134 General Notea. [Januai-y 



val exists. This latter is spanned over in the living bird by a delicate 

 band of fibrous tissue. In tlie genus Buteo a similar state of affairs 

 obtains, and I present above a drawing of the pelvis of a specimen of B. 

 borealis calicrus. oflFering an aspect from which the point I refer to, maj 

 be seen. This figure happens to be taken from a skeleton of tiiis bird, 

 which I have recently forwarded to the Museum of the University of Edin- 

 buigli. Some of the representatiA-es of the genus Falco have the post- 

 pubis all in one piece, as we find it in the vast majority of the class, 

 though a tliinning of its middle poition may usually be detected. 



In the figure of a skeleton of an Eagle presented by Mr. Y. JeftVey Bell 

 (after Milne-Edwards), in his 'Comparative Anatomy and Physiology,' 

 only that portion of the post-pubis is shown which closes the obturator 

 foramen. This is equally true of Sir Richard Owen's figure of the pelvis 

 of one of these birds in his 'Anatomy of Vertebrates' (Vol. II, p. 33, 

 fig. 23). 



Qj-iite often it happens that the obturator foramen is closed in bv the 

 ligamentous band which connects the free extreniitx- of this anterior por- 

 tion f)f the post-pubic element {op') with the ischium. Indeed, the last 

 named author alludes to this, and says that -'the shoi"test pubis is seen in 

 certain Eagles, in which it terminates after forming the lower boundary 

 of the obturator foramen ; its extremity there projecting freely, as in fig. 

 23, d, or being joined by ligament to the ischium, as in the Harpy Eagle, 

 in which it is an inch in length, whilst the ilium is six inches long" {op. 

 fit., p. 36). 



Unfortunately, I happen not to have the skeleton of an Eagle at hand, 

 but it seems to me, in view of the fact that the genera of Buzzards and 

 Eagles are quite closely afiined, the latter birds should possess this free 

 portion of the post-pubic element of the pelvis also. As it is often de- 

 tached during maceration, it is quite possible that in the course of the 

 preparation of the specimens from which M. Milne-Edwards and Sir 

 Richard Owen's figures were taken, it ma^- have been lost. 



As Eagles are quite common in this vicinit\', I hope to be able to decide 

 this point, on some future occasion, bv dissection of a fresh specimen. — 

 R. W. Shufeldt, Fort Wingate. Nez{.' Mexico. Sth Nov. 1SS5. 



Capture of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher {Milz'teliis forfica/na) on the 

 Southeast Coast of Florida. — Oh the 2d of March, 1SS5. I shot one of 

 these birds, a male, at Cape Sable^the only one noticed. I think its occur- 

 rence so far east worthy of note. — N. S. Goss. Topekci, Kciiisas. 



The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher {.\f/lz>ulits forftcatiis) at Key West. — In a 

 collection of alcoholic specimens of birds made at Key West, Florida, Jan- 

 uary 15, 1885, by the naturalists of the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer 

 'Albatross' is a specimen of this species (U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 102,444). 

 The record should have been made before this, but I had quite forgotten 

 the matter until reminded of it by the above note by Col Goss. — Robert 

 RiDGWAY, Washing-ton, D. C. 



