394 General Notes. [ f,",*^ 



June iS, 1S95 Mr. Craig observed them at 'Mud Lake" in some num- 

 bers. May 24, 1S95, Mr. Craig found a good sized flock of Pectoral Sand- 

 pipers at Havana, 111., on the Illinois River. 



Least Sandpiper. — Saw a loose flock of about twentv-five Least Sand- 

 pipers {Tringa miiiutilla') July 3, 1S93, and secured three at 'Mud Lake.' 

 I saw many on July 26, 1893, and on other collecting trips made to ' Mud 

 Lake ' during that summer. 



Semipalmated Sandpiper. — Shot three on July 27, 1893, and saw many 

 others at 'Mud Lake.' August 2, 1S93, I saw a great many Semipalmated 

 Sandpipers {Ereunetes pusillus) which were very tame alighting within 

 twenty feet of us. June 9, 1894, I found a flock of about fifty birds of this 

 species not far from 'Mud Lake' on a large, soft, muddy tract, which also 

 had many single birds of this species scattered over it. My companion 

 killed five at one shot. Nelson in ' Birds of Northeastern Illinois,' says 

 those he has shot in the summer were barren birds, but this has not been 

 the case with those I have skinned. 



Semipalmated Plover. — On July 27, 1S93, I fired into a flock of Sand- 

 pipers and killed a Pectoral Sandpiper and a Semipalmated Plover 

 (^^■Egialitis semipalmata) at ' Mud Lake.' I saw three of this species on 

 August 2, 1893, at ' Mud Lake,' which were very tame. 



Broad-winged and Sharp-shinned Hawks. — While collecting with Mr. 

 Wallace Craig in the southern part of Chicago (83rd Street and Stony 

 Island Avenue) on April 27, 1892, we observed a flight of Hawks which 

 lasted all day. At one time in an opening of a small woods, called Hog 

 Island, Mr. Craig counted fourteen in sight. Most of them appeared to 

 be medium-sized Hawks, perhaps one fourth of them being small sized 

 ones. Mr. Craig shot one of the latter and found it was a Sharp-shinned 

 Hawk {Accipiter velox). I shot two of the larger ones and found them 

 to be a male and female Broad-winged Hawk {Buteo la(issimus). The 

 stomach of the female contained two garter snakes, one about eight and one 

 half inches long, and five Coleoptera, while that of the male contained 

 three spiders and two Orthoptera. 



There may have been other species of Hawks in the flight, but the 

 Broad-winged and Sharp-shinned were the only ones we were able to 

 identif\-, and I am positive that nearly, if not quite all, were of these two 

 species. 



They were rather tame, several alighting ainong the trees, but we were 

 unable to secure more as we had no shells loaded with coarse shot. The 

 Hawks were all flying nearly south, or perhaps southwest, which we were 

 unable to account for, as the woods was full of birds migrating north- 

 ward. The day was warm and pleasant with light thunder showers in the 

 morning. The wind was strong and from the south. 



Turkey Vulture. — While collecting birds with Mr. Gekler on May 30, 

 1S95, we saw a pair of Turkey Vultures I^Cathartes aura) soaring, about 

 two miles east of Riverdale, 111., and within the limits of Chicago. Once 

 they came within long gun range and Mr. Gekler fired at them without 



