^°J^g^"] General Notes. ^g 



September 9, drove over the same ground as yesterday and found a 

 flock of six, from which I shot two; also saw a flock of about thirtv ; thev 

 were all the same birds seen yesterday. 



September 11, I drove all over the eastern burnt district again, and saw 

 the same old birds. I also saw some new arrivals, and there are now a 

 hundred or more domiciled in this section, a good proportion of which 

 are ro«;/^ birds, or ' Palebellies,' and which I think caine on last night in 

 a thick fog which prevailed in the late afternoon and early evening. 

 The wind was strong northeast this morning. I shot eleven birds to-day, 

 ten of which were young birds, the first noted or taken this season. 

 September 12, I again drove over the eastern ground; all the Plovers on 

 the island being centered there, I obtained eight birds to-day, all young. 

 Four or five flocks of Plovers were noted passing by the northern side of 

 Nantucket about six o'clock p. m., flying towards the southwest. 



September 13, I drove again over the eastern ground and saw the same 

 birds, and obtained one. At sundown I saw the largest flock 1 have 

 observed for years, about two hundred (estimated) birds. They had just 

 come on and were flying about seventy yards high, headed towards the 

 west. The latter half of the flock were much inclined to stop, but every 

 time the\' lowered their flight to do so, the leading half would rise up 

 and allure them on. I drove out early on the following morning, over 

 the western ground, without finding them. I also made inquiry regarding 

 them. They did not stop, the wind was southwest and west. I do not 

 think any new birds landed on these islands between September 13 and 

 October 2. On the latter date fifteen of the domiciled birds were shot, 

 and on the first I shot another, a young bird, which was verj' fat. 



As far as I know, and I have made constant inquiry, but eighty-seven 

 (lolden Plovers have been taken on these islands during the entire season 

 up to October 2. No Eskimo Curlew, Numcnius borcalis, have been seen 

 or taken. During the season I have made inquires of three of the largest 

 game stalls in Faneuil Hall Market, Boston; the answer was always the 

 same, none of them had received any Golden Plovers, and l^ut a single 

 Eskimo Curlew had been brought in. I have no direct information from 

 Martha's Vineyard or Cape Cod, Mass. — Geo. H. Mackay, Nantucket, 

 Mass. 



Unseasonable Nesting of the Ground Dove in Florida. — In a letter 



dated Tarpon Springs, Florida, Oct. 29, 1894, my correspondent Mr. 

 \V. S. Dickinson writes: "I find that the Ground Dove breeds in October, 

 [collecting] in flocks from March until then. Last year 1 got two sets 

 [of eggs] on the 19th of October, one on the 22d, all with small embryos ; 

 one set this year on the 15th [of October]." 



This unsolicited testimony' is of interest, not only confirming the 

 previous record of the late breeding of the Ground Dove made by Mr. 

 A. T. Wayne (Orn. cSi 061. 1SS7, p. 102), but seeming to prove that this 

 conduct is not exceptional in southern Florida. That it is the rule in 



