402 General Notes. \}y^. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Early Notice of Gavia adamsi. — The 'Narrative' of Captain (later 

 Sir) John Franklin's first Expedition contains, at p. 222 of the Philadelphia 

 edition, 1824, under date of Sept. 26, 1S20, while he was at Fort Enter- 

 prize, the follow'ing easily recognized description : "The last of the water- 

 fowl that quitted us was a species of diver, of the same size with the 

 Colynibus arctictis, but differing from it in the arrangement of the white 

 spots on its plumage, and in having a yellowish white bill. This bird 

 was occasionally caught in our fishing nets." — Elliott Coues, Wasfiinff- 

 to7i, D. C. 



The Least Tern Breeding on Martha's Vineyard Island, Massachu- 

 setts. — On July 21-22, 1897, Avhile on a walking trip along the south beach 

 of Martha's Vineyard Island, Mass., I found a few pairs of Least Tern 

 {^Sterna antillaruni) undoubtedly breeding near Job's Neck Pond, and a 

 small colony of about fiftj' birds breeding near Black Point and Chilmark 

 Ponds. An q^^^ was found, but as Piping Plovers (^yEgialitis meloda) 

 were also on the beach the identification is not positive. A fair number, 

 however, of young birds were in the air. — Reginald Heber Howe, Jr., 

 Long-tvood, Alass. 



The Terns of Penikese — A Correction. — In my article on the 'Terns 

 of Penikese Island, Massachusetts' (Auk, Vol. XIV, July, 1897, p. 283), at 

 foot of the account of nests and eggs, for 40 nests on Gull Island, read 41 

 in both places. In totals of eggs, read 3099 instead of 2055 for Penikese, 

 and 90 instead of 88 for Gull Island. — George H. Mackay, Nantucket, 

 Mass. 



Capture of the Little Blue Heron in Connecticut. — A local gunner 

 reported the capture of a strange Heron on August 4. Unfortunately it 

 was sent off to be mounted before I could sex or even see it. The bird 

 has just been shown me, however, mounted, and proves to be an adult 

 Ardea ccerulea (sex, as I said before, unknown). The man who secured 

 the specimen said that he found it in a small fresh-water ' pond hole ' 

 near this place. It was in company with another of the same species, and 

 owing to their extreme shyness it was nearly a week before he could 

 succeed in getting this one. The individual secured is in perfect 

 plumage. — P. J- McCook, Niantic, Ct. 



.^gialitis nivosa in Florida. — Between the 23d of February, this year, 

 and the 2d of April I collected nineteen specimens of typical ^-Egialitis 

 nivosa. The first seven were collected Feb. 23, at the western end of 

 Santa Rosa Island, near Fort Pickens. Between the i8th and the 24th of 

 March a dozen specimens were taken on the Gulf beach of Santa Rosa 

 Island, opposite Mary Esther P. O. In these specimens the females all 



