Dec. 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



183 



j)ort had ceased, tliese became living birds, pure 

 wliite Gulls, and sunk in a few minutes hastily 

 down to the sea in so compact a throng that I 

 might have thought a snow storm had broken 

 loose and was pouring its immense flakes down 

 from the sky. For a few minutes it snowed birds 

 as far as one could see. The surge rolled wild, 

 but it was the euphonious accompaniment of the 

 rustling of the wings and of the shrieks of the 

 frightened sea-birds. As far as the eye could 

 reach the waves were covered with the foam-born 

 children of the sea, and the cliff and the mountain 

 were as white-dotted as before. Yet these were 

 only the males, which had rushed away on the 

 approach of danger. 



Fall Migrants at Raleigh, N. C. 



.\S 0I5SEUVED I!Y II. H. .\ND C. S. BRIMI.EY IN ISSo. 



Olive-backed Thrash, (Hylociehla neainsoni). 

 Only one seen this Fall, on Oct. 7th and 21st. 



Blue Yellow-back, {Panda americana). I rather 

 think this species must Summer here, but this 

 year observed none from the end of May till Aug. 

 SGtli, and the}' were seen from that date till Sept. 

 29th, but were not as common as in the Spring. 



Black-throated Green, Chestnut-sided and 

 Blackburnian Warblers were only observed on 

 Sept. 25, (when one of the first, three of the sec- 

 ond and two of the third were procured,) and 

 Elack-and-Yellow only on Sept. 24th, (one taken). 



Water Thrush, [Siunis nceriuH). Quite scarce 

 this Fall; first one seen on Aug. 17th, last seen 

 on Sept. 39th. 



Golden-crowned Thrush, {Siunis KuricapilluK). 

 Arrived on Sept. 4th, and from that time one or 

 two seen about every other day till Oct. 23d. 



Black-poll Warbler, {Deiidraca striata). Arrived 

 on Oct. 1st ; became common on Oct. 8th ; con- 

 tinued common till Oct. 16th, last one seen Oct. 

 17th. The Black-polls fed largely on caterpillars 

 while here this Fall. 



Black-throated Blue Warbler, {Dendraca c<eni- 

 Icscens). Three only seen this Fall ; Oct. 7th ( ? ), 

 15th ( s ), 16th ( ,; ). 



Blue-headed Vireo, (Lanimreo solitarius). First 

 one seen on Aug. 31st, another o/i Sept. 25th and 

 two more, the last of the season, on Oct. 31st. 



Bobolink, {Dolidiony.v oryzimnis). Quite scarce 

 this Fall; an'ived on Aug. 31st, and after that 

 only seen on Sept. 1st and 9th. Usually rather 

 common both Spring and Fall. 



Towhee, {Pipilo erythroplitludinus). Arrived 

 Oct. 15th and became common the next day ; on 

 he 17th only two were observed, ancl a few were 



seen throughout the remainder of tlic month and 

 the early part of November. 



Black-billed Cuckoo, {Coccyzits erythroplithal- 

 mus). One was shot on Sept. 23d, the only one 

 observed here by us since May, 1882. 



Red-headed Woodpecker, (Mdanevpes crythro- 

 cephalus). Three seen on Sept. 24th, one on Oct. 

 17th, and a few more during the latter part of Oc- 

 tober, but the species was less common than usual 

 this Fall. 



Rusty Grackle, {Scdlccnphagns frrrur/incns). A 

 small flock of half a dozen seen on Oct. 27th, and 

 again on Nov. 9d; this bird is not as a rule com- 

 mon with us, but almost invariably occurs in 

 small numbers in tlie Spring, and less often in 

 the Fall. 



Crow Blackbird, {Quiscalus piirpurens). The 

 first of the season was shot Oct. 29th, and no 

 more were seen till Nov. 2d, when a flock of 

 about forty were seen. Small flocks were seen 

 throughout the early part of Novcml)cr, but the 

 species never became common. 



Wilson's Snipe, ((ralliiiar/n wilsoni). An un- 

 usually early arrival ofthis species was observed on 

 Nov. 4th The species usually occurs in small num- 

 bers in December, and is not as a rule seen again 

 till March, when it is usually common. 



Red-bellied Nuthatch, {Siita canadensis). A 

 single specimen of this species was observed on 

 Oct. 31st, and again on Nov. 1st. 



The migrating birds have now (Nov. 15th) all 

 left us with the exception of a few Towhees and 

 Blackbirds. One very late straggler, a Black-and- 

 White Creeper, was captured on Nov. 10th, more 

 than a month since we had rccoided (as we sup- 

 posed) the last of tlie species. 



Our Winter visitors have nearly all arrived 

 now, both varieties of Kinglets being present in 

 large numbers, though the Brown Creeper has 

 been quite rare so far this Winter. Shrikes have 

 been unusually scarce this Fall, only two (Sept. 

 17th and 19th) having been observed so far, while 

 Cedarbirds have added one more instance of the 

 regularity of their irregularity by turning up in 

 small numbers in the early part of November, one 

 of the periods at which the experience of other 

 years has led us to expect them. 



American Velvet Scoter in Wis- 

 consin. 



I recently obtained an American Velvet Scoter 

 {Melanettn Velvetiim,) near this place. This is the 

 •second record of its occurrence in the interior of 

 the State.— C. F. Can; Madison. M'is. 



