390 



General Notes.. fOctoher 



On the mountain above the water work's reservoir is a clump of mixed 

 bush near which lives an old man who knows the birds thoroughly. He 

 has often told me of a season long ago when a number of red birds bred 

 there which had not the black wings and tail of the Scarlet Tanager. I 

 have looked at this bush with interest ever since, and on May 20, this 

 year, as I was scrutinizing a group of Tanagers leisurely sunning them- 

 selves among the topmost branches of a tall elm, I noticed one difter- 

 ent in plumage from the others. In bringing it down I was greatly 

 pleased to find a fine female of the Summer Redbird {^Pyranga estiva), 

 this being the first record of the species for Canada, so far as I am aware. 

 I think I have also seen the Connecticut Warbler but without actual 

 measurement it is difficult to distinguish between it and the Mourning 

 Warbler. — Thomas McIlwraith, Hainilton., Ontai io. 



Breeding of Passerculus princeps on Sable Island. — In the last number 

 of 'The Auk' Mr. Ridgway stated : "The National jSIuseum possesses a 

 considerable series of eggs labelled ^Passerculus savana. Sable Island, 

 Nova Scotia. July, 1S62 ; J. P. Dodd.' which are uniformly so much larger 

 than those of the Savannah Sparrow as to strongly suggest the probability 

 that they may be in reality those of the Ipswich Sparrow. At any rate 

 the matter is .worth investigating, and it is hoped that some reader of 

 ' The Auk' may be able to decide the question" (pp. 292-293). Acting 

 upon the above suggestion I immediately wrote to the Rev. W. A. Des- 

 Brisa}^, a resident missionary of Sable Island, requesting him to send iiie 

 a specimen of the common 'Gray Bird' of the Island. This he was kind 

 enough to do. and the specimen, in confirmation of Mr. Ridgway's suspi- 

 cion, proves to be an unquestionable Ipswich Sparrow. — C. Hart Mer- 

 RIAM, Locust Grove. N. T. 



The Cardinal Grosbeak breeding in Brooklyn, N. Y. — ^June 8, 1884, I 

 found Cardinalis virginiaiius breeding in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The 

 nest, which contained three eggs, was very loosely constructed, principally 

 of the long, slender leaves of various aquatic plants, and was suspended 

 in a mass of vines drooping over the bed of a small brook. — -E. T. Adney. 

 2g West 36th St., New York City. 



The Orchard Oriole (^Icterus spurius) in Western Vermont. — The oc- 

 currence of birds beyond their natural or normal habitat is always of in- 

 terest, since from a study of these occurrences and their causes many 

 facts in regard to geographical distribution are brought out. On June i, 

 18S3, I had the pleasure of taking two specimens of that ratlier southern 

 species, the Orchard Oriole {^Icterus spurius'), at Middlebury, Vermont. 

 They were taken on the campus of Middlebury College, and are now in 

 the College Museum. They were both males, one being in the perfect 

 plumage of the adult, the other in the immature dress of the young bird. 

 When shot they were skipping about in the branches of a maple, and a 

 diligent search failed to reveal others of the species. So far as I am able 

 to ascertain, this is the first record of the occurrence of this species in this 

 State. — F. H. Knowlto?v-, National Museum, Washifigton, D. C. 



