Unusual Avifaunal Reports for Summer and Fall of 1978 
     
    
   
   
    
     RED PHALAROPE 
     
    
   
   
    
     Conservation officer Nelson Hurry picked up a wounded Red 
     
     Phalarope with a broken wing on June 6, 1978. The bird, an adult 
     
     female, died shortly after it was picked up and is now in the 
     
     Fish and Wildlife Division freezer. On the 1978 P.E.I. Field 
     
     Checklist of Birds, the Red PhalarOpe was listed as a species 
     
     occurring omhrhypothetically in Autumn. It will now receive an 
     
     accidental status in summer. 
     
    
   
   
    
     WHIP-POOR-WILL 
     
    
   
   
    
     On the evening of June 14, 1978, Peter Smith from the Biology 
     
     Department, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia heard one male 
     
     whip-poor-will singing in the spruce woods near Lake of Shining Waters, 
     
     in Cavendish. He heard it quite clearly and it sang for some time. 
     
     This is the first record of a whip—poor—will on Prince Edward Island 
     
     since the late 1950's. See Natural History Newsletter No. #29, 1978. 
     
    
   
   
    
     LITTLE GULL 
     
    
   
   
    
     On August 18, 1978 Dr. Martin Edwards from Kingston, Ontario saw 
     
     a Little Gull over the Brackley Dunes around 18.00 hours. This adult 
     
     in fall plumage was also seen by Jan Dexter from New Brunswick and 
     
     several others. On the P.E.I. Checklist of Birds, the Little Gull is 
     
     listed as occurring occasionally in Autumn. 
     
    
   
   
    
     GREATER SHEARWATER 
     
    
   
   
    
     During his departure from Prince Edward Island after attending the 
     
     Canadian Nature Federation, Dr. Martin Edwards was also treated to a 
     
     view of a Greater Shearwater. On August 21, 1978 at approximately 09.00 
     
     hours he saw.while riding on the Ferry from Borden to Cape Tormentine, 
     
     one shearwater about one mile south of Borden. This species is listed 
     
     as occurring occasionallv in autumn around Prince Edward Island. 
     
     Shearwaters probablv occur more frequently but remain unnoticed because 
     
     of the scant attention paid by birders to pelagic species off our Island 
     
     shores. 
     
    
   
   
    
     COOPER'S HAWK 
     
    
   
   
    
     On September 8, 1978, David Smith from Newton watched an immature 
     
     Cooper's Hawk from 13.30 to 15.00 hours as it hovered near Scales Pond 
     
     and repeatedly dive-bombed flickers. After a time, several crows and 
     
     a Kestrel started mobbing it. To avoid their mobbing it landed in a 
     
     tree and positioned itself close to the trunk in the center of the tree. 
     
    
   
   
    
     BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 
     
    
   
   
    
     David Smith also reported that Wayne Neily saw two Blue—Gray 
     
     Gnatcatchers, a species not previously recorded for Prince Edward Island. 
     
     On September 30, Wayne reportedly saw two Gnatcatchers at Diligent Pond 
     
     in a barn on Cameron's Farm. They were with a mixed flock of sparrows. 
     
     We would appreciate receiving further details on this sighting and in 
     
     future may publish an article on the natural history and distribution 
     
     of the Blue—Gray Gnatcatcher. 
     
    
   
   
    
     RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE 
     
    
   
   
    
     Rufous—sided towhees are primarily a western fringillid which are 
     
     rarely seen on Prince Edward Island. On October 7, 1978 around noon, 
     
     Paul Strain saw one adult at a distance of five feet while he was 
     
     hunting around Deroche Pond. 
     
    
   
   
    
     RACCOON PREDATION ON A FLICKER NEST 
     
    
   
   
    
     On June 6, 1978 Kathy Martin found an active Common Flicker nest 
     
     when an adult flicker flew out of a hole in a dead spruce along Stanhope 
     
     Lane, P.E.I. National Park. The nest hole was 14 feet high in a well 
     
    
   
   
    
     decomposed 15 foot snag. Kathy climbed the snag (at great personal risk!), 
     
    
   
   
    
     but could not reach down the hole far enough to check the contents of the 
     
     nest. The side of the snag facing West was warm, so the female had 
     
     presumably been incubating or brooding for some time. No begging noises 
     
     from young were heard. On June 26 at 10.00 hours, the nest was revisited 
     
     and Kathy observed that a branch immediately below the nest hole was