July 1887.] 



a:n^d oologist. 



115 



I feel that I owe an apology to my brother 

 ornithologists for keeping so good a thing to 

 myself for so many months, but it was unin- 

 tentional and shall not occur again. 



Unusual Occurrence of the Red- 

 winged Crossbill in Mass. 



About the first of March a friend of mine who 

 lives in Quincy, Mass., showed me nine birds of 

 this species that he had shot in that locality the 

 day previous. He told me that he also saw 

 several large flocks the same day. One month 

 later I visited the same locality and collected 

 quite a number and saw the birds in abundance. 

 These birds have been seen almost every day 

 from March 1st up to the present writing. My 

 friend, who has been collecting all winter, in- 

 torms me that he had seen none of this species 

 previous to the above date. 



Now will some kind reader of the O. and O. 

 who is better posted on the movements of birds 

 than I am, please explain why this species 

 should occur in such large numbers at a 

 season of the j^ear, when they are commonly 

 supposed to be breeding in the extreme north- 

 ern countries? 



Boston, Mass. J. F. VV. 



Entomological Department Errata. 



JANUAKV TO JULY. 



Page loth, first column, thirty-first line, for 

 Weat read Treat. 



Page 28, second column, fifteenth line, for 

 palpe read palpi. 



Seventeenth line, for ins read ish patch. 



Thirty-seventh line, for odical read apicAil. 



Fortj'-flfth line, for absolute lead obsolete. 



Page 29, first cohunn, thirtv-second and thir- 

 ty-seventh lines, for Cirindela read CicindeJa. 



Second column, forty-fourth line, for Sta- 

 phylniidae read Staph>jU)iid(e. 



Page 31, first column, tenth and thirtieth 

 Hues, for phipheus read rhipheus. 



Second column, twenty-second line, for Cal- 

 lydrias read CaUidryas. 



Twenty-seventh line, for Philas read Philea. 



Forty-fifth line, for Cahenus dide read Cohe- 

 711 s dido. 



Forty-sixth line, for Calajnis read Cokunis. 



Forty-seventh line, for Anarilla jtlrophe read 

 Anartia jatrophe. 



Fifty-fourth line, for Uramia read Urania. 



Page 64, second column, fiftieth line, for 

 Belladouna read Belladonna. 



Fifty-first and fifty-fifth lines, for Anphi- 

 nome read Amphimme. 



Pape 94, second colunni, forty-sixth line, for 

 Linteneru read Lintener'u. 



Page 95, first column, fortieth line, for Legu- 

 lis read Ber/alis. 



Forty-first line, for Regalis read Erebus. 



Second column, thirty-fourth line, for Hentzu 

 read Henlz\x. 



The Great Northern Shrike and its 

 Prey. 



15Y UENJ. V. HESS, PHGiNIX, N. Y. 



In the spring of 1885 I had the opportunity of 

 seeing a Butcher bird kill a meadow mole, {Ar- 

 vicola riparius). It would strike the mole on 

 the throat with its beak until it killed it. When 

 I approached, the Shrike grasped the mole and 

 flew or, fluttered rather, about twenty feet, 

 when its burden seemed too heavy and it 

 dropped its prey and alighted a short distance 

 away. Again I shot one which was vigorously 

 pursuing a Phtebe among some tall bushes. 

 We have sufilcient evidence of late to show that 

 their food in this vicinity is mainly the English 

 Sparrows. I have noticed that they are most 

 numerous in the section of the town where the 

 English Sparrows are in excess. A friend, Mr. 

 Claude Maxwell, has found these sparrows 

 hung in forked thorns of hedge fences, — evi- 

 dently the work of these Shrikes. 



[We have numerous reports of the destruc- 

 tion of the English Sparrow bj^this Shrike, and 

 commend the protection of the latter bird, for 

 this reason as a method of suppression. Ed]. 



Yelloav Rail in Illinois. While collecting 

 in a swamp a few miles from here, I killed a 

 Yellow Rail {Porzana noveboracensis), which 

 appears to be rather scarce in this locality. On 

 the same day 1 secured one each of the Carolina 

 Rail (P. Carolina), Virginia Rail (liallns viryin- 

 ianus), and King Rail (B. eleyans), tlius getting 

 a specimen of nearly all the species of Rail of 

 Illinois, in a small swamp of less than half a 

 mile square. 



Geo. B. Holmes, Fernwood, 111. 



Purple Gallinule in Mass. A Purple Gal- 

 linule {lonornis martinica) was shot at Lake 

 Quinsigamond, Worcester, Mass. on May 30th, 

 1887. A rare occurrence. 



H. L. Rand, Worcester, Mass. 



