Vol. XV, pp. 247 250 December 16, 1902 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Tha occurrence oJ Cardiospermam halicacabam Linn, in Louisiana. 



While traversing a rather sparsely wooded tract between the levee and 

 the Mississippi River, in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, I found, 

 in considerable abundance, an interesting plant. This was Cnrdiosper- 

 irmni haUcacabum Linn. ; the season being late November, the vines were 

 in ripe fruit, and low bushes in every direction were festooned with the in- 

 flated capsules of this sub-tropical herb. I think this record consider- 

 ably extends the known range of the species. — Aadnnc Allison, Labdell, 

 Louisiana. 



Note on Pinaroloxias inornata (Gould). 



Cactornis inornata, based on a single individual said to have been ob- 

 tained on Bow Island, in the Paumotu or Low Archipelago, was described 

 by Gould in 18-13 Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1843, p. 104). This small finch- 

 like bird was collected during the cruise of the 'Sulphur,' and is figured 

 in the 'zoology" of that voyage. No specimens of this species have since 

 been found in the Paumotus, nor is there any near relative of the bird 

 known to occur within two or three thousand miles of Bow Island. 



Gould placed the species in the genus Cactornis, and this disposition 

 of it appears to have been nearer the truth than the efforts of later 

 authors. Gray (Birds Tropical Islands of the Pacific, 1859, p. 28), in- 

 cluded it in Loxops, but Salvin (Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., IX, 1876, p. 

 48.5), who studied it in connection with the Galapagos finches, found 

 that it differed from both Loxops and Cactornis. Finally, Sharpe placed 

 it in the family Dicteidce, under the new generic heading Pinaroloxias, 

 where it has since remained. 



The habitat assigned this species has apparently not been questioned 

 50— BIOL. Soc. WASH. Vol. XV. 1902. (247) 



