19H J General Notes. 491 



heavily wooded and hilly. Limestone cliffs, 100 to 250 feet in height, rise 

 sheer from the river at many points. The region is but very rarely visited 

 by any observer with an eye for birds, and it yielded, in a list of seventy- 

 odd species, the following interesting notes: 



Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) . — July 3 

 in Crawford Co., on the banks of the Meramec River, about sixty miles 

 southwest of St. Louis, a male Yellow-headed Blackbird in full plumage 

 and song. I was unable to locate others of the species, although inquiry 

 among farmers nearby elicited the information that a dozen pairs or so 

 had been seen regularly at that particular place for the past six or seven 

 years. They stated the birds always disappeared early in July. They 

 were well enough known to have the local name of " Indian Blackbird." 



There is no previous record of Yellow-headed Blackbirds in the breeding 

 season so far east in Missouri. 



Duck Hawk (Falco peregrinus anatum). — July 3 in Crawford County 

 on the banks of the Meramec River, one splendid specimen of a Duck 

 Hawk, which followed our canoe for a quarter of a mile, screaming and 

 swooping, and occasionally alighting on dead trees on the rim of the 

 limestone cliffs, 200 feet above us. It is probable that there was a nest at 

 some point along the cliff, though a careful search with the glass failed to 

 locate it. 



Duck Hawks are decided rarities now in Missouri. Dr. Otto Widmann 

 states that a few pairs used to breed along the Mississippi and Missouri 

 Rivers up until the early 90's, but none has been seen since. He says 

 (Birds of Missouri, 1907) : " There may be still a few pairs nesting in out-of- 

 the-way places in the Ozarks." This observation confirms that opinion. 

 Egret (Herodias egretta). — July 3 on the Meramec in Crawford County, 

 a pair of Egrets in perfect plumage, both of which flew up from the shore 

 into a dead tree and remained in full view for three or four minutes as our 

 canoe glided by them. 



Inquiry of the men along the river, engaged in floating tie-rafts to points 

 on the railroad, brought out the information that " White Cranes " are 

 seen occasionally along the upper reaches of the river, — sometimes two 

 or three times a year, but usually once in every three or four years. 



Egrets used to breed not uncommonly in eastern central Missouri, but 

 none have been noted in former breeding places since 1900. (Widmann, 

 Birds of Missouri.) 



Blue-winged Teal (Querquedula discors). — July 2, 3 and 4 on the 

 Meramec River at four different points in Crawford and Franklin Counties, 

 four Blue-winged Teal, — a pair and two single individuals; also noted 

 several of the species on this river in Franklin County early in September, 

 1910. Blue-wings have become very rare during the breeding season in 

 Missouri. The last record (Widmann) is June 17, 1906. 



Northern Pileated Woodpecker (Phloeolomus pileatus abieticola). — 

 One male in Franklin Co., about fifty miles from St. Louis, on July 4, in 

 oak woods along the Meramec River. The Pileated has become very rare 



