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3. Species of probable occurrence.

Of the following list of twenty-four species, the greater part have been included in various former lists of the birds of Massachusetts, but generally on inferential or hearsay evidence, or by erroneous identifications. Six have actually been taken within the last three or four years by Mr. E. I. Shores, within a few miles of the southern boundary of the state (near my old collecting ground at Springfield). Others, from their known general range, must evidently occur at rare intervals, and I confidently expect that within the next ten years at least seven-eighths, and probably nine-tenths, of them will be added to the list of those included from having been actually taken within the state. At least one-half of them have already been obtained in adjoining states at points not far from the Massachusetts line.

1. Saxicola cnantha Bech. STONECHAT. Has been taken in Labrador, at Quebec, Canada, and on Long Island, and is of frequent Occurrence in the Bermudas.

2. Lophophanes bicolor Bon. CRESTED TITMOUSE. Northern New Jersey; Long Island; New London, Conn. (one instance, Merriam, Rev. Birds Conn., 1877, 9); New Haven, Conn. (Linsley); New Hampshire.

3. Protonotaria citrea Baird. PROTпONOTARY WARBLER. Of accidental occurrence in eastern Maine and New Brunswick (Brewer, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 439, on the authority of Mr. Boardman), and being a southern species may be looked for as of casual occurrence in Massachusetts.

4. Helmitherus vermivorus Bon.

WORM-EATING WARBLER.

Has been taken in Suffield, Conn., on the southern boundary of Massachusetts, and is a rather common summer resident in portions of Southern Connecticut (Purdie, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, II, Jan., 1877, 21; Am. Nat., VII, 1873, 692).

5. Helminthophaga pinus Baird. BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER. "A summer resident in southern Connecticut and in the Connecticut Valley," where it breeds (Merriam, Rev. Birds Conn., 14).

6. Dendræca cærulea Baird. CERULEAN WARBLER. Has been taken as far north as Suffield, Conn., on the southern boundary of the state (Purdie, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, II, 1877, 22).

7. Oporornis formosa Baird. KENTUCKY WARBLER. Was taken by Mr. E. I. Shores in Suffield, Conn., Aug. 16, 1876, the only record for New England (Merriam, Rev. Birds Conn., 1877, 22).

8. Myiodioctes mitrata Aud. HOODED WARBLER. Rare summer resident in southern Connecticut (Merriam). Has been taken in Suffield, Conn., by Mr. E. I. Shores, July 8, 1875 (Purdie, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, II, 1877, 21).

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9. Stelgidopteryx serripennis Baird. RoUGH-WINGED SWALTaken at Suffield, Conn., by Mr. E. I. Shores, June 6, 1874 (Purdie, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, II, Jan, 1877, 21), its only New England record. It has been found, however, breeding at West Point, New York (Mearns, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, III, Apr., 1878, -), and will doubtless soon be added to the fauna of Massachusetts.

10. Goniaphea cærulea Gray. BLUE GROSBEAK. This southern species having been taken at Grand Menan and Calais, Maine (Boardman, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., IX, 1862, 127) is surely to be added, sooner or later, to the list of Massachusetts birds. Its occurrence is á priori far more probable than that of many species that have been found here.

11. Perisoreus canadensis Bon. CANADA JAY. This species occurs doubtless in Berkshire County as an occasional winter visitor. 12. Tyrannus verticalis Say. ARKANSAS FLYCATCHER. This species has been taken at Elliot, Maine (Bryant, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., X, 1865, 96; Purdie, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, Sept., 1876, 73), and is as likely to occur in this state as many western and southern species that have already been taken here.

