98
General
Notes.
[Auk
[Jan.
Larus atricilla. I•AUG•INGGuLL.--A singleindividual was seenand heard.
Chlidonias nigra surinamensis. BLACK TERN.--These birds, occasionallyseen
in the state, especiallyin late summerand autumn, werein nearly every intermediate
plmnagestagebetweensummerand winter. Somewere largelyblack above,while
others showedlarge mixtures of white.
Dolichonyxoryzivorus. BOROLINK.--Weseevery few Bobolinksin Central West
Virginia as a generalrule, and the very large flocksobservedon September6 and 7
were unusual. Several hundred individuals, scattered in parts of Barbour and
Upsbur Counties, were seen.
When it is rememberedthat West Virginia has no natural lakes, and very few
extensiveswamps,a better idea of the rarity hereof most shorebirdsmay be secured.
--MAURICE BROOKS,Dept. of Biology,West Virginia University,Morgantown,W. Va.
Additions to the List of Ohio Birds.--Recent examinationof specimensin the
bird collection of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History by Dr. I•Iarry C.
Oberholserhas resulted in the discoveryof four new forms for the state of Ohio, as
follows:
Troglodytesdomesticus
domesticus(Wilson). EASTERNHOUSEWRsN.--There is
one specimenof this form in the collection,obtainedafter it had beenkilled by flying
into the tower of the ClevelandTerminal Building, May 19, 1933. The discoveryof
this specimenoccurredduring the courseof study of material by Dr. Oberholser
while working on his recently describedOhio House Wren (Troglodytes
domesticus
baldwini•) of the central northern United States and adjoining parts of southern
Canada. In the elucidation of the range of the Ohio House Wren contained in the
original description,there was mention of a specimenof the more rulescentEastern
House Wren for Cleveland, Ohio. Despite this previous mention, it nevertheless
seemsdesirableto put on record the circumstancessurroundingthe capture of this
specimensinceit is the first and only one up to the presentto have been taken in
Ohio. It probably occursmore or lessregularly in migration in the easternpart of
the state and other specimenswill doubtlessbe taken sooneror later.
Hylocichlaguttaraoromela
• Oberholser. CAscAI)SHSRMXTTURUsm--A singlemale
specimenwas taken by Omar E. Mueller and Frank J. Tobin at Bay Point, April 7,
1932. Bay Point is a willow and poplar coveredsandypoint, boundedby Sandusky
Bay on one sideand Lake Erie on the other, in Danbury Township, Ottawa County.
While workingon material preparatoryto describingthe small,pale CascadeHermit
Thrush of the central mountains of northern California, Oregon, Washington, and
southernBritish Columbia, Dr. Oberholserdiscoveredthat the single above mentioned specimenwas referable to that subspecies.
Hylocichlafuscescens
salicicolaRidgway. WInLOWTuRusm--A male specimen
was killed by flying into the tower of the ClevelandTerminal Building, September
17, 1931, and so found its way into the Cleveland Museum collection along with
many other specimenswhich have met a similar fate during the last few years.
The discoveryof the Willow Thrush in Ohio during migrationis not surprisingsince
the normal migration route of this form cannot be far to the west of this state. Intensive collectingin western Ohio would probably show Willow Thrushes to be of
more or less regular occurrence.
• Oberholser, H. C. "Revision
of the North American House Wrens."
Ohio Journal of
Science, vol 34, 1•o. 2, pp. 86-96. 1934.
• Oberholser, H. C. "Description of New Birds frOm Oregon Chiefly from the Warner
¾afiey Region."
Scientific Publications of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, ¾oL
4, No. 1, 1932.
¾ol. LIIIl
•936J
General
Notes.
99
Ammospiza caudacutasubvirgata(Dwight). Acxn•x• SrxRRow.--A specimen
was collectedby the writer September20, 1931, at Richmond, Lake County, in a
cat-tail
marsh on Grand River about one half mile from Lake Erie.
The occurrence
of this maritime race sofar from its native salt marsheswas surprisingin the extreme,
and, as in the caseof the CascadeHermit Thrush, canonly be explainedas the result
of accidentalwanderingof the bird far from its normal path of migration.--Jomv W.
A•.nR•cI•, ClevelandMuseum of Natural History.
Notes from the Dry Tortugas.--I
spent June 18-19, 1935 at the Dry Tortugas,
Florida, primarily to ascertain the status of the famous Sooty and Noddy Tern
colonythere. Thesebirds have been since1903 under the protectionof the U.S.
BiologicalSurveyandin a placeratherfar from the normaltravelsof man. However,
conditionshave changed. Fort Jefferson,on Garden Key, has been taken over by
the National Park Service, apparently with the idea of making it a point of tourist
attraction, and the protectivearm of the Survey hasbeen removed. Bird Key, long
the site of the colony,has beendestroyedand almostobliteratedby hurricanes,and
the birds have moved to Bush Key, a rapidly growingcoral island just acrossthe
narrow channelfrom Garden Key. The birds, then, are more accessiblethan ever,
and the project of making a national monument out of the old fortification may
subject the Sootiesand Noddies to an unprecedentedamount of disturbance. For
the present,however,it must be said that the custodianof Fort Jeffersonis a very
efficient protector of the colony, so much so in fact that he would not allow me
sufficient time on Bush Key to estimate the bird population with any degree of
accuracy.
BushKey, in its presentstate of accretion,comprisesprobablyfourteenor fifteen
acres,a considerableportion of whichis vegetated. It is much larger than Bird Key
was in 1907 when John B. Watson began there his studies on homing instincts, and
reported the area of Bird Key as 6,000 squareyards. At that time, Watson reported
about 19,000 Sootiesand about 1500 Noddiesin the colony. This figure may be
comparedwith the report of Herbert K. Job, quotedin 'The Auk,' VoL 21, p. 124,
of 3600 Sooties and 400 Noddies, and the 1917 report (Smithsonian Institution
Annual Report, 1917,p. 469) by Dr. Bartsch,of 18,000Sootiesand 4,000 Noddies.
My best estimate of the 1935 population of the Tortugas colony is perhaps 35,000
Sooty Terns and 3,000 Noddies. The custodian,as mentioned,is so zealousto
protect the colonythat he would not permit me to attempt a count of nests. However, I was able to hazard an estimateof at least 35,000birds by judgingthe area of
the key, the percentageof total area occupiedby birds, and the samplednumber of
birds per small areasselectedfor the purpose. The density as noted is very similar
to descriptionspublishedby Watson and others.
The Sootieswere nestingon the ground;the Noddiesmostly in small bushes,but
there were some200 nestsin the sea-oats,and many on the groundwith the Sooties.
The Noddieswere scatteredpretty well over the Key, the only concentrationbeing
in the sea-oatpatch to the south-east. One Noddy was nestingon a steel girder in
the half-demolishedcoalingstation on Garden Key.
Perhaps 15% of the eggswere hatched, with someyoung as old as 6 or 8 days. In
the Noddy "sea-oat colony," two-thirds of the eggswere hatched, and of the young,
two-thirdswerein the brownor blackishphase.
On the sand-spitto the south-eastwere about 200 pairs of Roseate Terns, with
severalnests;150 or 200 Least Terns, with somenests;and about 75 pair of Common
Terns, nesting, also. From one to two hundred Frigate Birds were seenresting on
the bushesor soaringabout, but nonewasmolestingthe colony,sofar as I observed.