2 NoTES ON RHODE ISLAND ORNITHOLOGY. 
resident and breeds sparingly in the Great Swamp of Richmond 
and South Kingston townships. Mr. John Kenyon Knowles saw 
“ Wild Pigeons” on three occasions during my sojourn at his 
house, twice on the east side of Lake Worden (one November 24, 
and two December 8, 1900) and once on some burnt timber-lands 
near the saw-mill in the Great Swamp (small flock December 12, 
1900). If these birds were not Mourning Doves, their occurrence 
is of considerable interest, as the last Wild Pigeon known to have 
been taken in Rhode Island is supposed to have been killed in 
1886. 
Besides the birds positively identified, there were a few Ducks 
that Iwas unable to determine; and Mr. Knowles and his son 
saw a Crow Blackbird on one or two occasions. Numerous nests 
of summer birds were observed, including those of Woodpeckers, 
Cuckoo, Red-winged Blackbird, Vireos, and others; and there 
were unmistakable evidences of the former presence of the Yellow- 
bellied Sapsucker in apple-orchards. 
Mr. Samuel Eldred, of Wakefield, purchased from a gunner, 
late in November or early in December, a Woodcock weighing 
six ounces. Mr. Lorenzo A. Knowles once shot a Woodcock on 
Christmas day, near Lake Worden. 
The birds actually seen and identified were as follows : — 
Loon (Gavia imber).— One or more could almost always be seen on 
Lake Worden and Larkins Pond (about two miles north), until these 
waters were frozen over, December 9. 
American Herring Gull (Larus argentatus).— Occasionally seen on 
Lake Worden until December 9. 
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis).— Three adults on Lake Wor- 
den, December 3, and one December 8, 1900. 
American Merganser (Merganser americanus).— This species, locally 
known as the ‘‘ Break-horn Sheldrake,” is frequently associated with the 
next, resorting to air-holes in Lake Worden throughout the winter. 
Red-breasted Merganser (Merganser serrator).— Large flocks of this 
species and the preceding resorted to the air-holes in the lake as soon as 
the water was frozen. At dusk their peculiar voices were always heard. 
‘On the coldest days the air-holes were so reduced in size that all could 
not be accommodated and many were left'standing upon the ice, in long 
rows, where the smaller size of the present species plainly distinguished 
them from the ‘‘ Break-horns.” 
Black Duck (Azas obscura).— About the middle of December, Black 
Ducks, which had hitherto been confined to such open streams as are 
