THE OSPREY. 



133 



General Notes. 



ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF A BOB-WHITE. 



The note in the last number of The Osprev called 

 to mind a similar incident which happened about two 

 years ago. I find on referring to my notebook that 

 on the 3d of May, 1895, while a friend of mine was 

 looking out of his window about 7 o'clock in the 

 morning a Bob-white came flying rapidly along and 

 struck the next house so hard as to kill itself. He 

 went out and picked it up and we skinned it. It 

 seemed to be all right except that its skull was broken 

 from the blow. One of its eyes appeared slightly 

 damaged but I think it must also have been from the 

 blow. — Sidney S. Wilson, .SV. Joseph, Mo. 



PHALAROPE NOTES. 



Wilson's Phalaropes arrived in large numbers from 

 April 27 to May i. They are very active when feed- 

 ing, more so than the various Sandpipers with which 

 they so frequently mingle. Their food consists 

 chiefly of aquatic larvae and small Crustacea, al- 

 though I have often seen them catch insects that 

 were flying past. Grassy ponds in low meadows 

 appear to be favorite resorts with these Phalaropes. 

 They have a peculiar habit of wading into the water 

 up to their breasts and then revolving themselves 

 quite rapidly. I have counted as many as thirty 

 revolutions a minute, and as many as six individuals 

 revolving at once. They appear to enjoy it im- 

 mensely. I would like to be enlightened as to the 

 cause. As far as my observation goes they do not 

 feed while revolving. It appears to be a kind of 

 frolic. — Merritt Gary, Neligh, Neb. 



THE KNOT IN ORLEANS COUNTY, N. Y. 

 A young male Knot ( 7'rini:^a canutiis,) was taken on 

 the beach of Lake Ontario, Orleans County on Septem- 

 ber 9, last, by Mr. Percy Smith of Medina, N. Y. This 

 is an occurrence well worthy of record. This species, 

 in the course of its spring and fall migrations, fol- 

 lows very closely the Atlantic sea-board, although 

 the authorities say it may very rarely be found on 

 the larger lakes and rivers inland. This is the first 

 record of this species being taken in this county. The 

 day was pleasant, and the weather had been mild for 

 several days preceding, so this bird was not driven 

 from its regular course by any storm. It was in com- 

 pany with a young female Black-bellied Plover {C/uir- 

 adrins sqiiatarola) at the time. — Neil F". Posson, 

 Medina, X . Y. 



SWIFT NESTS IN A CHIMNEY 



Several years ago a person told me that I would 

 never find more than one occupied nest of a Chimney 

 Swift in the same chimney at the same time ; I have 

 never done so and I was wondering whether this was 

 merely a coincidence. One night I counted thirty 

 some Swifts go into a chimney next to us during the 

 nesting season. I went over next day and examined 

 the chimney but there was only one nest in it. One 

 of our chimneys, in which the Swifts build every year, 

 has each year only one nest in it although more go 

 into it every night. Are these birds that go in merely 

 roosting there and unmated, or what ~'. Surely there 

 must be more than one pair of Swifts out of every 

 dozen or so that mate and nest. — Sidney S. Wilson, 

 Si. Joseph, Mo. 



EAGLE OR VULTURE? 



I notice in the May Osprey, on page 119 of 'General 

 Notes,' an item on 'A White-winged Eagle ' Would 

 it not be a good idea to inquire into this a little fur- 

 ther ? The appearance presented by this "Golden 



Eagle " coincides exactly with that of our California 

 Vulture, or Condor, in flight. The wings of the adult 

 bird show the white patches, one side often much 

 larger than the other, according to the way the sun 

 or light strikes it. I have been told that many cattle 

 have died from drouth in San Luis Obispo County, 

 north of Paso Robles, where the white-winged eagle 

 was observed, and it is possible a condor or two may 

 have been attracted thereby from the adjacent moun- 

 tains I have heard hunters refer to these white- 

 winged eagles, but when the condor is described they 

 readily admit that it must have been that bird and not 

 the Golden Eagle. — F. S. Daggett, Pasadena, Cal 



A HUMMINGBIRD'S NEST ON A WIRE. 



From the roof of the porch before the front door 

 of a Riverside, Cal., residence there was sus- 

 pended a wire about eighteen inches long, bent at 

 the lower end to form a hook about seven feet from 

 the floor. In this hook a pair of Costa's Humming- 

 birds had placed their nest. A brood was raised in 

 the spring of 1896, and before the young had left the 

 nest the old birds are said to have become quite tame. 

 In 1897 they returned, and adding a rim to the old 

 nest, raised a second brood. The veranda is large and 

 covered with vines and rather more secluded than 

 most, though the hanging-nest was nearly struck by 

 the screen-door every time it opened. — Theodore D. 

 HuRD, Riverside, Cal. 



