Bachman's Warbler (<I>Helmenithophila bachmani</I>), at Raleigh, N. C

-?I

6

^{General Nofes.} rj"'y contain ova varying in size from a No. lo shot to that ofa small pea.

The

skin of this bird is at present in

my

son's collection.

—

Dr. R.

W.

Shiifcldf, SmithsonianInstitution, WasJ/imrton,

D.

C.

Capture ofGeothlypis poliocephala palpebralis in

Cameron

County,

Texas

^•

—

RecentlyMr. Charles K.

Worthen

of

Warsaw,

Illinois,sent

me

for identification a specimen of Geothlypis poliocep/iala palpebralis (Ridgw.).an adult male, taken by oneof his collectors at Brownsville,

Cameron

County,Texas,Jnne8, 1S90.

On my

questioning the correct- nessof the alleged locality, Mr.

Worthen made

special inquiries respect- ing the capture ofthisspecimen, and writes

me

that his collectorassures liimthespecimen"tvrt5 takenⁱⁿBrownsville,Texas." Itbeingthefirstone he had seen, he sentittoMr.

Worthen

for identification. This specimen

is

now

in Mr.Worthen'scollection.

This forms the first record of the species for theUnitedStates. Mr.

George

B. Sennett, however,has in hiscollection a single specimenfrom

Aldema,

Tamaulipas, Mexico, collectedJune13, 18S8.

These

specimens areboth referable totheform Mr.

Ridgway

has recognized as Geothlypis palpebralis(Man. N.

Am.

Birds, 1887,p.526),

—

^oneofthe several closely alliedformsof the G. poliocephala group.

—

^J. A.

Allen, Am.

Mas. Nat.

Hist.,JVew

York

City.

Bachman's

\A^arbler {Helminthophila bachmani) at Raleigh, N. C.

—

-

On

April27, 1891,whilewalking near a small

woodland

stream I heard the note of aWarbler unfamiliar to

me

but which reminded

me

of the songofthe Parulawithout the riseat theend.

The

sound

came

appar- entlyfrom the low bushes in the brook, but I could seeno bird. Ifol-

lowedthesound

up

thebrooktill Ireachedathicketat its head,

where

I

waited.

On

hearing the notes again I crossed the brook and foundthe birdwas in the

woods

infrontofme. In a few seconds I

saw

a birdwith ablack throat about 15 ft.from thegroundin thelower limbs ofa small oak,and immediatelyaftercollected

my

first

Bachman's

Warbler. While

in theoak the bird suggested Dendroica virens, but the song prevented

my

mistakingitforthat species.

This specimenwasapparentlyinbreeding conditionasthetestesmeas- ured^{5i^}by₄₄

mm.,

butIcould detectnootherbirds with it,exceptapair ofBluegray Gnatcatchers which were buildingnearthe

same

brook.

On May

22,Itook

my

second specimen of thisspecies, in a woodland thicketon the edgeof

Walnut

Creek, within afewfeetofwheretheabove mentioned brook flows into the creek. I

may

here mention that since killing the first specimen I had on three occasions followed and killed

Wormeating

Warblers,on accountof the similarityof theirsong tothat ofBachman's Warbler.

When

^thesongof

Bachman's

Warblerfell on

my

ears onthissecondoccasion, Iremarkedto

my

^brother,

who was

withme,

"I heara Warblersingingthatiseither a

Wormeater

oraBachman's." I

followedthe notesup thecreektillatlast I caught sightofa bird with a black throatin a small birch and immediatelyshotit. Another bird flew

,g J

General Notes.

3^7

chipping into another birch and also ^fell a victin,. but this was only a male Prairie Warbler, and ^{not the n,aleof}

my

Baclnnans. Ih.s bach- ,nan'swasalso amale,the testes n.easuringGh

X

4-4 '-"• ^'1''--^"S' ^« >"

,he previous ^instance, seemed to

come

from the low bushes near ^the ..round, while thebird was ten ^feetfromthe ground

when

^shot

°These twocaptures,I believe,extend therangeof

Bachman

^{s Warbler}

considerablv further north thanwas ^previously

known,

and

make

.1 p.o- bablethat itbreeds not^farfromhere,though perhaps ^{notin tins}unmed,- ate vicinity ^I

may

add that I have searched for this specieswith great 'caresince'capturing

my

^firstspecimen but without anysuccess excepton thesecond occasion^{of its}captureandthen ^Iwasn't looking^torit.-C. b.

Brimley.Raleigh,

N.

^C.

Note

on Mimocichla verriUorum.-In ^{the last nun.ber of} 'The Auk"

fVIII n ->i7) Idescribedwhat was supposed ^tobea

new

^{spec.es of}

Ahm-

ociekiui^n.the Island of Don.inica, and assumed^{it tobe the}

^-^

^record of the genusforthe Lesser^Antilles. For the timebeingI hadfo.goten arecen'paper byDr. P. L.^{Sclater (P. Z. S., 1S89,P-} 3^6) givinga list

ofthe birds of Dominica, andrecording therefrom^aform of

M.nocuMa.

calledbv

him M.

^{arde^iaca}albiventri.. Iwasunfortunately notreminded ofthispaper till after the publication of

my

own, ^{otherwise I} should doubtlesshave adopted Mr. ^Sclater's

name

for the species inquestion,al-

though he^{failed to point out}

some

of theprincipal difterencesdistingmsh-

•Igthisform from ^{i^s allies.} Mr. Sclater says:

"As

might have been expected, the

Dominican

^//;«../c/./«belongs to thePortoR.can form ^It

is in tact, sonearly similar ^thatIdonotsee suificientgrounds formaking it'specifically distinct.

The

only^difference apparent isthe

^^^

^gi-.ater

whiteness of ^{the bellyin} the

Dominican

species,

whence

those

who

^adop

trinomials would, nodoubt, callit Mtmocichlaardesiaeaalbtventrt..

As

In a laterreferenceto itin the

same

^{paper he says:} "Besidesthese heie aretwo peculiar subspecies, namely Mimocichla ardcsiaca albtventrn, etc.,he evidently intended ^to recognize ^{it as a} subspecies.

As

the naine

«/L-;.«/./s-hasprioritybyseveral

months

over verrilloru,n the species

wm

^{stind as}

JimocillJalM.entris

^{(Scl.),on the basisof ^}

-

^{charac^rs}

„„ T A

Attfm Am

^{Mies. Nat. titst., ivea'}

given in

my

^{former paper.}

—J.

^A.

^Allen,

^{j^m.}

York

City.

The Robin

^WinteringatGodbout, Quebec.

-

1desire toplaceonrecord what is to us here a most unusualoccurrence,viz, the wintering of ^the

Robin

iMerula mi^raioHa) on ^the north shore of the^St.

Lawrence On

lookingover

my

notesonthe species,extending over twelve^{years, I}

hnd

thatth; latest birdpreviously seenwasnotedon

Decembers;

other years fVom 3sth to 30th

November.

^{Arrivals in.the spring have been noted}

n-oin April18 to

May

^{6. ThisyearI}kept recording^theiroccurrence day afterday, always^{expectingthat it}was'goingto be the ^last seen^ but they are here ^still (Feb. 4- 'SoO, and ^{intend to} ^^^y

\'^f^^^^-J:;^yJZ

when

the tid. falU, leavingtne rocks or

some

shoals bare, th.M Hock to