SOME REMARKS ON THE "BIRDS OF CHESTER 



CO., PA." 



By Frank L. Burns, Berzwn t Pa. 



During the latter part of 1889,* the Ornithologist and Oologist pub- 

 lished what appeared at first to be a reliable and admirably annotat- 

 ed list of the "Birds of Chester County, Pennsylvania." This, the 

 fifth and last list devoted exclusively to the County, was subsequently 

 found to contain so many remarkable statements, particularly regarding 

 the breeding of species long known to nest only in the far north or at a 

 much higher altitude than our county anywhere affords, that it was cast 

 aside as utterly untrustworthy. The author, Mr. Cyrus B. Ressel, quoted 

 Mr. William D. Doan, of Coatesville, as his authority for so many state- 

 ments, that I was constrained to write to that gentleman, in order to 

 separate some of the wheat from the chaff, if possible. As Mr. Doan 

 has long since retired from the Ornithological field for the scarcely less 

 interesting study of Entomology, I take it upon myself to publish the 

 following notes and corrections, taken from his letters almost verbatim, 

 trusting that they may not be without some value. In justice to Mr. 

 Doan Twill say that he had not seen the O. &° O. list until I drew his 

 attention to it. 



" Horned Grebe, Colymbns aiiritns.—Qxie specimen secured on the 

 Brandywine creek south of Mortonville. 



" Blue-winded Teal, Anas discors. — I shot two or three specimens 

 on the same creek in the fall. (I secured several during the first week 

 in September, about the heads of Gunpowder and Bush rivers, Maryland.) 

 ' ' Whistling Swan, Olor colnmbianus. — I remember taking one out of 

 five, the last week in March, 1885, along the meadows south of Chadd's 

 Ford, during a severe rain storm which lasted for several days. These 

 birds often ascend tributaries to quite a distance. My brother has 

 mounted specimens, shot during spring-time, north of Columbia, Lan- 

 caster county, on the Susquehanna ; and I have also shot them as far 

 inland as Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, on the Potomac. 



" Yellow-legs, Totanns flavifes. — I secured one along the Brandy- 

 wine creek, south of Downingtown. I believe it was in the spring of 

 1887, but I am not sure as to the year. 



"Passenger Pigeon, Ectofiistes migratorius. — I had secured half-a- 



*July, August and September. See Vol. xiv. pp. 158 and 175 for criticisms. — [En. 



