12 
Berrier o 7 t Birds at Bort Hafnilton , L. I. 
of a late prominent politician. However, in the fall of 1877 it 
was very common here for about ten days. It was also abundant 
in the adjacent parts of New York and New Jersey. Thus, at 
Tarry town, an acquaintance of mine took a hundred and four 
specimens, and my friend Gerard Hardenberg, Esq., found it 
very plentiful about New Brunswick and Princeton. Unless I 
am mistaken, it was recorded in considerable numbers from the 
south side of Long Island in the winter of 1877 and 1878. In the 
fall of 1878 I saw only two or three individuals of this species, 
and during the last autumn I shot but one. 
The fall of 1878 was also remarkable for the unusal number of 
Red-bellied Nuthatches (Sitta canadensis) , White-bellied Nut- 
hatches ( Sitta carolinensis) , Brown Creepers ( Cert hi a fa? 7 iil- 
iaris ), and Chickadees {Parus atricapillus) . Excepting the first- 
named, which had hitherto been rather scarce, the rest had 
always been regular fall visitants, but never in such hosts as came 
that autumn. The little fellows were everywhere, — about the 
trees, on the fences, climbing the sides of the houses, and running 
about the shutters. They remained with us through the winter 
and first half of the spring. I may here remark that I shot a Red- 
bellied Nuthatch at Fort Hamilton, July 20, 1 877, in full breed- 
ing plumage (see Brewster’s u First Plumages,” this Bulletin, Vol. 
Ill, pp. 20, 21). What this bird was doing on Long Island in 
mid-summer I can not imagine, as its southern breeding limit is 
far. north of here. During the past autumn and winter I have 
seen not one Red-bellied Nuthatch , or Chickadee , and only two or 
three White-bellied Nuthatches. Why such a common bird as 
the Black-capped Tit should have been wanting I cannot imagine. 
It would be interesting to know whether this species wintered in 
unusual abundance north of Long Island. 
In the fall of 1879 the Water Thrush ( Siurus ncevius ) was the 
characteristic bird of this neighborhood. Fort Hamilton is hardly 
the locality where one would look for the Water Thrush. Almost 
every pond in the township of New Utrecht has been drained, on 
account of the malaria that formerly prevailed, and there are no 
streams. Nevertheless from the middle of August to the latter 
part of September Water Thrushes were very abundant. They 
were found in dry woods, in pastures and orchards, and in yards 
and gardens. In fact, I found them more plenty away from than 
about moist ground. Heretofore the Water Thrush had been 
