1896] MARYLAND ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 289 
At Washington, D. C., it is recorded as follows: “April 26 
(91) one seen, May 16 (’88) one seen, July 20 (’90) one noted, 
July 28 (’89), two seen, August 8 (94, Wm. Palmer) one seen, 
August 11 (’89) one seen, and on August 21 (’94 E. J. Brown), 
several seen and shot’ (Richmond). 
“Dr. Treichler, of Lancaster County (Pa.), mentions it as an 
irregular breeder; he has found young about half grown in the. 
Conowingo meadows early in July’’ (Birds Pa., 91). 
On May 23, ’93, I came across one feeding in an ice pond 
with but little water; I was within 20 feet and watched it 
through a field glass. It waded with a dainty step, sometimes 
having perceptibly to pull its feet out of the mud, and once 
when it got in deeper water swam a few feet with a hurried 
stroke. Small insects on or in the water, on bottom, on weed 
stems or on bank it swallowed at once. Tiny tadpoles it worked a 
second between mandibles and dipped a couple of times in water, 
apparently to get them head first. One large one it immediately 
ran ashore with and hammered it on the ground for some 
little time before swallowing it. In wading it sometimes had 
the water up to its breast and belly. Generally not more than 
the bill was immersed, but often the head, occasionally the neck, 
and once half of the body. 
Symphemia semipalmata (258). Willet. 
While not as numerous as it used to be, this species is not 
uncommon on our ocean front, where it still breeds in limited 
numbers. At Chincoteague Bay, I noted one on June 5 (’94); 
another on the next day, and three on the 7th at the same place ; 
and Mr. C. W. Dirickson, of Berlin, says: “On their way north 
in spring a few stop and stay with us all summer. They lay 
their eggs in very much the same place as the terns, and in fact 
you can sometimes find both nesting very close together.” I 
am informed that they breed in large numbers on Chincoteague 
Island, and also on Mockhorn and Smith’s Islands, Va. “A 
few still breed on the New Jersey coast” (Birds E. Pa. and. 
N. J., 76-77). 
