540 General Notes. [oct. 



line and about 30 from the South Dakota Hne. I could not tell the sex. 

 I only saw the one bird. When first seen a pair of Kingbirds were chasing 

 it and it flew into a thick willow hedge to escape them. This Pigeon was 

 about the size of a Passenger Pigeon or a trifle smaller, white collar around 

 back part of neck. The end of tail square, that is tail feathers all of equal 

 length. When the tail feathers were held spread out it plainly showed the 

 band of dull or dirty white. 



Yours truly, 



Chas. J. Campbell." 



There may be some significance in the capture of this bird so far off 

 its range, when taken in connection with the outrageous slaughter of many 

 hundreds of this species, which recently took place in Southern California, 

 as described in the May- June (1912) issue of 'The Condor' (p. 108). 

 R. W. Shufeldt, Washington, D. C. 



On the Alleged Egg-carrying Habit of the Band-tailed Pigeon. — 



In the July ' Auk ' Mr. Wallace Craig protests at some length against 

 the general acceptance of the belief that the Band-tailed Pigeon carries its 

 egg from the nest on occasion, and incubates it on any limb of a tree on 

 which it may happen to alight, as published in Bendire's ' Life Histories 

 of North American Birds.' He remarks, quite rightly, that such an ex- 

 traordinary act should not be beheved except upon the best of evidence, 

 which he asserts is not at hand. 



Doubtless other western ornithologists besides myself have read with 

 amusement this tale of the pigeon's actions, but without feeUng the need 

 of formally refuting the story. This, however, should have been done 

 years ago, for such stories are sometimes repeatedly and widely quoted, 

 as this one has been, until they are generally accepted as established facts. 

 It is pertinent, in this connection, to refer to Mr. Herbert Brown's 

 interesting account of the Masked Bob-white (Auk, XXI, 1904, pp. 209- 

 213), where statements by Major Bendire's informant, referring to the 

 species treated, and also quoted in Bendire's ' Life Histories,' are discussed 

 and rated at about their true value. 



Under the circumstances it is most unfortunate that many such 

 statements and records should have been so widely repeated in ornithologi- 

 cal literature. As the years go by such erroneous ' records ' become 

 increasingly difficult to correct, and while we can still do so, every effort 

 should be made toward their elimination. 



In this connection, and as an example of the insistence of an erroneous 

 record, there can be cited the generally accepted statement of the Band- 

 tailed Pigeons' breeding in southern Arizona during the entire year. This 

 is positively asserted as an accepted fact in various books deahng with 

 western ornithology, and is, I believe, traceable back to the same source 

 as the egg-carrying tale. It is also contrary to fact. The Band-tailed 