13. Corvus ossifragus Wils. FISH CROW. Probably rare or accidental. Although there is as yet no record of its capture within the state, Mr. W. Brewster, who is familiar with the species, observed a single individual in Cambridge, March 16, 1875 (Brewster, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 19). Its recent capture at West Point, N. Y., and on Long Island, tends to confirm its reported occurrence in Connecticut by Linsley (Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, XLIV, 1843, 260) and render it almost certain that stragglers will soon be taken here. It is so easily confounded with the Common Crow, even when in hand, by ordinary observers, that it may for this reason have been heretofore overlooked. 14. Empidonax acadicus Baird. ACADIAN FLYCATCHER. Not known to have been taken in the state, but it has been obtained by Mr. E. I. Shores in Suffield, Conn., within ten miles of my old collecting ground at Springfield, Mr. Shores's specimen having been identified as E. acadicus by no less an authority than Mr. Robert Ridgway (Merriam, Rev. Birds Conn., 1877, 58). This places the species beyond question in the list of New England birds (see Brewer, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 1875, 452). I recorded this bird in 1864 as occurring at Springfield (Proc. Essex Inst., IV, 54), but have since become convinced that I mistook for it E. trailli.

15. Ægialites wilsonia Cass. WILSON'S PLOVER. Its reported occurrence in the state rest on not wholly satisfactory authority (see Brewer, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 1875, 452). There appears to be no recent well-authenticated instance of its occurrence north of Long Island.

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16. Scolopax rusticola Linn. EUROPEAN WOODCOCK. The occasional capture of this European species on the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Virginia (Loudon County, Nov., 1873, Coues, Am. Nat., X, 372), seems to render it probable that it will eventually be taken in this state.

17. Recurvirostra americana Gmel. AVOSET. As this species has been taken in one instance at Point Lepreaux, New Brunswick (not Calais, Me., as generally supposed; see Brewer, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 1875, 452), and near Saybrook, Conn. (Merriam, Rev. Birds Conn., 1877, 103), it may be fairly looked for as an accidental visitor.

18. Cygnus buccinator Rich. TRUMPETER SWAN. Recently reported by Mr. Merriam (Rev. Birds Conn., 1870, 120) as probably occurring in the vicinity of East Windsor Hill, Conn. (within fifteen miles of the Massachusetts line). In all probability it was commou here two hundred years ago and may still be looked for as a straggler. 19. Anser cærulescens Pallas. BLUE GOOSE. May be an accídental visitor, but according to Dr. Brewer (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 1875, 452) there is no record of its actual occurrence in New England.

20. Branta leucopsis Boie. BARNACLE GOOSE. As this accidental visitor has been taken` in southern Labrador, Maine, on Long Island, and in North Carolina, and more than the "eight escaped birds" have been accounted for, it seems reasonable to include this species among those of probable occurrence in Massachusetts. On the occurrence of this species on the Atlantic coast of North America see Baird (Am. Nat., II, March, 1868, 39), Brewer (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 1875, 452), Lawrence (Am. Nat., V, March, 1870, 10), and Lawrence and Deane (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, II, Jan., 1877, 18). I understand specimens have recently been taken near Portland, Maine. It has been repeatedly attributed to Massachusetts, but probably on insufficient evidence. (See Allen, Proc. Essex Inst., IV, 1864, 88; Coues, Proc. Essex Inst., VI, 1868, 298.)

21. Mareca penelope Bon. EUROPEAN WIDGEON. This species likewise lacks confirmation as a bird of Massachusetts, or even of New England, although it has been taken on Long Island, and at various points in North America. It is of course to be looked for here.

22. Querquedula crecca Steph. EUROPEAN TEAL. The specimen recorded by Dr. Bryant (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., V, 1855, 195) as taken in this state Dr. Brewer says was actually taken in North Carolina and not in Massachusetts (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, II, Apr., 1877, 46). This leaves the species without even a New England record, but it has so often been taken on the North American coast (at various points from Labrador to North Carolina) as a straggler from the Old World, that its occurrence here is to be expected.

23. Procellaria pelagica Linn. STORMY PETREL. Usually given as occurring off the coast, but Dr. Brewer doubts its right to a place among New England birds, since he has not been able to learn that a specimen has been taken (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 1877, 453).

24. Puffinus anglorum Temm. MANK'S SHEARWATER. Commonly given as more or less frequent off the coast in winter, but Dr. Brewer (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 1875, 453) claims that it has never been taken, and that it is not even a North American bird.

The Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) has been commonly given as a rare winter visitant. Dr. Brewer says it has been improperly included as a bird of New England and that "its right to be regarded even as North American is also questioned" (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XVII, 1875, 453). He has since shown that all the references to its capture in North America (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, III, Apr., 1878, 52) are erroneous, as is now very generally conceded.

4. Hypothetical and doubtful Species.

1. Myiodioctes minutus Baird. SMALL-HEADED FLYCATCHER. Dr. Brewer retains this species as a bird of Massachusetts on the ground that Nuttall "states that Mr. Charles Pickering obtained a specimen of this bird many years ago, near Salem, Mass., and that he [Nuttall] had himself also seen it in the same State, at the approach of winter." Dr. Brewer further refers to a specimen "supposed to be of this species,” and so identified by Mr. Audubon, that he once obtained in Roxbury, but admits that, as Audubon afterwards made no mention of it, the presumption is that he was mistaken as to the identity of the specimen. No specimen of this supposed species is extant, and it is only known from the descriptions and figures given long since by Wilson and Audubon. According to the latter the original locality was Kentucky. I agree with Dr. Coues that the species is one hardly entitled to recognition, and I prefer to discard it, for the present, as a bird of Massachusetts. (See Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's Hist. North Am. Birds, I, 1874, 316.)

2. Empidonax pygmæus Minot. "PYGMY FLYCATCHER." Only "caught sight of" "in some shrubbery" "near Boston" by our young author, who "watched it for about three minutes," and then proceeded to describe it as a new species! No characters are given, by which it can be distinguished from any of the species of Empidonax, and those are half conjectural. The presumption of adding a "new species" on

9 Land Birds and Game Birds of New England, 1877, 290.

such a basis, in a group of birds so difficult of discrimination as to often puzzle experts with the specimens actually in hand, is certainly open to censure.

3. Thaumatias linnæi Bon. (Agyrtria maculata et linnæi auct.) LINNEUS'S EMERALD. Supposed to have been taken in Massachusetts, and included in several lists. The probabilities seem to me to be strongly against the straggling of any South American Humming Bird to this state, and the history of this specimen leaves room for doubt respecting its actual capture here. It was first recorded by myself (Am. Nat., III, Feb., 1870, 645), but with much hesitation. The circumstances of its supposed capture here have since been more fully investigated, and I now prefer not to recognize it as entitled to a record as a bird of Massachusetts.

5. Introduced undomesticated Species, or probably introduced either intentionally or accidentally.

1. Passer domesticus Linn. HOUSE SPARROW. Abundant near the larger towns and rapidly increasing, although the first importation was made scarcely ten years ago.

2. Carduelis elegans Steph. EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH. Repeatedly taken or observed in a wild state, under circumstances that seem to render it probable that the individuals were not escaped cage-birds. Whether or not introduced originally by man's agency I consider seriously open to question.

3. Serinus meridionalis Brehm, SERIN FINCH. Thus far only one record is known to me of its capture,-Springfield, Nov., about 1865 (Allen, Am. Nat., III, Jan., 1870, 635). Perhaps an escaped cage-bird, but the probabilities seem to me to be against this theory. 4. Coturnix communis Gray. EUROPEAN QUAIL. About one hundred of these birds were imported by Mr. Warren Hapgood in the spring of 1877, and distributed to various parts of the State. Only a few pairs are known to have raised young, and the result of the experiment is at present doubtful. The capture of a "young-cock bird” at Essex, Nov. 1, 1877, is recorded in "Forest and Stream" of Dec. 6, 1877 (p. 345). This importation consisted of two hundred and fifty birds, sixty-one of which died on the passage, leaving one hundred and eighty-nine for distribution on their arrival in Massachusetts about June 10. The same vessel brought a consignment of two hundred birds of this species to Judge Martin G. Evarts of Rutland, Vt., all but three of which are said to have reached Rutland alive. They were turned out June 9, and 11, 1877, and are reported to have bred plentifully. They disappeared from the neighborhood of Rutland about September 1, and have since been reported as seen (aside from

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