° " 191 8 ] General Notes. 223 



Solitary Sandpiper ( Tringa solitaria solitaria) in New Mexico. — A 



single specimen of the eastern form of the Solitary Sandpiper has been 

 for some time in the collection of the Biological Survey, identified as Tringa 

 solitaria cinnamomea. A recent examination of the specimen, however, 

 shows that it is certainly a typical example of the eastern race, Tringa 

 solitaria solitaria. It is a male in juvenal plumage, taken at Guadalupita, 

 New Mexico, at an altitude of 6800 feet, on August 7, 1903, by Mr. A. E. 

 Weller, and it now bears the number 193391 in the United States National 

 Museum. It constitutes the only authentic record for New Mexico. — 

 Harry C. Oberholser, Washington, D. C. 



King Rail (Rallus elegans) in Massachusetts. — On September 15, 

 1917, on the edge of a fresh water pond, at Haverhill, Mass., I saw a rail 

 which I supposed was this species, but I was unable to secure it. Just a 

 month later in the same spot I again saw it, and succeeded in shooting it. 

 The specimen was identified from a photograph, by Mr. E. H. Forbush 

 and Mr. Walter Rich, and by Mr. M. Abbott Frazar, the taxidermist who 

 mounted it. — Charles B. Morss, Haverhill, Mass. 



Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) Eating Birds. — The old duck 

 hunters of Ashbridge's Marsh, Toronto, called this species " Snipe Owl." 

 They claimed that its appearance in the fall was coincident with that of 

 the Wilson's Snipe. This was true, at least, in the fall of 1909 when both 

 species arrived at the same time. 



Between September 28 and October 16, 1909, I spent several days col- 

 lecting in a small dry meadow, on the south shore of Ashbridge's Marsh. 

 Short-eared Owls were more numerous than usual and were apparently 

 feeding entirely on small birds. Four stomachs examined contained 

 feathers and bird bones exclusively. In a small tract of dry grassy meadow, 

 roughly estimated at fifty acres, I found feathers of the following species, 

 marking the spot where they had been eaten by the owls; one Hermit 

 Thrush, one Sora, three Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, one Slate-colored 

 Junco, one White-crowned Sparrow, and eighteen others, of which there 

 were not enough feathers left to identify the species. 



During April and the early part of May of the following spring, the owls 

 were again plentiful, preying on the hosts of migrants, that rested along 

 the sandbar, after crossing Lake Ontario. With one exception all the 

 "castings examined contained the bones and feathers of small birds. This 

 meadow was swarming with voles, but only one pellet, of the many exam- 

 ined was composed of the fur and bones of voles. — J. A. Munro, Okanagan 

 Landing, British Columbia. 



Downy Woodpecker in Colorado. — I have a specimen of the Downy 

 Woodpecker (Dryobates p. medianus) taken on Clear Creek, near Golden, 

 Colo., on February 25, 1917. The bird is a female and as the white spot- 

 tings on the lesser wing coverts are somewhat restricted, I hesitated there- 



