Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club

by Nuttall Ornithological Club

NOTES ON SOME OF THE RARER BIRDS OF SOUTHERN NEW BRUNSWICK.

BY MONTAGUE CHAMBERLAIN.

1. Sialia sialis. Bluebird.—About the middle of March, 1877, Mr. Harold Gilbert saw one at Mount Pleasant, a suburb of St. John. Some time early in June, 1879, Mr. J. W. Banks saw one at Milledgeville, with food in its mouth, apparently for its young. On April 26, 1881, Mr. Henry Gilbert shot one at Rothesay, nine miles north of St. John.

2. Dendrœca pennsylvanica. Chestnut-sided Warbler.

3. Dendrœca castanea. Bay-breasted Warbler.

4. Dendrœca blackburnæ. Blackburn’s Warbler.—These three species are but rarely found here. In my note-book is a record of one of each taken during the summer of 1881, and I can learn of none others having been seen or heard.

5. Vireo noveboracensis. White-eyed Vireo.—Mr. Harold Gilbert shot one specimen of this bird at South Bay, a few miles northwest from St. John, on May 24, 1877, and this is the only known instance of its occurrence in this vicinity.

6. Pyranga rubra. Scarlet Tanager.—I saw an adult male of this species sitting on a fence in the suburbs of St. John on June 20, 1879, and have examined two specimens taken near Hampton during the summer of 1880.

7. Ammodromus caudacutus. Sharp-tailed Finch.—On June 21, 1881, five individuals of this species were taken by Mr. H. A. Purdie, Mr. Fred. W. Daniel and myself, on a marsh near Hampton. This marsh is watered by the Kenebecasis, a tributary of the St. John, and lies some twenty-five miles up the former river. The junction of the two rivers takes place about five miles from the mouth of the St. John. The marsh is some twenty miles, air line, from the nearest point on the Bay of Fundy shore, and at the time we visited it, the water running past it did not taste in the least brackish.[^[50]]

8. Pipilo erythrophthalmus. Towhee.—A specimen, now in the collection of the Natural History Society of St. John, was shot at Irishtown on May 8, 1881, by Mr. J. Belyea.

9. Zamelodia ludoviciana. Rose-breasted Grosbeak.—I have examined the skin of one of this species taken near Hampton in June, 1879.

10. Passerina cyanea. Indigo Bunting.—There is a skin in the collection of James McGivern, Esq., said to have been taken about six miles north of St. John in June, 1880. I can learn of no other occurrence of this bird near here, though I have frequently seen specimens taken on the western, or Bay of Fundy shore of Nova Scotia.

11. Zenaidura carolinensis. Mourning Dove.—This bird has been but rarely met with here; one taken at Hampton in June, 1880, one at Rothesay on September 30, 1881, and one at Milkish on October 17, 1881, are the only specimens I have heard of.

12. Ardetta exilis. Least Bittern.—Between the spring of 1877 and the fall of 1880 there were five individuals of this species taken on the Bay of Fundy shore, about ten miles to the eastward of St. John.

13. Micropalama himantopus. Stilt Sandpiper.—The only known occurrence of this bird in this vicinity is of three seen by Mr. F. W. Daniel on the sand flats back of St. John on September 8, 1881. He secured one of them, which is now in the museum of the Natural History Society.

14. Recurvirostra americana. Avocet.—Mr. William Ellis of St. Martins, a village on the shore of the Bay of Fundy, says he has shot one or more of these birds each year for the last five years, usually meeting two together. A specimen taken by him in 1880 is in the museum of the Natural History Society.

15. Himantopus mexicanus. Black-necked Stilt.—I procured one of this species in September, 1880, from Mr. John Ellis of Mace’s Bay, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, lying some thirty miles to the westward of St. John, and was told by Mr. Ellis that several had been taken there during former years.

16. Ionornis martinica. Purple Gallinule.—Since obtaining the male, announced by Mr. Wm. Brewster in this Bulletin for July, 1881, I have had the good fortune to get possession of a female which was shot near Gagetown, a village on the St. John River, about forty miles from its mouth. The bird was taken in the early part of September, 1880.

17. Chen hyperboreus. Snow Goose.—One of these birds was taken at Gagetown in December, 1880, and sent by me to Mr. E. O. Damon of Northampton, Mass.

18. Anas boscas. Mallard.—A pair in the museum of the Natural History Society were shot near Hampton by the late Col. Otty some fifteen years ago. The only late occurrences of this species are of one mounted by J. H. Carnell, taxidermist, and a flock of some six or eight seen by Mr. Henry Gilbert on the Kenebecasis River in August, 1880, from which he obtained a male and female.

19. Æthyia vallisneria. Canvas-back.—Carnell has mounted one of this species taken within the Province, and E. C. Sutton, Esq., of Sutton, who is familiar with their appearance, saw a flock on the St. John River, about four miles from the city, several times during the fall of 1879.

20. Pelecanus erythrorhynchus. American White Pelican.—One of these birds in the collection of the Natural History Society was shot on the shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Pt. du Chene by Mr. Robert Bustin, and I have very good authority for announcing the occurrence of another at Cape Spencer, some five miles east of St. John, during the first week in April, 1881.