346 General Notes. [$g 



The Shedding of the Stomach Lining by Birds. — The stomach of a 

 bird is lined by a corneous layer which, as is well known, strips very 

 readily from the mucous coat after death. The fact that it sometimes 

 separates naturally during the life of the bird is, however, less widely 

 known. 



In Newton's ' Dictionary of Birds,' p. 918, is summed up the knowledge 

 of this occurrence in the case of Old World birds. It is said: "As a rule 

 the cuticle. . . .is continuously wearing away and being reproduced, but 

 many cases are known in which most of the lining is suddenly cast off 

 and ejected through the mouth, as has been observed in Pastor roseus, 

 Sturnus vulgaris, Turdus viscivorous, Carine noctua, Cuculus canorus, and 

 especially in Buceros." These cases are discussed in European publica- 

 tions but in American journals the phenomenon has received little atten- 

 tion. 



A most interesting observation in the case of Himantopus mexicanus 

 shows, that not only is the cuticular coat of the gizzard of birds worn 

 down by constant trituration or disgorged in toto, as stated in the above 

 quotation, but that it is also sometimes shed off in the gizzard and there 

 ground up and disposed of in the same manner as food. The bird in 

 question was collected at St. Joseph Island, Texas, Augsut 14, 1905. In 

 examining its stomach contents, which was largely made up of aquatic 

 hemiptera and coleoptera and grasshoppers, several bits of a translucent 

 horny substance were separated for further study to determine their 

 identity. Turning to them a brief examination convinced me that the 

 material was a fragmentary stomach lining. This conclusion has sub- 

 sequently been confirmed by most careful comparison with the present 

 functioning lining of the same stomach, with which the fragments agree 

 in every detail of structure. The present lining is hard and readily peels 

 off, as is usual in birds. 



Suggestive data are on hand in the case of a few other species, but in 

 the above mentioned instance there seems to be no doubt that the stomach 

 lining had been shed. Observations on this point are necessarily of a 

 desultory nature and for that reason the case here noted is now put on 

 record. — W. L. McAtee, Washington, D. C. 



Virginia Creeper as a Winter Food for Birds. — Occasionally, we 

 discover some favorite food supply which attracts nearly all the birds 

 of the neighborhood. Such is furnished in some localities by the Virginia 

 Creeper. On account of the climbing habit of this vine the berries escape 

 being covered in winter and thus increase in importance to the birds with 

 the severity of weather. Through all the cold, zero or below, through 

 periods of sleet and snow and ice that sealed up everything on or near 

 the ground, the writer has observed several species of birds feeding upon 

 these berries. 



The observations were made on the campus of the University of Indiana, 



