Fragments of Natural History. 23 
7: = : : . 
_ The’buff-breasted sandpiper, (Tringa rufescens,) which seems 
to be a rare species in most parts of our country, was seen fe 
_ vicinity of this city in three different instances during the last 
* 
autumn. I secured two specimens; one of which I presented to 
the New York Lyceum of Natural History ; the other is retained 
in my own collection. : 
his bird was unknown to Wilson and Bonaparte, and also to 
Mr. Audubon, until he received a specimen from England. It 
seems to be extremely shy and wary in its habits; and when 
watched by a gunner, will skulk behind some little hillock or 
tufts of grass. The individuals seen by myself were on a sandy 
flat not immediately contiguous to the water. In one instance 
Dr. Terry met with it in the public highway near this city. 
a 
The dunlin, ox-bird or purre, (Tringa alpina,) visited us in 
large flocks during three or four weeks of last autumn, and it has 
again appeared in a few instances the present spring. I have 
specimens preserved both in the summer and winter plumage. 
Mr. Audubon informs his readers that he has “ never found one 
far inland.” 
The Cape May warbler, (Sylvia maritima, ) visits the northern 
parts of Ohio in small numbers every spring. A solitary indi- 
vidual may be seen here and there, busily employed in catching 
insects about the cherry and apple trees at the time they put forth 
their blossoms, 
According to Mr. Nuttall, it “has only been seen near the swamps 
of Cape May, in New Jersey, and near Philadelphia.” 
_ The chestnut sided warbler, (Sylvia icterocephala, ) is not un- 
Common with us for a few days in spring, and in one instance I 
SAW a pair in a cranberry marsh in Boardman, ‘Trumbull county, 
on the first day of June. The male was warbling its soft notes 
ay the top of a young maple, and the female skipping about 
she bushes below. I am convinced they were preparing for nest- 
ing in that Vicinity. Its note is rather loud, but soft and pleasant 
‘0 the ear. Mr, Audubon seems to have met with it only in one 
instance, ; 
= The bay breasted warbler, (Sylvia castanea,) is still more a 
®n with us in the spring, and in some seasons protracts its 
