iSgi.] General Notes. ^OI 



rejiorted it luui captiirctl a rat ami was I'eedini; tliereon at tlie time. 

 Several rat skins were noticed in the neigiiborhood. from wliioh it may 

 he inferred that the bird had had a considerable meal on rats. Tiie mate, 

 reported to me to have presented the same dark, almost black appearance, 

 was not in sight when the female was killed, but is said to have appeared 

 about the locality repeatedly, after November 22, 1S91, up to March 20, 

 1892. Several local gunners tried to obtain it, but it was too wild and wary 

 to allow any one within shot. He thus seems to have remained for four 

 months in the vicinity, in the apparent hope of once more meeting his 

 female comjianion, who may have accompanied" him from the far shores 

 of Labrador. The weather was clear on the day the bird was shot, but 

 the climatic conditions had been unsettled and slormv tor several days 

 previous. 



The specimen, which reminds one of an Eagle in miniature and is a 

 noble-looking bird, has been mounted admirably by Messrs Southwick 

 and Critchley of Providence. It w^as secured for the Museum of the 

 Natural History Society of Newport, where an ornithological collection 

 is now in process of formation. — A. O'D. Taylok, Newport, R. I. 



The Carolina Paroquet {Conurus carolinensis) in Missouri. — On a 



recent visit to Stone County in southern Missouri I was informed by 

 Mr. Thurman S. Powell that two Paroquets weie seen b\' him at tlie old 

 Linchpin camping ground in that county last fall (1891). He was on 

 horseback at the time and the birds were in the road aliead of him. As 

 he approached, they tlew up into an oak tree, but soon flew down to the 

 ground again and began feeding on acorns. He told me that they were 

 green Parrots similar to those he had seen in Georgia during tlie war, 

 and were the first he had seen in this neighborhood. — C. Hart Mekriam, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Aphelocoma californica in Washington. — On April 13, 1892, I shot near 

 V^ancouver, Clarke County, Washington, two California Jays {Aphelo- 

 coma californica) . They were in a field, near a thick growtli of wild 

 rose bushes, on the bank of the Columbia. This is, I believe, the first 

 record of this bird for Washington. — R. H. Lawrence, Portland, Oregon. 



Carduelis elegans in Connecticut. — On May 9, 1892, I took a very 

 fuU-plumaged male European Goldfinch in an orchard near here. The 

 bird was in full song, and did not bear any evidence of having ever been 

 in captivity, as it was not particularly tame, the plumage was perfect, 

 c\en to the tifi^ of the tail-feathers, and the legs and feet were those of a 

 wild bird. It seems to ine probable that it was a straggler from some ofthe 

 localities where they have been introduced and have become naturalized, 

 as I have never seen any near here before. — G. E. Verrill, Nevj Haven , 

 Conn. 



