334 General Notes. [july 
GENERAL NOTES. 
An Early Colorado Record of the White-tailed Ptarmigan.— There 
is an exceedingly interesting, but almost unknown book, dealing in part 
with pioneer times in Colorado entitled Thirty Years of Army Life on the 
Border. It was written by Capt. R. B. Marcy, who later rose to the 
rank of General in the U. 8. Army; his daughter married General Geo. 
B. McClellan, and his grandson was sometime mayor of New York. 
Capt. Marcy had in him the making of a splendid naturalist, but duties 
and training turned his activities into other channels. This particular 
book of his, contains many references to birds, and should be read by 
every one interested in western bird life. During the course of his military 
duties, Capt. Marey made a trip from Fort Bridger, Utah, to Fort Mont- 
gomery, New Mexico, crossing the Continental Divide over Cochetopa 
Pass, doing so in the dead of winter (January, 1858); he and his men 
suffered almost unbelievable hardships from the arctic cold, and from 
hunger, yet they succeeded in reaching their goal. On page 234 of the 
above cited book, Capt. Marcy says, ‘‘One day we were....near the 
summit of the mountains....my guide pointing to a snow bank, said 
there were some birds he had néver but once before seen....we.... 
killed two of them. They were white as the snow itself... . two speci- 
mens which were sent to Professor Baird of the Smithsonian Institute 
showed them to be Sagopus leucurus {spelling as in original], or white- 
tail ptarmigan. This beautiful bird was before supposed to be confined 
to that part of the Rocky Mountain Chain north of latitude 54° north. 
The specimens sent to Professor Baird are said by him to be the first 
indication of their occurrence within the limits of our possessions, and it 
extends the supposed range about a thousand miles to the south.”’— 
W. H. Brereroup, Denver, Colo. 
Wild Geese at Moose Factory.— In connection with his work with 
the wild geese at Kingsville, Ontario, Mr. Jack T. Miner has put tags on a 
number of Canada Geese, some of which have been returned to him, 
mainly from the north country, and he has had some interesting letters 
from Hudson Bay men, from one of which, from Mr. Owen Griffith, Moose 
Factory, the following quotation is taken. 
‘‘T am now stationed here at Moose for the winter and shall be going 
to Albany in the spring. This is a post on the opposite side of James Bay 
to Fort George, but a very. good place for game, especially those birds 
we call ‘‘ Wavies ”’; it is a strange thing that on the West Coast of James 
Bay, we get almost nothing but ‘‘ White Wavies”’ with an occasional 
blue one in the flock, while on the East Coast it is just the opposite with 
almost nothing but Blue (grey) with a few white ones in the flock. While 
a short distance farther north (on the East Coast) at Whale River the 
