Bicknell on Hylocickla alicicz bicknelli . 
IS 2 
102. Mergus merganser americanus (Cass.) Ridgw. Sheldrake. — 
Not uncommon at Grand Falls. 
103. Mergus serrator Linn. Red-breasted Merganser. — “Very 
common, breeding,” at Houlton. 
104. Larus argentatus smithsonianus, Cones. Herring Gull. — 
At Houlton it is common on the neighboring lakes, where it breeds. 
105. Podilymbus podiceps (Linn.) Lavji \ Pied-billed Grebe. — 
Rare, breeds, Houlton, 
A SKETCH OF THE HOME OF HYL O CICHLA 
ALICIsE BICKNELLI , RIDGW AY, WITH SOME 
CRITICAL REMARKS ON THE ALLIES OF THIS 
NEW RACE. 
BY EUGENE P. BICKNELL. 
That there -remained unrecognized at this late day a bird reg- 
ularly inhabiting one of the most populous portions of our coun- 
try ; or, indeed, that a species of eminently boreal habitat during 
its breeding season, and not known to occur at all at such time 
within the limits of the United States, should have a representa-, 
tive race regularly breeding in our midst, are facts for which we 
were little prepared. Mr. Ridgw ay’s recent paper* announcing 
these facts being necessarily of a technical nature, and confined to 
a formal description of the new Thrush, it has been thought well 
on the present occasion to allude more particularly to the char- 
acter of the locality inhabited by the bird, and to some of its asso- 
ciates there, in connection with other sequential considerations. 
As the general physical character of the Catskill Mountains and 
the faunal features of the region will be treated by the writer else- 
where, it will be unnecessary to extend the range of the present 
relation from the summit of Slide Mountain in Ulster Co.,f 
where the new race was discovered. 
On June i 5 , 188., nearing the summit of this mountain, the 
forests of a more northern latitude were forcibly suggested. A 
shower had fallen during the ascent, and the sun was still obscured, 
* “ Descriptions of two new Thrushes from the United States.” Proceedings U. S. 
National Museum, Vol. 374, pp. 374-9. 
f The highest peak of the Catskills, — 4,205 feet altitude. 
