Kov. 1887.] 



AKD OOLOGIST.; / 



a large flock of Barn and White-bellied Swal- 

 lows flew past towards the north, and in a few 

 moments returned, flying south. There were 

 several hundred in the flock and it was com- 

 posed of young and adults. 



Shortly after Mr. Whiting started four Gold- 

 en-winged Woodpeckers out of the beach grass 

 and secured two specimens. A Winter Wren 

 uwari snruus w.u.e uu.ers vvouiu ue u..c..,y ,io„g o^g^ 

 dotted with the growth. The low shrubs seem 

 aoapted to the liking of some, though the ma- 

 joriW prefer the height of from two and one- 

 half t>o six feet, from our observations coupled 

 with tnhse of Mr. Cheney. Ros^''^ Island made a 

 good shoVing after a morning's search, but the 

 other isIetsWhich fringe the coast do not seem 

 favorable to its nidifl.cation''; the main seems to 

 be the proper place and here we met with best 

 success. From a\series' of eight sets, taken on 

 the island, before rue/there is considerable vai-i- 

 ation as to markings,^ the ground beini 

 ably white. 



No. 1. Contai/s four efes, which are spotted 

 chiefly about pie. crown with vandyke brown. 

 A wreath of/Drown blotchesv^encircles the base 

 of each specimen. 



1 the hawk. As tL „„,, „^ ' 



! first barrel a„-'t,2d to 



[second, but h^tnn "veVrH ^7' ''""^ '''' 



! was out of gu, Zll '''' '^-^ and 



'c—rTalw^ Mr Whiting took a Brown 

 C.eeper^h^^^son the roof of thef^iouse. 



incern for ' 

 liting also 

 M'sh while 



);o a small 

 tad. This 

 of beech, 

 ivith wild 

 it contain- 



lid Sa van- 



Blue Yel- 

 m a small 

 le swamp 

 ;ed Wood- 

 several 1 

 I were so 

 f several 

 through 

 Mr. W.'s I 

 [ for the I 

 3ad med- 



Golden-winged Woodpeckers, six seen. Cedai 

 Waxwings, saw a flock of five and two shot; 

 one male adult and one young. Hermit Thrush 

 {tol. com.), keeping close in the thick bushes. 

 Yellow Warbler {tol. com.), all seen and one 

 shot, adult male. Saw and shot one female 

 Redstart. Several («/</.) Maryland Yellow- 

 throats seen. We also saw several other small 

 birds that we could not identify. 



The next morning, the 18th, we went over to 

 the swamp to see if there was any increase in 

 birds, but didn't notice any. Saw a Pigeon 

 Hawk make a dive down into the swamp after 

 a small bird, which it missed. While returning, 

 started a Short-eared Owl out of the beach 

 grass, and he alighted some distance ahead, 

 down near a sand hole, as 1 thought. I tramped 

 about the place, but could not flush him, and 

 was just giving up the search when I saw a 

 Sparrow Hawk dart down at something on the 

 sand a short distance ahead of me. At each 

 dart I heard a note that I knew came from the 

 owl, and looking closely saw it directly below 



Brief Shore Bird Notes. 



BY JOHN C. CAHOON. 



Our early flight of adult Sanderlings, Ked- 

 breasted Snipe, Red-breasted Sandpipers and 

 Black-bellied Plovers occurred at about the 

 same time as the last season's one, but was 

 very light ; in fact the absence of all kinds of 

 shore birds has been very noticeable. The 

 south-east storms of the last two weeks have 

 increased the few scattering Black-bellied Plov- 

 ers into several good-sized flocks, mostly young, 

 also several small bunches of Great Yellow-legs 

 and Golden Plovers. 



Pectoral and Bonaparte's Sandpiper have not 

 put in an appearance as yet. A few young 

 Sanderling just arriving, also young Red- 

 backed Sandpipers. I have never seen an 

 adult Red-backed Sandpiper in the fall. 



Yesterday I saw several large flocks of Blaok- 

 bellied Plover on the beach at high tide. 



At present writing to-day, it has been stormy 

 with thick fog and the number of shore birds is 

 greatly Increased. I saw first Black Tern 

 (young) of the season to-night, some dozen in 

 number. 



Monomoy Island, Cape Cod, Aug. 25, 1887. 



O &0. XII. Oct. 1887 p. 



