Notes on Rhode Island Ornithology. 2 



been very interesting to find out if these were all old birds, as the 

 July, August, and September birds usually are. 



I noted a great scarcity of Pectoral Sandpipers {Tringa 7nacu- 

 lata) the past fall, these are usually very abundant on our 

 marshes in October, the late flight consists of young birds small 

 and poor, and not worth shooting, this year what few there were 

 were old birds. There was also a small flight of Stilt Sandpipers 

 {^Micropalama himantopus) in October, which is late for them, 

 All together it was an off year in Rhode Island for shore birds, 

 and I, personally, took nothing of special interest. 



Yours very truly, 



Newton Dexter. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Notes from Newport. — Compared with former years, few sea birds 

 have been seen along the coast near Newport this fall. There have, 

 however, been gi-eat flocks of Scoters {Oidemia) and a large number of 

 Black Ducks {Anas obscura) on Narragansett Bay. On the ocean, Loons 

 (Gavia imber), Cormorants {Phalacrocorax carbo) and Old Squaws (//e/-- 

 elda hyemalis] have been observed, but not in their usual numbers. This 

 is no doubt due to the warm weather that has prevailed up to now 

 (December 14th) the shallow waters of Narragansett Bay have not be- 

 come too cold for the comfort of the Scoters and Black Ducks, so they 

 have not been forced to seek the deeper and warmer water of the ocean. 

 The high temperature also accounts for the scarcity of the hardier ocean 

 birds, such as the Horned Grebes (Colymbus auritus)^ Loons, Cormor- 

 ants, Old Squaws, and Eider Ducks (^Soniateria dresseri) which have 

 not yet felt the necessity of coming south. 



Off shore, the Kittiwakes {Rtssa tridactyla) follow about the cod 

 fishermen, feeding on the scraps of bait cast overboard. So accustomed 

 have they become to finding food in the vicinity of boats, and so little 

 have they been disturbed by man, that while rowing off shore on the 

 30th of November, five at different times came up from the horizon 

 straight to my boat and hovered about within a few feet. On this same 

 day two Razor-billed Auks {Alca tarda) flew past, and I secured another 

 on November 29th off Sachuest Point. No less unexpected was the 

 appearance of three Harlequin Ducks {Histriouictis histrionicus) on No- 

 vember 28th which were discovered in the vicinity of Cormorant Rock, 

 and appeared quite tame. The flock consisted of a male and two females, 

 of which I shot the male and one of the females. So far, this fall, the 



