BIRDS. 



ORDER V. LOBIPEDES. 



FAMILY PODICIPID^. 



PoDicEPS coRNUTiTs. Homed Grebe (female). 



Dekay's New-York Fauna, Part 11, pa. 274, pi. 140, f. 305. 



This specimen was shot in the Hudson River, at Port Schuyler, on the 

 8th day of February, 1855, by J. F. Rot, and presented to the State 

 Collection by James Rot, of West Troy. 



REPTILES. 



We publisli with pleasure the following communication , from 

 that indefatigable naturalist, Professor Spencer F. Baird, at pre- 

 sent the assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, at 

 Washington : from which it will be seen, that another species is 

 added to the number of New- York serpents. 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 



■Washington, D. C, Oct. 5, 1855. 



Dear Sir — We received a day or two ago, from General 

 Ward, of Sing-Sing, a specimen of the Heterodon niger, or Black 

 Viper J caught by him on his place in that village. As this is the 

 first published account of its existence in New-York, it may be 

 well to place the fact on record in the next report of the New- 



