ling down attached to the extremities of the feathers instead of to the 

 skin, as I had supposed it to be. Finding nothing concerning this pe- 

 culiarity in the bird books at my command, I corresponded with a few 

 members of the Chapter, but got no light upon the subject until last 

 March, when Mr. F. L. Burns, of Berwyn, Penn., wrote me the follow- 

 ing : " In relation to Nestling Down, lean offer the following, which I 

 quote from Brewster. ' Among the North American Altrices the young 

 of most species are born with thin patches of delicate soft down, restrict- 

 ed mainly to the feathered tracts. Beneath this fluffy down the feathers 

 are already forming ; these soon appear bearing at their summits the 

 little tufts of down that formed the down patches.' From the above 

 good authority we learn that all young reared in the nest (with some 

 exceptions) may be found in the condition you describe. I found it to 

 occur in the following young, just after they had left the nest : Screech 

 Owl, Cedar Waxwing, Worm-eating and Kentucky Warblers, Oven bird. 

 Wood Thrush, and probably other species which I do not recall." In 

 addition to the species mentioned by Mr. Burns, I have noticed the fol- 

 lowing: Horned Lark, Maryland Yellow-throat, Robin, Bluebird, Chipping 

 Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, Mockingbird and Red-eyed Vireo. I have 

 made notes of but one species, the Hairy Woodpecker, that does not 

 have the nestling down. 



From the above it appears that, although most altricial birds have this 

 peculiar nestling down, there are some which have not. It is our object 

 to ascertain what species are exceptions. While studying the other 

 branches of our work, let us take note of the dress of the young while 

 yet in the nest. — H. P. Mitchell, Bear, Ark. 



The Recent Occurrence of the Turkey Vulture and Bald Eagle 

 IN Cook County, Illinois. — Two rather unexpected records of more than 

 ordinary interest, and of rare occurrence for this section, fell to the lot of 

 the writer the past spring, both being made, ratherly oddly enough, on 

 board 'train, or while enroute from Chicago to my home, at Glen Ellyn. 

 At 10:15 A. M. on April i, while nearing Sacramento Avenue, two and 

 one-half miles from the business center of Chicago, the train came up 

 with three large black birds flying on our right. Their manner of flight, 

 nearly stationary on this occasion, as they headed against a strong south- 

 erly wind then blowing, gave me a favorable opportunity of identifying 

 them at once as straggling representatives of Cathartes aura, the naked 

 red of their heads being plainly discoverable as the train drew closer. 

 However, the noise and motion of the cars evidently changed their plans 



