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difficulty in raising a brood and the delay caused by the 

 inclement weather. Moreover, Mr. Griscom reported seeing 

 the Alpine Swift (Apus m. melha) and the Alpine Chough 

 (Pyrrhocorax graculus), a member of the family Corvidse, two 

 birds which he had previously never observed below 8,000 ft., at 

 very much lower altitudes. He had also seen a Hooded Crow 

 (Corvus c. comix), a summer resident of northern and eastern 

 Europe, in western Switzerland in August. This species had 

 been recorded only some half dozen times from Switzerland 

 in summer, and its presence might have been due to the cold 

 weather. 



Mr. Cleaves spoke of a Sora Rail {Porzana Carolina) which 

 had been found swimming in an inlet on Staten Island, with 

 a broken wing. The nearest suitable locality for a rail was 

 half a mile away on the Jersey mainland, so that it must have 

 swum that distance across the bay. 



Mr. Nichols recorded a flight of Stilt Sandpipers (Micro- 

 palama himantopus) at Mastic, L. I., on August 12. There 

 were at least 200. He also spoke of having seen Willets 

 {Catoptrophorus s. semipalmatus) more often than usual, and 

 according to tradition they flew in from the west, against the 

 trend of flight of the other Shore Birds. Mr. Nichols also 

 brought up the status of the Semipalmated Sandpiper (Ereune- 

 tes pusillus) on our coasts. Last spring especially, he had 

 been surprised to find that it outnumbered the Least Sandpiper 

 {Pisohia minutilla) three to one in the marshes, and he had 

 even found it in a wet meadow near Englewood, N. J. The 

 field marks of this species were next discussed by members. 

 There are several really excellent points by which it can be 

 distinguished from the Least Sandpiper, notably the grayer 

 and lighter color of the back, the purer white stripe over the 

 eye, the bill, which is proportionately much wider at the base, 

 and by the black legs. Lastly, the call notes are different. 

 Mr. Nichols also said that last summer he had collected 

 Semipalmated Sandpipers with noticeably longer bills, and 

 had at first supposed they were Western Sandpipers {E. mauri), 

 but when sexed, they were found to be females. Dr. Dwight 

 remarked that the bills of both species varied greatly, the 



