44 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Casual records. — The black vulture has a penchant for extensive 

 wandering, which many times takes it far north of its regular range. 

 At such times it has been recorded north to Colorado (one taken on 

 October 8 or 9, 1921, near Boulder) ; Nebraska (one taken on Wolf 

 Creek sometime prior to 1905) ; Michigan (three seen near Tecumseh, 

 October 4, 1924) ; New York (one seen at Vv^est Seneca in June 1884; 

 one at Medina on May 28, 1892; one taken on Plum Island, May 19 

 or 20, 1896; and one shot near Pulteney, July 11, 1909) ; Connecticut 

 (one seen at Bolton reservoir, October 10, 1879, and one shot at 

 East Lyme on July 6, 1901) ; Massachusetts (several records, among 

 them being one on November 16, 1889, at Essex ; one on July 2, 1890, 

 at Plymouth; one on October 5, 1902, at Taunton; one shot Sep- 

 tember 15, 1905, at Waltham ; one taken on May 12, 1916, at Pigeon 

 Cove; and one seen on November 2, 1924, at Ipswich) ; New Hamp- 

 shire (one shot at Randolph, April 17, 1926; one seen at East West- 

 moreland, May 9, 1933; and one seen about May 1, 1926, at Wliite- 

 field) ; Vermont (one taken July 11, 1884, near Montpelier, and one 

 shot at Pawlet, July 7, 1912) ; Maine (nine records, the more recent 

 being one captured alive near Dover, on August 20, 1901; one shot 

 at Lubec, August 26, 1904; one shot on September 25, 1907, at 

 Whitefield; one taken on July 6, 1909, at Monhegan Island; and 

 one seen on July 11, 1915, at Scarboro) ; Quebec (one taken on Octo- 

 ber 28, 1897, at Beauport) ; New Brunswick (one about August 1879 

 at Campobello Island, and one seen August 9, 1924, at Grand 

 Manan) ; and Nova Scotia (one taken January 12, 1896, at Pugwash). 



Several were seen during May 1890 in the Tonto Basin, Ariz., 

 and about a dozen were observed a few miles south of Tucson on 

 May 7, 1922. No specimen is recorded for Cuba, but Danforth 

 (1928) records four seen late in June or early in July 1926, near 

 El Cobre. The species has been said to occur in Jamaica (Sclater, 

 1910), while in the Lesser Antilles it has been reported from Grenada 

 (Clark, 1905) and Trinidad, where it is said to be common (Chap- 

 man, 1894). It is probable, however, that the black vultures of 

 Trinidad are the South American race. 



Egg dates. — Texas to Florida and North Carolina: 198 records, 

 January 20 to July 7 ; 99 records, March 12 to April 17. 



Family ACCIPITRIIDAE : Kites, Hawks, and Allies 



ELANOJfDES FORFICATUS FORFICATUS (Linnaeus) 



SWALLOW-TAILED KITE 



HABITS 



This elegant bird seems to have largely withdrawn from its for- 

 mer wide range in North America and is now confined, in this coun- 

 try, mainly, if not wholly, to Florida and perhaps the other Gulf 



