94 Geveral Notes. '[^'^ 



I also wish to record the capture of a Black Vulture at Black Point, East 

 Lyme, on July 6, 1901, by Mr. Robert Payne. The bird was seen to alight 

 in a pig-pen and feed with the pigs. It was secured and is now in my 

 mounted collection of birds. No others were seen. — James H. Hill, 

 Nezv London., Conn. 



Ontario Bird Notes. — A Dovekie {Alle alle) was shot Nov. iS, 1901, by 

 H. Macdonald, a fisherman, two miles out in the lake from Toronto, On- 

 tario. Mr. John Maughn, a taxidermist, now has it in his possession. I 

 was present when he opened the stomach, which was empty except for a 

 few small fish bones. It was a female and evidently a young bird, as there 

 was no white on the secondaries and the back was slaty instead of a black. 



A pair of Little Blue Herons {Ardea a^rulca) was taken by J. W. Ander- 

 son at Aylmer, Ont., a small inland town about nine miles north of Lake 

 Erie, August 15, 1901. Two more were shot within a few miles of this place 

 some time ago; all four were in the white plumage, with the primaries tipped 

 with slate color. 



A Canada Jay {Perisorcus canadensis) was also taken by J. W. Anderson, 

 at Aylmer on Nov. 9, 1901. 



A specimen of the Pine Grosbeak {Pinicola e7iucleator) was taken at 

 Whitby, Ont., Nov. 18, 1901, from a number that had been in that vicinity 

 for some time, and was sent to me by a friend. — J. H. Ames, Toronto, 

 Ontario. 



Solution of the ' Ornithological Mystery.' — I was much pleased to read 

 Mr. Brewster's article, ' An Ornithological Mystery,' in the October number 

 of 'The Auk,' as I feel certain I can help to solve it, as I myself had a bird 

 which answers exactly to the description of the Yellow Rail {Porzana 

 noveboracensis). 



On Sept. 13, 1900, while in Mr- Hope's bird store, Qiieen St., Toronto, he 

 told me he had a live rail for me, and when I saw it I was delighted to find 

 it was a Yellow Rail, which had been taken by a man on the Humber 

 River fparticulars unknown). I had a cage made for him, 2h by i^ feet, 

 with a metal bottom, in which I kept sand and about half an inch of water, 

 with some aquatic plants, which I thought would be suitable for my new 

 friend. 



The little fellow became very tame, and I let him out occasionally, but he 

 made no attempt at flying. Mr. Brewster speaks of ' the Mystery ' as the 

 ' Kicker,' while the female portion of my household christened my bird 

 ' the Scold.' I kept the cage on the kitchen floor and he would invariably 

 scold the first person who went into the room in the morning, and if any 

 of their skirts brushed up against the cage he would be sure to scold them 

 with his familiar call kik-kik-kik-kik-queah. If we went into the room 

 at night and lighted the gas and surprised him he would use the longer 

 call, kik-kik-kik-kik-kik-kik-kik-kik-ki-queali ; and on two occasions, when 

 he was at ease he uttered a note exactly like the Indigo Bunting's chif. 



