Vermont Botanical and Bird Club 27 



Juncoes in January 



Mr. Duane E. Kent of Rutland observed a flock of six slate-colored 

 juncoes at East Middlebury on January 26, 1916. This bird is very un- 

 common in mid-winter in Vermont. 



Heather in Vermont 



Miss Elizabeth Billings of Woodstock writes: "I would like to re- 

 port that I found heather growing on our place in Woodstock last 

 summer (1916).- It was near a plantation of white pines. There is a 

 second small station nearby." 



Vermont Plants Far from Home 



W. W. Eggleston of Washington, D. C, writes: "Tell the club 

 that in the Colville Mountains in the state of Washington, on the base 

 of Mount Bonaparte, I found Viola Selkirkii and Viola Brainerdi, new 

 to the state of Washington, Viola canadensis, Moneses grandiflora, 

 Pyrola secunda, Pyrola minor, Chimaphila corymbosa and quite a few 

 other Vermont plants. 



Interesting Woodpecker 



On December 26, 1916, George L. Kirk secured in Mendon a downy 

 woodpecker which is of considerable interest. The bird is slightly 

 larger as to wing and total length than the average specimen of 

 Dryooates pubescens medianus, (the New England form), has slightly 

 large white spots on the back and wings and is almost without the 

 usual black bars on the outer feathers of the tail. In this respect the 

 bird resembles somewhat Nelson's downy woodpecker (D. p. nelsoni), 

 a northern form, but experts say that it is intermediate between Nel- 

 son's downy and the common bird of Vermont orchards. Birds like 

 the Mendon specimen have been secured in Massachusetts and else- 

 where in New England. It is interesting to note that these have been 

 all winter specimens, indicating that the birds are probably migrants 

 from some territory in the north which is intermediate between the 

 ranges of medianus and nelsoni. 



Plant Freaks 



Miss Ella Munsell of Wells River reports finding the following ab- 

 normal plant forms during botanical excursions: Buttercup with two 

 blossoms, back to back; buttercup blossom one and a quarter inches 

 in diameter; star flower with 10 leaves and some of them with three 

 flowers on one plant, some of them with nine petals; bunchberry with 



