^°^i9lV"] General Notes. 219 



Virginia Rail.^ On December 24, 1909, a single bird was observed in the 

 narrow open channel of a small stream near a cat-tail marsh. I watched 

 it closely with a field-glass for some time before it disappearerl under a thin 

 sheet of ice that had been left above the water-level. It did not act injured 

 thovigli 1 <liil not see if fly. 



Golden-crowned Kinglet.— One was taken on Februaiy G, 1910, from 

 a flock of about eight. They were feeding in the pines on a mesa near 

 Boulder. — N. dEW. Betts, Boulder, Colorado. 



Massachusetts Notes. — Blue-winged Teal (Querquedula diacors). — 

 Because this bird is considered a rare spring migrant near the coast of this 

 State I would like to record having seen a pair on April 11, 1909, in a pond 

 near Wenham Swamp, Topsfield, Mass. The male was in full adult plum- 

 age, the white crescent before the eye plainly visible. I observed them for 

 some time with a pair of glasses and as they were not over a hundred yards 

 distant there could be no question as to their identity. 



Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulcarius) . — On May 2, 1909, I shot a male 

 specimen on the Guerned beach, Duxbury, Mass. The bird even at that 

 date was in the extreme immature or winter plumage with no trace of red. 

 However a few feathers on the back were slightly tipped with tawny. 

 For one or two days previous there had been a rather heavy easterly storm 

 and I suppose it had been driven ashore at that time. At any rate the 

 bird was not tired but strong on the wing, and furthermore was in good 

 condition. It is now in my collection. Though these birds can hardly 

 be called rare on our coast, they are more apt to be taken in the late 

 summer or early fall rather than in the spring. 



Barn Swallow {Hirumlo eryihrogas(er). — On August 16, 1909, an albino 

 male specimen was shot by Russell Bearse at Chatham, Mass. The bird 

 was taken on the flats off Monomoy Island where Mr. Bearse had gone after 

 shore birds, and where it had been seen previously for several days. It was 

 nearly pure white and the only suggestion of any other color was on the 

 inner webs of the middle tail feathers where the white spots ordinarily 

 exist in the normal plumage. These white spots on close scrutiny could 

 still be seen, showing that the rest of the plumage was not pure white. 

 This specimen is in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History. 



BufE-breasted Sandpiper (Trync/ites suhruficollis). — On September 4, 

 1909, I shot a female s|)ecimen on Monomoy Island, Chatham, Mass. 

 There was an easterly storm the day previous making it very improbable 

 that the bird had just arrived. For that reason, and because of the fact 

 that the bird was fat and in excellent condition, it seems likely that it 

 had been there several days. I was walking through the meadows where 

 the salt grass had been cut looking for Pectoral Sandpipers when this bird 

 flew up. As I was on the lookout for anything odd that day I immediately 

 recognized it as it rose. It is now in my collection. On enquiring of a few 

 people in Chatham, Mr. Russell Bearse, a reliable local gunner, informed 

 me that nearly every year during the flight of Pectoral Sandpipers in Sep- 



