3 I 2 General Notes. [ j^^^lj 



usual fate. Two weeks later a Saw-whet Owl was sent to me, a bird that 

 asked only the hospitality of a night's lodging when the weather was incle- 

 ment, and was dispatched with true American promptness. I considered 

 the Meadowlark's presence at that time of year unprecedented in this 

 locality, when the mercury often reminded us that we are near neighbors 

 to the North Pole. Was it ever known to winter so far north before? 



Is the Solitary Sandpiper (^Totatius soUtariics) known to swim under 

 water.? A friend of mine wounded one last summer when it fell from an 

 overhanging rock to a little corner on the lake beach. He jumped down 

 after it thinking it could not possibly get away, when it quickly went 

 under water, a little ribbon of bubbles marking its way far out into the 

 lake. In surprise he waited its reappearance, when it turned and came 

 his way again, landing not far away when (poor bird) it was easily 

 captured. The Spotted Sandpiper was sure to resort to the same tactics 

 when pursued by a Hawk. I am delighted to say it made good its 

 escape, coming up at a distance and putting its pursuer quite off the 

 track. — Nelly Hart Woodworth, St. Albans, Vt. 



Some Rare Birds of Recent Occurrence near Buffalo, N. Y. — Uria lomvia. 

 Bri^innich's Murre. — Four stragglers of this species were seen here last 

 fall; two of which were captured. One was shot near Irving on or about 

 December i, 1894, by 'Jake' Koch, a sportsman of local fame, who had it 

 mounted and placed in the rooms of the Acacia Club in this city. The 

 second was shot in Buffalo harbor b\' a gunner named Snyder who sa^'s 

 that it is one of three that were flying past him at the time. This latter 

 is now in my collection. Both were young birds which probably strayed 

 from the coast via the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. 



Mcllwraith recorded in his 'Birds of Ontario' (p. 38) the capture of 

 nearly fifty of these birds in various parts of the Province late in the fall 

 of 1S93, and it would be interesting to know if there were any considerable 

 numbers of stragglers last fall. A short time ago Mr. J. L. Davidson of 

 Lockport informed me that a correspondent of his shot four strange look- 

 ing Ducks in Jefferson County which possibly were of this species. And 

 recently ' Forest and Stream' was asked to identify a bird shot in the in- 

 terior of New York State that from the description was evidently a Murre. 



Larus marinus. Great Black-backed Gull. — An uncommon winter 

 resident here though probably of regular occurrence. I have a specimen 

 in immature plumage shot on Lake Erie in January, 1894. This winter I 

 saw four adults on February 19 (1895), two on February 20, and one on 

 the 22d. I tried hard to shoot one but was not successful as they were very 

 shy. The Gulls — of which L. argentatus smithsonianus is the most com- 

 mon — usually rest quietly on the ice in the morning but appear in num- 

 bers in the afternoons to feed upon ' lizards ' {^Necturus inaculatiis) and 

 bait (minnows) cast away by the fishermen. 



Larus glaucus. Glaucous Gull. — One shot on Niagara River, Jan- 

 uary 29, 1895, which I saw at a taxidermist's shop two days later. 



