122 General Notes. ■ [April 



usually seen in September specimens. Thev wei-e feeding in company 

 with Redpolls (^.^giothus linaria) and Goldfinches {Chrysomitris tristis) 

 among some rank weeds in an old field. Their crops were filled with 

 seeds. The ground, at the time, was partially covered with snow and the 

 weather cold. There is, apparently, no previous record of the occurrence 

 of this species in winter, in Massachusetts. — Henry M. Spelman, 

 Cambridge, Mass. 



An unusual Influx of the Three-toed Woodpeckers {Picoides 

 arcticus AND P. ainericanus^ into Eastern Massachusetts. — I am 

 indebted to Mr. George O. Welch for the following interesting notes. 

 Some time in the summer of ib6o a fire swept through a piece of heavy 

 white pine timber in Lynn, killing most of the trees. In the natural 

 course of events the charred trunks became infested with wood-borers, 

 and during the following winter (1860-61) the place was a favorite resort 

 of various kinds of Woodpeckers. In what manner the news of the 

 feast was advertised in the remote forests of the North is not explained, 

 but certain it is that with the first cold weather both species of Picoides 

 appeared on the scene. Of P. america7ius only three specimens were 

 actually taken, a female by Mr. Welch, and a fine pair by Mr. N. Vickary. 

 P. arcticus, however, was actually abundant, and remained through the 

 entire winter. Mr. Welch often saw as many as six or eight during a 

 single visit to these woods, and numerous specimens were killed and 

 preserved. Most of the individuals seen were females, the yellow-crowned 

 males being comparatively rare. Since i86i- only two Three-toed Wood- 

 peckers (both P. arcticus") are known to have been taken in Lynn. 



There is nothing novel in the fact of these Woodpeckers assembling 

 in numbers in a tract of recently-burned timber; indeed Picoides arcticus 

 is rather notorious for this habit. But how the knowledge of such an 

 attraction could have been conveyed so far as it must have been in the 

 present instance is little short of marvellous. We commend the problem 

 to the attention of those ornithologists who refuse to believe that there 

 is anything "mysterious" in the periodical movements of certain migra- 

 tory birds. — William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. 



The Barn Owl in Canada West. — Mr. T. Mcllwraith, of Hamilton, 

 informs me of the capture of Aluco Jlammeus pratincola in that locality 

 on the 9th of May, 1882. The bird is new to that place, if not to Canada. 

 — Elliott Coues, Washington, D. C. 



Capture of Richardson's Owl {Nyctala tengmalmi rickardsoni) 

 NEAR Providence, R. I. — A beautiful male specimen of this species 

 was taken east of this city and brought to us by a milkman, Dec. 18, 

 1882. As it passed through several hands before reaching us we could 

 not ascertain just where it had been killed, but think it must be accredited 

 to Massachusetts, as it was in all probability taken in Seekonk, where the 

 man lives who brought it to us. As the Massachusetts line runs but two 

 miles east of this city, this is almost beyond doubt a Massachusetts record: 

 — F. T. Jencks, Providence, R. I. 



