2 5 2 
General Notes. 
Guillemots. Indeed the example of L. troile mentioned by Mr. Merrill 
is the only New England one of which I have any knowledge. Dr. Coues 
says that the young of L. troile in their first winter plumage “are col- 
ored precisely like the adults, but may be always distinguished by their 
much shorter and slenderer bills which are in great part light colored 
(yellowish).”* If the latter peculiarity be constant it will afford a ready 
mark of distinction between young of the two species, for the bill in 
young briinnichi , so far as I have seen, is invariably black. — William 
Brewster, Cambridge , Mass. 
Rare Warblers in Massachusetts. — In the wonderful flight or 
bird-wave, especially of the Mniotiltidae , that took place with us May 21 
and 22 last, and for some species continued during a few succeeding days, 
three Mourning Warblers, all males, were shot near Fresh pond, Cam- 
bridge. These, in the flesh, were kindly shown me by Mr. C. J. Maynard. 
At Framingham,f on the above-named dates, Mr. Browne and myself 
identified twenty species of Warblers — among them specimens of the Cape 
May, Tennessee, and Bay-breasted; of the last two several were obtained 
in Eastern Massachusetts. Among New England Warblers, collectors 
here consider Geothlypis Philadelphia to be the rarest, and Dendreeca tig - 
rina next in scarcity. Helminthophila feregrina and Dendroeca casta- 
nea follow, though in the fall migrations this latter species occurs in mod- 
erate numbers with more or less regularity. — H. A. Purdie, Newton , 
Mass. 
The Unusual “Wave” of Birds during the Spring Migration 
of 1882. — A note by Dr. Coues in the July Bulletin! describes the remark- 
able “tidal wave” of our smaller birds that occurred at Washington, D.C., 
during the spring migration this year, and it may be worth while to 
throw a little light upon its further course. 
As Dr. Coues says, the vast number of birds was doubtless due to the 
cold and rainy weather that prevailed, checking the progress of the 
migration beyond the latitude of Washington. When the weather 
changed, the gradually accumulated throng was let loose, and rushed in a 
great wave towards the northern breeding grounds. In the vicinity of 
New York, as I learn from my friend Mr. J. Dwight, Jr., after prolonged 
cold and wet weather a change came on the morning of May 20, and with 
the pleasant weather the rush of birds began. Almost all the Warblers 
a,nd Thrushes were in great numbers, and continued very abundant at 
least throughout the following day. In the latitude of Boston birds had 
been unusually scarce for some days. The change to clear and warmer 
weather took place about noon of the 21st, and before the rain ceased the 
rush of birds had begun. All day long the smaller birds came in 
* “Monograph of the Alcidae,” Proc. Phila. Acad., Vol. XX, 1868, p. 77. 
t See F. C. Browne, Forest and Stream, Vol. XVIII, June 15, 1882, p. 386. 
+ Vol. VII, p. 185. 
