TOO General Notes. LJ ul y 



from the boat some sea-lions lying on some rocks off shore, an Auklet 

 swam around me some time, busily fishing for shrimps. For some it 

 simply dipped its head under water, for others it dove a few inches. The 

 fishermen spoke of this and the other small species of Auks and Guillemots 

 as 'Farallones,' not seeming to distinguish between the various small 

 species. — F. Stephens, Witch Creek, Cala. 



Behavior of a Sandhill Crane.— While shooting near Madelia, Minne- 

 sota, one autumn day some years ago (Oct. i or 2, 1873), my companion, 

 Mr. Horace Thompson of St. Paul, slightly wounded with a rifle ball at 

 long range an immature Sandhill Crane (Grus mexicana) which with 

 several others was resting on the prairie. At the report they all flew 

 away except the wounded bird and one other which apparently was its 

 parent. The wounded bird, after a number of unsuccessful attempts to 

 fly (assisting itself by first running, accompanied by the parent which 

 kept beside it), finally succeeded in rising some ten or fifteen feet from 

 the ground, but it evidently could not long sustain itself in the air. The 

 parent bird, perceiving this, deliberately placed itself underneath the 

 wounded one. allowing it to rest its feet on her back, both birds flapping 

 awav all the while. In this position she actually succeeded in bearing 

 it off before our eyes for quite a distance to a place of safety, where we 

 would not follow it. It was one of the most touching examples of 

 parental affection in a bird that has ever come under my observation. — 

 George H. Mackay, Nantucket, Mass. 



Ionornis martinica in Kansas — A. fine specimen of the Purple Gallin- 

 ule {Ionornis martinica) was captured near Manhattan, Kansas, on 

 April 14, 1893. The bird was killed by a farmer who struck it with a sun- 

 flower stalk. It is now in the possession of Dr. C. P. Blachly of this 

 place. This is the first record of the occurrence of the Purple Gallinule 

 in Kansas. — D. E. Lantz, Manhattan, Kansas. 



Pseudogryphus californianus. — Mr. Thomas Shooter, a well-known 

 taxidermist of Los Angeles, has in his possession the mounted skin of 

 a California Vulture shot near Rincon, California, about August 13, 

 1892. The specimen, though over four feet in length, appears to be an 

 immature bird. Down fairly well covers the head and neck, excepting 

 wide tracts below and back of the eyes and on the chin and lower throat. 

 The greater coverts are narrowly bordered with rusty, as are a good 

 many of the feathers on the back. The plumage generally is dull black. 

 The horny part of upper mandible is horn-brown. The cere has dried a 

 dull blackish brown. 



About June, 1892, an adult California Vulture was brought to Mi . Shooter 

 alive. It was captured by two men, one named Harris, about twenty- 

 seven miles north of Santa Monica, and in the foothills near the line 

 separating Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Mr. Shooter says the 



