A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY.

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR 1877.

As the present number closes Volume I. of the Bulletin, the first number of Volume II. will appear in January, 1877, and the succeeding numbers of the volume will be issued on the first of each following Quarter. In closing Volume I. the Publishing Committee take pleasure in announcing that the publication of the Bulletin has met with encouraging success. Not only have contributions to its pages been received from the best ornithological talent of the country, but subscriptions have come in with reasonable frequency. Since, however, the continuance of the Bulletin is necessarily contingent upon the pecuniary support it receives from the public, we trust that our present patrons will not only all promptly renew their subscriptions, but will use their influence to extend its circulation. It is hoped that with the second volume it will be possible to increase the number of pages from twenty-four to thirty-two in each issue. In order to do this a considerable increase to our subscription list will be necessary, and we therefore appeal strongly to all friends of ornithology to aid in extending its circulation.

In order to assist in defraying the expenses of publication, advertising sheets will be issued with future numbers, relating mainly to Natural History, and especially to Ornithology. The attention of dealers in specimens of Natural History and collectors' and taxidermists' materials, and of publishers of works relating to Natural History, is hence called to the Bulletin as a desirable advertising medium.

The present Volume embraces one hundred pages of original matter, contributed largely by leading authorities on American Ornithology. The department of "General Notes" is particularly rich in notices of rare or little-known species, and the volume as a whole forms an important contribution to American Ornithology. As the magazine will continue under its present editorial management, Mr. J. A. Allen acting as Editor-in-Chief, and Professor S. F. Baird and Dr. Elliott Coues as Associate Editors, and as it has the assurance of continued support from the best writers, the Publishing Committee do not hesitate to announce that Volume II. may be expected to be equally rich in important contributions. The Bulletin is intended to be national in its character, and for the present will be exclusively devoted to North American Ornithology. It being the only journal in this country devoted especially to ornithology, it is hoped that our appeal for pecuniary support will meet with a prompt response, and that we shall be able to enter upon the publication of Volume II. with feelings of confidence respecting the permanence of the Bulletin as an Ornithological Magazine.

Terms. Subscription, $1.00 a year (including postage), strictly in advance; single numbers, 30 cents. Subscriptions should be forwarded to Mr. H. B. Bailey, Newton, Mass. Kuthor Drane. Cambutty Mac Advertising Rates. First insertion, 30 cents a line (Bourgeois) or $12.00 per page; $6.50 per half-page. A discount of twenty-five per cent. will be made for each subsequent insertion.

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Communications intended for publication, as well as advertisements, should be sent to Mr. J. A. Allen, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME 1.

NUMBER I.

PAGE

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF HELMINTHOPHAGA. By William Brew-

ster. With a Plate

1

2

6

9

11

14

17

THE COMMON Buzzard Hawk (Buteo vulgaris) of Europe in North Amer-

ICA. By C. J. Maynard

NESTING OF THE GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER (Helminthophaga chrysoptera)
IN MASSACHUSETTS. By J. Warren

NOTES ON THE ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW (Hirundo serripennis) IN PENN-
SYLVANIA. By Walter Van Fleet

ON THE BREEDING OF THE BLACK-THROATED BLue Warbler (Dendroca
cærulescens) IN CONNECTICUT. By C. M. Jones

ON TWO EMPIDONACES, TRAILLII AND ACADICUS. By H. W. Henshaw
OCCURRENCE OF CERTAIN BIRDS IN THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. By Wil-
liam Brewster

.

ALBINISM AND MELANISM AMONG NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. By Ruthven

Deane

NOTES ON BIRDS FOUND BREEDING ON COBB'S ISLAND, VA. By H. B. Bailey

NUMBER II.

REGARDING BUTEO VULGARIS IN NORTH AMERICA. By Robert Ridgway

ADDITIONS TO THE AVI-FAUNA OF ILLINOIS, WITH NOTES ON OTHER SPE-

CIES OF ILLINOIS BIRDS. By E. W. Nelson

NOTES ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF CLARKE'S CROW (Picicorvus colum-

bianus), WITH AN ACCOUNT OF ITS NEST AND EGGS. By Captain Charles

Bendire, U. S. A..

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW DUCK FROM WASHINGTON ISLAND. By Thomas H.
Streets, M. D., Passed Assistant Surgeon, U. S. N.

RECENT LITERATURE.

Lawrence's Description of New Species of American Birds, 47. — Snow's Birds

of Kansas, 47. - Kidder's Ornithology of Kerguelen Island, 48. - Kidder and

Coues's "A Study of Chionis minor," etc., 48.- Marsh's Extinct Birds

with Teeth, 49. - Gentry's "Life-Histories of the Birds of Eastern Penn-

sylvania," 49.

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GENERAL NOTES.

Breeding of the Canada Goose in Trees, 50.- Tarsal Envelope in Campylorhyn chus and allied Genera, 50.- Occurrence of the Curlew Sandpiper in Massachusetts, 51.- The Ipswich Sparrow in New Brunswick, 52. — Passerculus princeps and Parus hudsonicus in Connecticut, 52. — Anser rossii in Oregon, 52.

NUMBER III.

DECREASE OF BIRDS IN MASSACHUSETTS. By J. A. Allen

53

ON THE NUMBER OF PRIMARIES IN OSCINES. By Dr. Elliott Coues, U. S. A. 60 THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER (Sphyrapicus varius). By William

Brewster

89

63

RECENT LITERATURE.

Ornithology of the Wheeler Expedition, 70. — Field and Forest, 71. - The Portland Tern, 71. — The Birds of Ritchie Co., West Virginia, 72. — Brewer's Birds of New England, 72.

GENERAL NOTES.

The Philadelphia Vireo in New England, 74. - Geographical Variation in the Number and Size of the Eggs of Birds, 74. - The Nest and Eggs of Traill's Flycatcher, as observed in Maine, 75. Singular Food of the Least Bittern, 76. Intelligence of a Crow, 76. The Great Carolina Wren in Massachusetts, 76.

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NUMBER IV.

OUR PRESENT Knowledge of the NidifiCATION OF THE AMERICAN KING-
LETS. By Ernest Ingersoll.

NESTING HABITS OF THE CALIFORNIAN HOUSE WREN (Troglodytes aedon var. parkmanni). By Dr. J. G. Cooper

79

ON GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION IN DENDROCA PALMARUM. By Robert Ridgway
NOTES ON TEXAN BIRDS. By J. C. Merrill, M. D., Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A.
BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND. By Thomas M. Brewer

Lawrence's Birds of Southwestern Mexico, 93. - Jordan's Manual of Vertebrate
Animals, 93.

GENERAL NOTES.

Capture of the Orange-crowned Warbler in Massachusetts, 94. — Variable Abundance of Birds at the same Localities in different Years, 95.- Occurrence of the Wood Ibis in Pennsylvania and New York, 96. - Peculiar Nesting-site of the Bank-Swallow, 96.

INDEX.