84 BULLETIN 4 and 5 



The following is an extract from a letter from Mrs. Alice 

 Hall Walter of Providence, R. I.: '4n looking over A Pre- 

 liminary List of Vermont Birds, (1901), I find the Tufted Tit- 

 mouse, parus bicolor^ as a 'not common resident.' Could you 

 give me the records of its actual occurrence in Vermont, as no 

 doubt it is a rare species so far north, and has been found in tew 

 localities. Being Vermonters by birth Mr. Walter and 

 myself are greatly interested in your valuable list, the data of 

 which we have tabulated for ready reference." 



Mrs. Alice S. Brown writes that an albino English Sparrow 

 was raised on her premises. It had red eyes and every feather 

 was pure white. It was a great curiosity and a conspicuous 

 mark, as it remained about the buildings two months before it 

 disappeared. A meadow lark came to Mrs. Brown's lunch 

 table on Feb. 4, 1909. 



Mr. J. Henry Potter of West Rutland speaks of the bene- 

 ficial effect of posting large tracts of land in his vicinity, some 

 7,000 acres in all. Birds as well as game have increased on 

 these tracts; The posting of land should be encouraged. It 

 saves many useful birds from the hands of hunters, as many 

 hunters are in the habit of shooting small birds while looking for 

 larger game. Mr. Potter reports seeing a robin on Jan. 6, 

 19 10, and hearing a purple finch sing on Christmas Day. 



Mrs. Nelly Hart Woodworth of St. Albans added two new 

 birds to her list in 1908. The American Three-toed Wood- 

 pecker, picoides americanus. She studied the bird closely with 

 field glasses and is sure of her identification, distinguishing it 

 from the Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker. The other bird was 

 Lincoln's Sparrow, melospi'za lincolni^ observed by her at dif- 

 ferent times during the summer. She describes its song as "a 

 regular theme repeated over and over reminding one of the pur- 

 ple finch and also of the wren, but unlike either." 



Mr. G. H. Ross of Rutland has also both of these birds 

 on his list. 



Mr. George L. Kirk of Rutland shot a Ringed neck Duck, 

 caythya collarh^ at North Ferrisburg on Lake Champlain, 

 Nov. 9, 1908. In fifteen years duck hunting on the lake he 

 has never before seen a bird of this species which is not common 

 anywhere. It is not given in Perkins' and Howe's List of Ver- 

 mont Birds. 



Another bird to be added to this list is the King Eider Duck, 

 somateria spectabilis^ shot by Mr. Kirk at North Ferr burg, 

 November, 1904. The specimen is now mounted at the Geo- 

 logical Hall, Albany, N. Y. 



