362 



General Notes. I o™ t 



Daption. Dr. Coues's 'Key,' backed by Ridgway's 'Manual,' soon settled 

 its identity beyond question, and now henceforth the Black-capped Petrel, 

 sEstrelatti kasitata (Kuhl), ranks as a Virginia bird, although an estray. 



The measurements were as follows : extent, 39! inches ; length, 151k; wing, 

 n|; tail, 5^; gradation of tail, about 1.75. Further measurements or 

 description were simply to repeat Coues or Ridgway. Tbe beak was as 

 represented by Ridgway, only the nostril tube was nearly straight, and not 

 so convex as shown by that author. Tongue and inside of mouth, of a 

 fine purplish cast. The stomach was empty, save for slime which was evi- 

 dently secretion, as it showed no organic structure on microscopic examin- 

 ation. The skin was totally devoid of the usual sea-bird fat, and the 

 whole bird was remarkably lean. The patella showed the same remarkable 

 spiny development which I have noticed in Pujjhius auduboni. The moult 

 was almost complete, the first and second primaries in each wing being 

 still old and worn feathers. Unfortunately the bird died before I could 

 photograph it alive, and the accompanying photographs 1 were taken from 

 the bird 'in the meat,' just before skinning it. I also made careful drawings 

 of beak, humero-coracoidal, and tibio-femoral joints. 



Considering the species, I believe this to be a remarkable occurrence of 

 a 'sea-stray' inland, and it goes to show something of the character of the 

 cyclone of 1893. — Ellison A. Smyth, Jr., Blacksburg, Va. 



Fregata aquila in California. — A Man-o'-war Bird was shot at North 

 Pasadena in 1892, by a man named Lincoln Price. The specimen was 

 mounted by Mr. W. II. Wakeley of Pasadena. Mr. Price tells me he shot 

 it about sunset on a fair day about a year ago [/'. e., about August, 1892]. 

 The bird was circling about rather low; and once seemed inclined to alight 

 on a gum tree, but did not. The bird is an immature one. It is now in 

 a Los Angeles drug store. This record is interesting for this State, for it 

 seems that the only previous well authenticated record for California was 

 from Humboldt Bay, October 5, 1S88 (see Anthony in Proc. Cal. Acad. 

 Sc, Vol. 2, p. SS). — R. H. Lawrence, Duarte, Cala. 



The Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanop/era') in Florida. — During a visit to 

 Mr. John Krider's old gun store in this city last winter the taxidermist 

 showed me a fine specimen of a male Cinnamon Teal, still in the flesh, 

 which he said had just been received from South Carolina to be mounted. 

 As the gentleman who shot it, Mr. Charles S. Hebard, was likely soon to 

 return from the south I made no further inquiries as to the capture until I 

 could see him personally. As he did not return, however, I secured his 

 address and received the following reply to a request for particulars. 

 Writing under date of Pequaming, Baraga Co., Micbigan, Aug. 14, 1893, 

 he says: "I shot the Cinnamon Teal on Lake Iamonia in Florida about 

 five days before it reached Krider's. I cannot give the date but suppose 



1 The photographs, on comparison with a mounted example of .■■Estrelata hasitata 

 from the coast of Florida, show the above identification to be beyond reasonable 

 doubt.— Edd. 



