536 General Notes. LOct. 



Red Phalarope {Phalawpus fulicarius) off Boston Harbor in Sum- 

 mer. — On July 11, 1913, when Miss Cleveland, local secretary of the 

 Massachusetts Audubon Society, and I were returning by boat to Boston, 

 from Plymouth, a small duck-like, brightly colored bird caught my eye just 

 as the boat passed the Harding's Ledge buoys just outside Boston Harbor. 

 We examined the bird carefully with our glasses, and it proved to be a Red 

 Phalarope in full plumage, the first of the kind we had ever seen, but 

 we had good views and were able to positively identify it. — Lidian E. 

 Bridge, West Medford, Mass. 



Another Massachusetts Record for the Turkey Vulture {Cathartes 

 aura septentrionalis) . — On July 24 of this year, I was watching a Red-tailed 

 Hawk over Higgins' Pond in Truro, Cape Cod, Mass., when a large black 

 bird appeared from the southeast and flew with slow wing-beats across the 

 pond, rather low and at no great distance from me, and then mounted 

 soaring into the air. Though I had become familiar with the Turkey 

 Vulture on a visit to Virginia some years ago, I did not at once recognize 

 it in Massachusetts, where this species does not ordinarily come into our 

 reckoning, but soon the size, color, long outstretched wings with the tips 

 of the primaries well separated, and comparatively long, rounded tail iden- 

 tified the bird positively as Cathartes aura and presumably of the subspecies 

 septentrionalis. Presently it dropped to a lower level and sailed, straight 

 on motionless wings in the direction of Slough Pond, half a mile away to 

 the north. On reaching Slough Pond, I failed to find the Vulture but 

 startled an immature Bald Eagle from its perch on the farther shore, and 

 while watching it move off in circles towards the west, I saw two other 

 soaring birds in the distance, probably the Red-tailed Hawk and the 

 Turkey Vulture. Meeting with these three fine birds in such close succes- 

 sion, each one larger than the last, was an interesting experience, and the 

 Turkey Vulture is uncommon enough in Massachusetts to make it seem 

 worth while to record the occurrence. — Francis H. Allen, West Roxbury, 

 Mass. 



Richardson's Owl {Cryptoglaux fmierea richardsoni) in N. E. Illinois. — 



Richardson's Owl rarely strays as far south as the United States, and after 

 more than foi'ty years collecting I had never seen a specimen in the flesh, 

 until one was brought into the shop of Mr. R. A. Turtle, the taxidermist, 

 who very kindly presented it to me. It was picked up dead in the street — 

 Data from label: " Mus. H. K. C, No. 17479—9 Chicago, Illinois, 

 March 5, 1914 — Length 10.25 in.. Extent 24.25, Wing 7.25, Tail 4.38, 

 Tarsus .80, Bill .75. Stomach empty — " The only other IlUnois records 

 are Rockford, October, 1884, Cicero, December, 1902, and Kenilworth, 

 December, 1902, all near Chicago. — Henry K. Coale, Highland Park, III. 



Unusual Behavior of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird {Archilochus 

 coluhris). — On August 22, 1914, my wife and I were coming through the 

 extensive piece of swamp-land just east of Chain Bridge in the District of 



