2 7/1 General Notes. [April 



was found on June 15 last at Ekomiut, in the district of Christianshaab, 

 and was situated in the midst of the nests of a colony o{ Sterna macroura. 

 The female bird was shot oft' the nest, which, when found, contained two 

 eggs. Of these one was unfortunately broken, and the other, which was 

 also damaged, is now in the possession of llerr Weller of Copenhagen. 

 It is in color and appearance very similar to the t^^^ of Lams tniniitus, 

 is of a pyriform shape, and measures 44 mm. X ^t, mm. This discovery 

 is of some interest, the species, as is well known, having been hitherto of 

 rare occurrence and the breeding habitat unknown. — ^foHN J. Dalgleish, 

 S Athole Crescent^ Kdinbiirgn. 



A Flock of Chen rossii East of the Rocky Mts. — On the 17th of April, 

 1SS5, after several days of stormy weather, with wind from the nortiiwest, 

 accompanied at times by heavv fog and rain, there appeared on a bar in 

 the Missouri River at this place, a large tlock of Ross's Snow Geese. In 

 the afternoon of the same day, procuring a boat, we rowed toward the 

 flock, which presented a rather remarkable sight, consisting, as it did, of 

 several thousand individuals squatting closely together along the edge 

 of the bar. Here and there birds were constantly standing up and flap- 

 ping their wings, then settling down again, ail the while a confused gabble, 

 half goose-like, half duck-like, arising from the whole flock. We ap- 

 proached to within a hundi^ed j'ards or so, when the Geese lightly arose 

 to a considerable height and flew oft" over the prairie, where they soon 

 alighted and began to feed on the short green grass. While flying, often 

 two or three birds would dart off" from the main flock, and, one behind the 

 other, swing around in great curves, quite after the manner of the little 

 Chimney Swift in the East. Apparently these same birds remained about 

 till the 26th of April, long after the storm was over, but they became 

 broken up into several smaller flocks some time before leaving. Some 

 five or six specimens were shot during their stay. — Robert S. Williams, 

 Great Falls, Montana. 



Capture of a Pair of Wild Hybrid Ducks (Mallard + Muscovy) on 

 Long Island. — Mr. G. C. Morris, of Sag Harbor, New York, had at the 

 annual exhibition of the New York Fanciers' Club, held in New York 

 City, February 3 to 10, 1SS6, a pair of 'strange Ducks' which no one had 

 been able to name. My attention was directed to them by Mr. Morris, 

 who called upon me at the American Museum of Natural History in 

 relation to them. From the clear account of them he was able to give 

 me, I had no difficulty in deciding as to their* character, and an examina- 

 tion of the birds themselves the following day confirmed my identifica- 

 tion of them. Unlike most previous examples that have been reported 

 of this interesting cross, they showed no tendency to albinism, there 

 being no abnormal white Uiarkings, but presented just the combination of 

 features one would look for m a cross between a wild Mallard and a 

 Muscovy unchanged by domestication. The birds, both male and female, 

 were in perfect plumage, exceedingly beautiful, and presented in nearly 

 equal degree the characteristics of the two species. 



