June, 18cSo.] 



AND OOLUiJlST. 



43 



Brief Ornithological Notes from 

 Newfoundland. 



Since c.ontribntionH, however ineii^'rc, fo 

 the Natui'iil History of lit tie known re^noiis 

 are always valuable, I take pleasure in jc 

 cordinfj^ th(^ following? Ornithological items 

 gathered during a recent visit to New- 

 foundland. There was not much snow on 

 the Island last Winter, and patches of hare 

 ground were visible early in March. When 

 I left St. John's, on the IHth of April, most 

 of the litslds were cntin^ly bai'e, and tlie 

 signs of approaching Spring were unmis 

 takable. Still, the early birds had not ar 

 rived in any numbers, and the only Spiing 

 migrants observed were the Robin, Rul)y 

 crowned Kinglet, and Purph^ Fincli. 



Robin {Tttn/tts nH</r(it(>ri(i). First nwn 

 April Gtli ; common soon afterwards ; sing 

 ing. 



Ruby-crowned Kinglet {/iCf/Klits rtr/c/i 



dul((). A few were seeh near the Govern 

 ment House, April KJth. 



Purple Fincli {Carpodacus pitrpnreiis). 

 Found singing in the Balsam Popliu-s 

 about th(( (Tovernment House, Aj)ril bSili. 



Tli(! Connaon or Willow Ptarmigan ( /><( 

 (/opus (dbi(s) is still an abundant resid<uit, 

 even in the vicinity of St. John's ; find 

 thousands of th(^m ar(i kilhul annually on 

 the jKiuinsulaof Avalon alone;. Itfre(pients 

 rocky bari'(^ns, f(;<Mling ujxju the seeds and 

 berries of the stunted plants that thrive in 

 these exposed situations. Tlie Rock Ptar- 

 migan {L. riipcKtfis) is (confined to the 

 high mountains of the interior. 



Apiil 0th I saw a flock of Snow Bunt 

 ings {Plertt'ojy/ianeH nhudia) in a stubbh; 

 field near the outskirts of St. John's. Most 

 of them were in the Ijlack-and-white Sum 

 mer plumage. 



The only l)ird seen in St. John's harbor 

 from the 1st to the 10th of March was a 

 solitary Black-backed Gull {Larus marl 

 w?/,.s), here called "Saddle liack;" liut dur- 

 ing part of this time the harbor was cov- 

 ered with ice. 



I left St. John's for the Seal " Fisherv " 



March lOtli, being a guest (through the 

 courtesy of Mr. John Syme) on board the 

 fine steamship Proteus, wliich vessel, it 

 will be remembered, took tlu' Greely Colony 

 to Lady Franlclin Bay in IHHl. In steam- 

 ing northward in front of the bold rocky 

 bluflfs tliat face the s(vi along this part of 

 the coast, the only l)irds noted were a few 

 Sea Pigeons ( ITrln (fryllc) already in the 

 black breeding garb, and a number of 



Guillemots {Lninirht l). We entered 



tlie ice near the grand fortiv^ss like island 

 of ]5ac<ralieu, and during the following 

 three weeks I did not S(h; a bird of any de- 

 scrii)tion. On the return voyag(s laden 

 with u})wardsof fourteen thousand Hooded 

 Seals, we emejged from Hk* ice much far- 

 ther to th(; nortli, and at daybreak on the 

 morning of the first of Apiil were in open 

 water in sight of Cape Bonavista. From 

 this point to St. -lohn's the Proteus sailed 

 anumgst many hundreds of Guillemots, 

 and numerous Gulls w(!)'e s(*en from time 

 to time throughout the day. Most of them 

 wer<! common H(!rring Gulls and Kitti- 

 wakes {/i/Mna. trid<t.ct,yl(t). I saw one 

 "Saddle back" {L. marhiux) and several Ice 

 Gulls {L. </l<iucux) togeMier with a few 

 others whose identity I was unable to de- 

 tei'mine. Besides these there wc^j'e noticed 

 some small, slrirjj-wingcMl, gull like birds 

 that, in color and markings, strongly re- 

 sembled Arctic Terns {Sterna macnira). 

 About tli(! first of April a few Eider 

 Ducks of both species {Somateria tnxMh- 

 Hinia) and (A'. Hpe('f,(dnl.iii) were shot near 

 St. John's; and on the IDtli, when off the 

 southern coast of Newfoundland, two or 

 three immature Ring billcMl Gulls {L. Dela- 

 wavcnalH) wf^re easily distinguished from 

 the common species (X. Arffentatus) that 

 followed the steamship Caspian, on which 

 vessel I was a ])aHs(inger. — C Hart Mer- 

 riarn, M. 7>., Lomnt (h'ove, New York., 

 May l8'^ 1888. 



Mockingbirds. W. T. Hojjkins, Sa- 

 vannah, Georgia, reports young Mocking- 

 birds Ai)ril 18th. 



