^°'i9^lf' "^1 General Notes. 233 



specimens of B. I. lineatus from Connecticut, having the chest and 

 breast uniform bright cinnamon rufous and the abdomen, tibise 

 and lower tail-coverts bright buff heavily barred with cinnamon 

 rufous. They are larger than B. I. alleni from Florida and have 

 the head and neck not grayish but even more rufous than lineatus. 

 Six young birds collected at the same time differ from the de- 

 scription of yovmg B. I. elegans by having the pale spaces on the 

 outer webs of the primaries as large as in B. I. lineatus. From the 

 latter they differ by having the lower parts, especially the tibise, 

 more buffy and the dark markings larger — sagittate or cuneiform 

 instead of oval — and numerous even on the tibise, which are 

 slightly if at all spotted in B. I. lineatus. Young B. I. alleni is 

 smaller and has less buff in the plumage, and the dark markings 

 below are even heavier than in the Texas race. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Holboell's Grebe in Connecticut. — An unusual flight of Colymbus 

 holboelli was noticed here during the month of February, 1912. A speci- 

 men was picked up alive in a mowing lot, perhaps two miles from the 

 Connecticut river, on the 9th, the ground at the time being covered with 

 snow and the thermometer near the zero point. The bird could not, 

 apparently, arise from the ground. From the 12th to the 15th, inclusive, 

 nine of these grebes were captured alive on the ice in the Connecticut river. 

 Some of them in trying to escape simply moved along the ice in a rapid 

 manner using their feet for power, but making no attempt to fly. Two 

 of them, however, arose from the ice and flew at a height of from eight 

 inches to two feet for a short distance and then dropped down. Between 

 the dates referred to the river was entirely covered with ice, there being, 

 so far as could be seen, no open water where the birds could obtain food. — 

 Jno. H. Sage, Portland, Conn. 



The Forked-tailed Gull {Xema furcatum). — Recently in looking over 

 some notes taken at sea a number of years ago (1885) and which had 

 been forgotten I came across the following in relation to the Forked-tailed 

 Gull. 



In making a passage from Callao, Peru, to Acapulco, Mexico, we passed 

 in sight of Chatham, one of the Galapagos Islands. When three to four 

 hundred miles distant from the island — - both when approaching and when 



