A few notes on the Avifauna Columbiana

(1)

326

Gerteral Notes.

^^^^^

RareBirdsinthe Vicinityof Philadelphia.

— ^On

^Sept.5, 1S94, a speci-

men

of Co7itopus borealis was secured near Holmesburg, Pa., and on

May

18, 1895,3 specimen of Empidoftaxtrailliiabtortunyvas, secured.

This is,I believe, the first definiteTecordforthe latter in this part of the State, asI

am

unableto findanyⁱⁿStone's ^'Birds of Eastern Penn- sylvaniaand

New

Jersej'.'

—

Witmer

^^toisK,

Academy

of

Natural

Scie?ices, Philadelphia,Pa.

A Few

Notes

on

the Avifauna Columbiana.

— A

Swallow-tailed Kite {Elanoidesforjicatus)

was

observed flyingover the Virginia side of the

Aqueduct

Bridge,by thewriter,April11, 1897. Thisbirdisexceedingly rarehereandrecordsfor this locality are scarce.

On

the

same

dateItookasetofeggsofthe

Turkey

Vulture,about two anda half milessouthofFallsChurch, whichisaveryearlydatefor this locality,and meritsa notice.

As

spring recordsfortheConnecticutWarblerare scarce, it

may

not be amissto saythatI noticeda specimen jNIay 9, 1897, in a

swampy

ravine, on Eastern Branch, south of the

Reform

School.

—

Paul Bartsch,

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

Northern

New

Jersey Notes.

—

In consequence of the lack of a

New

Jersey record of the Cerulean Warbler {Dendroica rara) in ^'

The

Birds of EasternPennsylvania and

New

Jersey,' by

Witmer

Stone, Idesire to note the captureof this species'on an oak clad hill of Boonton, Morris Co., N. _J., about the first of September, 1887. In the

same

township I tooka

young

Henslow's

Sparrow (^Ammodramns

henslozvii') in atussocky

meadow

on

August

8, 1889.

— Sylvester

D. Judd,

Department

ofAg-ri- ciilture, Washington,

D.

C.

Bird Notes from Massachusetts.

—

Mniotilta varia.

— On

the 15th of December, 1S95, a single individual of thisspecies wasseen

among

the pear trees in the yard.

A

heavy snow-stormwas ragingatthe time,but the bird was actively engaged clambering about on the trunks, onthe sheltered sides of the trees, where the

damp snow

did notcling. This bird

may

have been the

same

one,seeninthe

same

spot

November

13, in

company

with a flock of Chickadees.

On

both occasions the bird was very

tame

andconfiding,allowing

me

toapproach near

enough

so see all its markings. It

was

not seen againafter thesnow,whichwasthe first

heavy stormof thewinter.

Dendroicacoronata.

— On

the29thof July, 1896, asinglebirdwas seen inan orchard at Mt. Wachusett, Mass. Itwas engaged in catchingflies

andother ^insects, and several times uttered itscharacteristic tckuckand tvheest.

The

occurrenceof this species at this date seems noteworthy as being severalweeks earlierthan the usualappearanceof thebird inthis region.

Junco

hyemalis.

—

^It^isinterestingtonotethattwopairs of Slate-colored Juncos ^nested on the

summit

of Mt. Wachusett during the

summer

of