Vol. XI n General Notes. 29 1 



1S95 J 



description furnished I concluded it must he an aduU Ivory Gull. To 

 satisfy myself as to the identity of the bird I yisited Mr. Golds^yerth and 

 sa^y the specimen, xyhich proved to be an adult Gavia alba. Mr. Gold- 

 s^yerth informed me that he shot the bird ^yhile he ^yas rigged out for 

 ducks in an ice hole on Great South Bay, near Sayyille.-^\ illiam 

 DuTCHER, Ne-v York City- 



Probable Occurrence of Creagrus -;furcata off San Diego, California.- 

 On Vpril 12, 1S9V I left the harbor of San Diego for the Coronado 

 Islands, eighteen miles south, with the intention of spending several 

 days among the sea birds. Just outside the harbor three Gulls were seen 

 that I could not identify, owing partly to the distance. While then- gen- 

 eral appearance was quite different from that of any species ^ylth wluch 

 am familiar, they would doubtless have been assigned to the long hs of 

 unrecognized, had not an incident occurred on our return tnp that fur- 

 nished food for reflection for several days. On the mornmg of the 14th 

 the wind was blowing very strong and the sea running so high that it was 

 decided to return to San Diego. When about half way from the islands 

 to Point Loma, a Gull passed the sloop at a distance of about two 

 hundred yards, giving me an excellent opportunity ior see^ngh^^t with 

 the heavy' sea that was running, no chance at all for securing what I think 

 was the "same species that I saw two days before, and am reasonably sure 

 was Creagrus furcata. 



The black head and pale mantle were very plainly to be seen, but 

 unfortunately I could not be sure that the tail was forked. 



Of course,\yithout having secured the bird, the record is open to con- 

 siderable question, but I am confident that sooner or later, some one more 

 fortunate will secure the species within our borders and replace the name 

 on our list.— A. W. Anthony, San Diego, Calif. 



History of a Wandering Albatross.- The Museum of Brown Univer- 

 sitv possesses a specimen of the Wandering Albatross or 'Goney i^Dio- 

 ,udea e.ulans) to which is attached the following interesting label : 



^. December 8th, 1847. Ship Euphrates, Edwards, New Bedto.d, .6 

 months out, 2300 bbls. of oil, 150 of it sperm. I have not seen a whale o. 

 ; months. Lat. 43° 00' South. Long. 148° 40' West. Thick foggy with 



rain. 



On the opposite side it reads : , , .• rhiU hv 



"This was taken from the neck of a Goney, on the coast ot Ch.h, b^^ 

 Hiram Luther, Dec. 20th, 1S47. In Lat. 45^ 5o' South. Long. ,8 ., 

 West Taken out of a small bottle tied round the bird s neck. 



The shortest distance between Captain Edwards's position about 800 

 utiles east of New Zealand, and Captain Luther's position off the coas 

 of Chili in the vicinity of Juan Fernandez, is about 3400 ^f^^'J^ 

 bird, therefore, covered at least this distance in the t-elveda,^ which 

 inte vened between its release and capture. It is not probable, however, 



