fl Bla , C , k - backed Three-toed Woodpecker and Evening Grosbeak at Well- 
f a h SS ’ the vicinit T of Wellfleet, CapeTOT^ter 5. 1 killed 
in Mr W'n Three - t0ed Wood P ecker (Picoides arcticus), which is now 
M,. Will .am Brewster’s collection, and saw an Evening Grosbeak 
(Mesferifikona vespertine). The Grosbeak was in the open near one or 
waTa st l- aW U Cl ° Se en ° Ugh t0 be sure of the identification It 
was a striking looking bird and could have been nothing else Assuming- 
' 7“ the T Same individuaI a11 t ime , it was ver 7 1oath to leave the 
Ti 7 ' . thOUght 11 had left ’ alld departed myself, but came back later 
TJJT i h : S T t 1 . S ' 10t 3t U — times, but unfortunately did not 
ecu e it The white wing patches were perhaps its most striking feature 
MaT ( w h,, Ue^agreat deab - Jon, ^ Nichols, 
ajjs, XXI, Jan., 1904, p, S 
The Evening Grosbeak at Beverly, Mass.— In the winter of 1889-1890 
there was a great incursion of the Evening Grosbeak ( Hesperiphona 
vespertine) to Massachusetts, a number of specimens being taken at Box- 
ford and Lynn. This was considered the most interesting flight of birds, 
ever recorded in the State. Most of the specimens secured were placed in 
the Peabody Academy of Science at Salem. I believe the species has not 
been seen since then until Wednesday, March 23, 1904, when I came upon 
a flock of five of them. They were in a willow tree along with, some 
Robins and Rusty Grackles. The Robins and Grackles flew when I passed 
under the tree, but these birds remained, and to my surprise I discovered 
that they were the Evening Grosbeak. They were much scattered, and I 
fired at one old male which I secured. They flew perhaps an eighth of a 
mile before alighting again. I followed and secured two more, a 
young male and a female. They were all fine birds, in good condition, 
and their stomachs were well filled with buds and seed. They have been 
purchased by Mr. John E. Thayer of Lancaster, Mass. ; two of them will 
be placed in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History and 
the other retained for his own collection. — C. Emerson Brown, 
Beverly, Mass. Aufc, X ..1, July, 1904, p. 
Evening Grosbeaks again in Massachusetts. — Mr. M. Abbott Frazar has 
kindly given me permission to report the fact that, on the morning of 
February 7, 1909, he met with a small flock of Evening Grosbeaks at 
Townsend, Massachusetts. He was returning from a walk when he started 
the birds from the ground where they had been feeding on the fallen fruit 
of a rock maple that stands within twenty feet of the front steps of his farm 
house. They flew across the road to a smaller maple in which they alighted 
and remained for several minutes, allowing him to approach them closely 
and to obtain a good view of them. There were about ten of them, all in 
the plumage of the female. Their next flight was to the top of a tall pine 
some two hundred yards further off. Here they stayed a somewhat shorter 
time, before taking wing again, to disappear in the far distance. Mr. 
Frazar had been away from Townsend for four days before the date above 
mentioned. He was told that during his absence the Grosbeaks had been 
seen repeatedly by a man who works on his place. They have not since 
returned to it as far as he can learn. He was constantly on the watch for 
them during the remainder of his stay at Townsend, which terminated 
on the morning of February 11, when he came back to Boston. Not long 
after this he received and forwarded to me two letters written by a man liv- 
ing in South Sudbury, Massachusetts, who claims that his “door yard” 
was visited on February 14th, and again on the 15th, 1909, by three Even- 
ing Grosbeaks, two of which were males. 
If I remember rightly, Evening Grosbeaks are known to have occurred in 
eastern Massachusetts on but two occasions prior to these; in 1890 when 
they appeared in considerable numbers, at many different localities, in 
January, February, and March; and on March 23, 1904, when five were 
found together in Beverly and three of them killed, by Mr. C. E. Brown. 1 — 
William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. 
1 Auk, Vol. XXI, July, 1904, p. 385. 
> 26, Apr-1909, p, ! 
