66 | Mr. Peabody on the 
throughout the year, or of those which come to us in their 
regular annual migrations. But beside these, there are 
some which make their appearance at uncertain intervals, 
and it is not always easy to determine whether they 
. Should or should not be numbered with our birds. "There 
are others also, which have been found apparently wander- 
ing from their usual ways, but which, having come to us 
once or twice, may do so again. The proper course 
seemed to be, to give the names of all which have ever 
been seen here, leaving it to future observation to deter- 
mine whether our State is their resting-place or their home. 
In explanation of the difficulty alluded to, I may mention 
one or two facts which were communicated to me by Dr. 
Thomas M. Brewer of Boston, whose unwearied and suc- 
cessful researches will soon extend our knowledge of this 
subject much beyond its present bounds; and to whom, in 
connection with some other gentlemen, whose names will 
appear in the course of the report, I am happy to ac- 
knowledge my great obligations. He informs me, for ex- 
ample, that a Purpte GALLINULE, Gallinula martinica, was 
shot in Stoneham on the 27th of November, 1837. i 
is a bird belonging to tropical America, and usually passes 
its winters near the Gulf of Mexico; and yet, when taken, 
instead of appearing exhausted, like a lost wanderer from , 
its usual haunts, it was in good flesh, and evidently had 
been lately feeding. Mr. Cabot also states that a FLORIDA 
GALLINULE, G. galeata, was shot in Fresh Pond several 
years ago. This last incident is not wholly unprecedented, 
the same bird having been found near Albany, in the state 
of New York. The visit of the beautiful Purple Galli- 
nule, is, I believe, entirely without example. But I can no 
more regard them as our birds, because they have been 
thus found once or twice within our borders, than I can 
regard the Stormy Petrel as a land bird, from the circum- 
stance of having met with it in Springfield, seventy miles 
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