Vol 

 1902 



^'^] General Notes. 397 



stall of F. H. Hosmer & Co. a female Yellow-crowned Night Heron, in 

 full nuptial plumage, and in a remarkably fresh state of preservation, 

 which had been received on the previous Saturday in a shipment of birds 

 from Yarmouth, N. S. 



On looking the matter up, I found that it had been shipped by Mr. 

 Howard Smith of Hawks Point, Cape Sable Island, and had been killed 

 somewhere in that vicinity by Mr. R. C. Maxwell of Lower Clark's 

 Harbor, Shelburne County, Cape Sable Island. I had a letter from Mr. 

 Maxwell in which he told me of his killing the bird, and another from Mr. 

 Smith, in which he writes, among other things, under date of April 21, 

 as follows : — 



"Since receiving your letter, I have learned through a friend of mine, 

 Mr. I. K. Doane, lighthouse keeper at this place, that two other specimens 

 of this bird have been captured this spring in our neighboring county, 

 viz. Yarmouth, and are now mounted and on exhibition in the store of 

 Benjamin Doane, taxidermist, Yarmouth, N. S." 



It seems from this interesting information that at least three birds of 

 this species had wandei-ed this far north during the spring migration. — 

 Fred. H. Kennard, Boston, Mass. 



The Authority for the Name Geotrygon chrysia. — In the Eighth Sup- 

 plement to the Check-List, Auk, Jan., 1S97, p. 126, the authority for the 

 name Geotrygon chrysia is credited to Bonaparte, Consp. Av. II, 1854, 

 72, where it only occurs in the synonymy of Geotrygon martint'ca. Bona- 

 parte, Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 100, says that he has in his esteemed 

 correspondence "the name Geotrygon chrysia, a species still more bril- 

 liant and coming from the same countries as montana.'''' This he consid- 

 ers to be the same as Geotrygon martinica and says that M. Castelnau, 

 following the records of the Museum, finds it reported from Florida. It 

 seems to me that this description is;not sufficient to fix the name, and that 

 the proper authority for Geotrygon chrysia should be Salvador!, Cat. 

 Bdi. Brit. Mus., XXI, 1893, 571.— J. H. Riley, Washington, D. C. 



The Black Vulture {Catharista uriibu) in Virginia. — The A. O. U. 

 Check-List gives the regular range of the Black Vulture (Catharista atrata) 

 as reaching its most northern point in North Carolina. I have now to 

 record that this vulture occurs regularly in Nansemond County, Virginia, 

 where it is a not uncommon summer resident. Here it is known as the 

 ' South Carolina Buzzard,' and it is usual to find it in company with 

 Turkey Vultures {Cathartes aura), from which its smaller size and its 

 quicker, mbre broken flight distinguish it at a glance. On the edge of 

 the Dismal Swamp, along Cohoon Creek, near Suffolk, Nansemond Co., 

 Virginia, May 19, 1902, it was noted as quite abundant, seven individuals 

 being seen upon one occasion. The regular range of this species is thus 

 extended northward to Nansemond County in Virginia, probably including 



