August 26th, a flight of Great Blue Herons passed south, 
going in flocks of twenty or more all day. 
September 4th I saw Grebes, Cormorants and White¬ 
winged Scoters. 
J. W. Goodridge. 
CONCERNING A 1919 RECORD 
In the December 1919 number of the E. C. 0. C. Bulletin , 
under the “Told Around the Big Table” notes, I gave a 
somewhat detailed description of an observation of the 
Connecticut Warbler made on the Club’s Ipswich River 
trip of 1919 and accepted, vouched for and published by the 
Club in the list for that year. 
In the Auk for April 1920, Mr. Witmer Stone calls attention 
to the excessive rarity of this species in the East, in spring, 
and intimates that the record might be unreliable. 
The four persons who saw the bird, bearing in mind the 
importance of the observation and entirely convinced of the 
accuracy of their identification, take no issue with Mr. Stone 
for questioning the record. They do, however, believe that 
a statement made thirteen years ago has little value as a basis 
for criticism. Mr. Brewster’s book, “Birds of the Cambridge 
Region” was published in 1906. In 1905, Dr. Charles W. 
Townsend in his “Birds of Essex County” listed 321 birds. 
He has now published a “Supplement” to this book and 
records 335 birds. Dr. Townsend has added 16 species and 
dropped two since 1905. These figures, relating exclusively 
to Essex County, show the futility of bringing forward any 
authority after a lapse of thirteen years, to question the 
authenticity of an identification. 
A. B. Fowler. 
48 
