20 



THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



was shot Sept. 19, 1882, by a sports- 

 man * * * on Shinnecoek Bay, who 

 kindly presented it to me. Sept. 26, 

 1883, I secured another in the same 

 locality. The gunners about Shinne- 

 coek Bay claim they can distinguish 

 the note of this bird from that of * * * 

 M. Griseus" — Dutch er. 



(//4) 233. Micropalama himantopus. 



Stilt Sandpiper. (528.) 



Above brownish black with much ashy and 

 reddish edging to the feathers; spot on the 

 ear and line over left eye bright reddish brown. 

 Rump white, with spots and narrow stripes of 

 black ; beneath pale reddish white, with 

 stripes of blackish on the neck and under 

 parts ; legs long ; bill long and a little curved. 

 Length 9 inches. 



Probably an extremely rare mi- 

 grant. I have never met with it. 

 Breeds in the far north. Nest a hol- 

 low in the ground, lined with grasses 

 and leaves. Eggs three or four, light 

 gray ground, blotched and spotted 

 with brown and lilac of different 

 shades. Average size about. 1|- x 1^ 

 inches. 



(//t5) 23&. Tringa eanutus. 



Knot: Robin Snipe. (529.) 



Above mottled with black, reddish and 

 gray; lightest on the crnwn; rump white 

 with bands and spots of black ; tail light brown 

 without markings ; beneath reddish brown ; 

 form stout; bill and legs black; length 10 in. 



A common migrant. Travels in 

 small flocks. Occurs in May and 

 September. Gathers in immense 

 flocks in winter along the South At- 

 lantic coast. I have seen flocks near 

 the mouth of the Altamaha River, 

 from which I secured specimens, that 

 must have contained at least five 

 thousand individuals. Breeds in the 



British possessions and northward. 

 Eggs three or four, laid in slightly 

 lined hollow in ground ; ground color 

 pale green specked all over with dif- 

 ferent shades of brown, and average 

 average about l^xl inch. 



♦-♦-♦ 



Smithsonian Institution. 

 Washington, D. C, 

 J. B. PECK, August 25, 1893. 



Newburgh, N. Y. 

 Sir: 



I take pleasure in acknowledging 

 the receipt of the Collectors' Month- 

 ly, Vol. 1, No. 1. 



The Secretary authorizes me to say 

 that he is desirous of obtaining the 

 Monthly for the Library of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution and will be glad to 

 send in exchange the Smithsonian 

 Annual Reports. 



Very respectfully yours, 



Cyrus Adler, Librarian. 



■ ♦♦♦ 



Shed and Eat their Coats. 



The two large pythons which were 

 imported from India for the zoologi- 

 cal garden have made themselves at 

 home in their new quarters. They 

 are said to be the largest reptiles in 

 this country and naturally attract con- 

 siderable attention. They had only 

 been here two weeks when both 

 snakes underwent a change. They be- 

 came droopy ; it was seen that they 

 had begun to shed their skins. 



The shedding process is about at an 

 end now, but the manner in which the 

 snakes accomplish the greater part of 



(Continued on page 22.) 



