108 
Brown on Birds at Portland, Me. 
The first specimen of Recurvirostra americana known to have been 
taken in Maine was shot at Simontou’s Cove, Cape Elizabeth, on the 
5th of November, 1878, and passed through my hands. A notice 
of the bird was shortly afterwards published in the “Portland Press” 
by the Portland Natural History Society, in whose cabinet the 
specimen is preserved. I should add that reports have reached me 
of the occurrence of several other individuals of this species about 
the same time, but have not been traceable to any authentic source. 
I am not aware that any of the scientific papers * relating to the 
birds of Maine include the name of Rallus longirostris. It appears, 
however, to be a rare visitor to the State. Mr. Samuel Hanson, a 
gentleman who is perfectly familiar with the species, has given me 
three instances of its occurrence in the vicinity of Portland. One 
specimen was killed by himself, in Falmouth, on the 17th of Octo- 
ber, 1866, and about the same time two others were noticed in the 
game-bag of a sportsman in the same town. A probable fourth 
specimen (if correctly identified, doubtless the first killed in the 
State) was shot by my friend Mr. Luther Redlow, about September, 
1864. It proved a “sp. now” to all local sportsmen, and was pro- 
nounced to be of the species in question only after comparison with 
printed descriptions. 
Two young examples of H ydrochelidon lariformis were taken in 
Scarborough the past autumn, and are probably, with one exception, 
the first detected within the limits of the State. Professor Verrill 
gives the bird as rare in Maine, but writes me of it : “ I think its 
occurrence rests on examinations of a specimen or specimens formerly 
in the Portland Natural History Society’s collection before it was 
burned. I cannot remember whether I ever saw more than one or 
not.” And since not only the Society’s entire collection, but all its 
records, were destroyed in the great fire of 1866, it must remain a 
matter of doubt whether more than one specimen existed in its cabi- 
net before that time. 
* A contributor writing from Portsmouth to the defunct “ Country,” under 
date of February 14, 1878, noted the capture of a “ Rallus crepitans ” at York, 
Me., in the last week of December, 1875. Since the gentleman chose to con- 
ceal his identity under the initial “ E.,” I am unable to say under whose spon- 
sorship this record was made, but regard it as probably correct. Mr. Purdie 
writes me that his allusion on page 22, Yol. IT, of this Bulletin, to the bird’s 
occurrence in Maine was based on a knowledge of the same specimen, which, he 
adds, was preserved by Mr. Vickery, of Lynn, Mass. 
