iSS.vl General Notes. ^8^ 



by good luck than good shooting that the little pinch of shot from m v 

 cane-gun knocked him over, though the weapon rarely fails me in day- 

 time. I immediately ran up to my study with my prize, where I discovered 

 that I had killed a tine specimen of Nuttall's Poor-will. As the skeleton 

 of this bird had long been among my desiderata, the skin and its beauti- 

 ful plumage was soon stripped oft", whereupon I was much surprised to 

 find in its mouth some four or five quite sizable moths, and the upper por- 

 tion of the oesophagus filled with a wad of a dozen or fifteen more. Fully 

 half of these were yet alive, and two or three managed to fly away when 

 freed from the bodies of their more disabled companions. This, then, is 

 what the bird was up to; instead of flying about as a Nighthawk does, 

 taking his insect prey in a conspicuous manner upon the wing, he cap- 

 tures it in the way I have described above. 



To-night .the moon is twenty-four hours older, and the evening pro- 

 portionately brighter, but a careful search for over half an hour failed to 

 discover a single specimen of the bird on the same ground. I am not 

 aware that any of the other Caprimulgidae have similar habits. — Dr. R. 

 W. Shufeldt, Fort Wing-ate, New Mexico. 



Colaptes auratus in California. — During the early part of January. 1885, 

 I took at this place a female of a species I at first thought to he C. 

 hybridus Baird, but which I soon became satisfied was C. auratus; and 

 upon consulting Mr. Robert Ridgway, who examined the bird, I found 

 my conclusion correct. The bird had been observed for nearly a fort- 

 night frequenting a house near by, and at last it paid with its life for its 

 persistency. Soon after I saw two others of this species, but as I had no 

 gun with me at the time they escaped, much to my regret. I am of the 

 opinion that this bird frequents California more than is supposed, and 

 is overlooked through being mistaken for C. mexicanus, which it much 

 resembles, and which is so common as not to be collected in great num- 

 bers; and hence the few scattered specimens of C. auratus which may 

 visit us are thus overlooked. We have at this place, and in fact all through 

 the southern part of the State, at regular intervals, and lasting generally 

 three davs. heavy wind storms, amounting at times almost to tornados. 

 The bird was first seen just after one of these wind storms, and it may he 

 that this had something to do with the bird's having wandered so far 

 from its accustomed haunts, hut this seems very improbable. This, the 

 only specimen that I have ever heard of as taken on the Pacific coast south 

 of Sitka, is now the property of the National Museum, to which it was 

 contributed bv me. — Forrkst Bam., San Bernardino, Cat. 



A Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula caparocti) at Chatham. Mass. — I am in- 

 formed by Mr. Augustus \Y. Baker, of Chatham. Mass.. that a Hawk Owl 

 was shot at Chatham during the winter of iSS3-'S4. The specimen was not 

 preserved, nor can the exact date he given, but Mr. Baker's intelligent and 

 very accurate description of the bird, which he carefully examined, ren- 

 ders the record otherwise satisfactory and not in the least open to doubt. 

 — J. A. Allen. American Museum of Natural History. New York City. 



