Vo). XVIII j General Notes. IO9 



lecta, I wish to add a paragraph in commendation of the bird. On 

 Monday, Oct. i, 1900, I was at Big Pinej post office, Wyoming, seventy- 

 five miles north of the Oregon Short Line railroad. Early in the morning 

 I was attracted to the wreckage of an old waterwheel in North Piney Creek 

 just back of the post office, by a sweet and continuous vocal effort of some 

 bird. I believed the singer was a Meadowlark for some of the notes were 

 familiar, but I was in doubt, never having heard the song before. I ap- 

 proached, carelessly, and soon discovered a Western Meadowlark perched 

 upon the topmost paddle of the old wheel singing — well singing an aria 

 from the song-book of Nature. To me the performance was exceedingly 

 creditable; but owing to the surroundings and the season of the year, its 

 actual musical value may have been overestimated. The performance 

 was continuous for over three minutes when the bird joined a small flock 

 that was foraging industriously for breakfast along the bank of the creek. 

 This example of continuous vocal effort of the Western Meadowlark is 

 the first and only one of my experience and while Mr. Mead's suggestion 

 — that there maybe individuals of surpassing vocal powers, is of doubtful 

 value, nothing can be more certain than that continuovis bursts of song 

 are of rare occurrence. May I be permitted to add, also, that during nine- 

 teen years' residence in Wyoming my observation of the spring and sum- 

 mer song of the Western Meadowlark has forced the conclusion that there 

 is no such thing as a distinctive vocal utterance of the race. One would 

 almost be safe in asserting that no two larks sing alike, so great is the 

 range of individual effort. While the songs of all of the Western Lai-ks 

 vary greatly from that of the eastern form the lack of uniformity will in- 

 sure to the promoters of the taxonomic value theory final and certain 

 confusion. — Frank Bond, Cheyenne, Wyo. 



Occurrence of the Mexican Crossbill {Loxia ctirvirostra stricklandi^ 

 at Neligh, Nebraska. — It is interesting, to say the least, to note the occur- 

 rence of this southwestern bird at Neligh, Nebraska, several hundred 

 miles east of its normal range. A large female was taken by myself on 

 December 9, 1898, just at dusk, while it was perched on the head of a 

 sunflower {Helianthus anniius) feeding industriously upon the seeds. 

 The only other birds in the near vicinity at-the time were a few Common 

 Redpolls {Acanthi's linaria). There was a fair amount of snow on the 

 ground at the time, but no heavy storms had occurred to account for 

 the bird straggling so far from its usual range. The specimen is now 

 in my collection. — Merritt Carv, Neligh, Neb. 



An Addition to the A. O. U. Check-List. — Several years ago I submitted 

 to Mr. Brewster three specimens for comparison with the type of Deti- 

 droica Mt'g-yifrons, and he reported that they belonged to that Warbler. 

 The three specimens form a part of a series of eleven males, in the collec- 

 tion of the California Academy of Sciences, taken in the latter part of May 



