three-toed Woodpecker, Yellow- 

 bellied Woodpecker, Yellow Red Poll very common, as are the 

 most of the above all summer. The Duck Hawk, Pigeon Hawk 

 and Goshawk are not at all uncommon. I found the Phalarope 

 breeding in two places last season ; Blue Wing Teal find breeding 

 every year. The Golden Eye and Sheldrake (Mergus Ameri- 

 canus) breed very common, both in trees and are common with 

 us winter and summer, as does the Hooded Merganser ( ?) breed in 

 trees but is rare in winter. The Eider Duck breeds common 

 about the Islands and once found the King Eider at the Islands 

 first of June, probably breeding. The Gannet and Cormorant, a few 

 breed; Herring Gull are abundant all summer and also breed 

 about the fresh water lakes. The great Black Back Gull also 

 breed, but are getting rare. I also find through the forest in 

 summer very many Warblers and think many of them breed in 

 about this latitude but our forests are so extensive I seldom find 

 the nest. I forgot to say the Razor Bill, Puffin and Sea Pigeon, 



