188 
General Notes. 
As far as I can learn, there are several nests of this bird in different 
collections, the identities of most if not all of which are disputed. The 
description in Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway’s work agrees very well with 
nests of the Traills’ Flycatcher which I have seen, bnt is totally different 
from that of the nest now before me, and so much so that, although I am 
well aware of the great differences existing in the nesting habits of birds 
of the same species, yet I cannot believe them to extend as far as this. 
As we were leaving Grand Menan, a nest was brought to us which I 
have no doubt is of the same species, as the position and construction, 
which are, to say the least, peculiar, as well as the eggs, correspond ex- 
actly ; also the finder’s description of the bird. — S. D. Osborne, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 
The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler (Helminthophaga pinus) in Mas- 
sachusetts. — Although this species has been recorded * as a bird of the 
State, and the specimen cited is in the collection of the Boston Society of 
Natural History (the specimen was captured in Dedham by Mr. Emanuel 
Samuels and presented to the society by Dr. Cabot), recent writers on 
Massachusetts birds have seen fit to exclude it from their lists. I have 
just examined a fine male specimen of this species which was captured in 
West Roxbury, Mass., on May 17, 1878, by Mr. C. N. Hammond. It is 
now in the collection of Mr. John Fottler, Jr., of Boston. This makes the 
second recorded instance of its capture in the State. — Ruthven Deane, 
Cambridge, Mass. 
The Skua Gull ( Stercorarius catarractes) on the Coast of Massachu- 
setts. — Professor Baird has recently informed me that one of his party 
found, on the 18th of July, at the Fort Wharf, Gloucester, the dead body 
of a bird that proved upon examination to be an example of the common 
large Skua. The bird showed marks of having been recently kept in 
confinement, and a little inquiry elicited the information that it had been 
captured alive by means of a hook on the Georges, and had been kept 
alive on one of the fishing vessels. This is the first instance on record in 
which one of this species has been taken on any part of North America 
other than Greenland ; and as the Georges geologically and practically 
belong to our coast water, this bird may now be classed not only as of 
North America proper, but also of New England and Massachusetts. — 
T. M. Brewer, Boston, Mass. 
Rufous-headed Sparrow ( Peuccea ruficeps) in Texas. — On April 24, 
1878, Mr. George H. Ragsdale, of Gainesville, Texas, shot a male and 
female of this species in Gilliespie County, Texas, about one hundred 
miles Avest of Austin. The species Avas first described from specimens 
taken in California. In 1873 it Avas found in Arizona by Mr. H. W. 
HenshaAv, and also at Fort Bayard, N. M. He speaks of finding it numer- 
* Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Yol. VI, p. 386. 
