2o6 General Notes. [April 



The Great Gray Owl in Lewis County, New York. — I take pleasure in 

 recording the capture of the Great Gray Owl (Scotiaptex cinerea) in this 

 locality. It is, I believe, the first authentic instance of its capture in this 

 County (Lewis). It was shot by a farmer in the town of Watson, Dec. 17. 

 1S89, and is now in my collection. The farmer said that he was slaugh- 

 tering swine, and the Owl flew from an adjoining piece of woods, alight- 

 ing in a tree in the yard (doubtless attracted by the fresh meat). The 

 bird, which was an adult female, was in very poor condition and the 

 stomach was empty. — J AMES H. Miller. Lowville, N. T. 



Picoides arcticus in Central New York. — The Arctic Three-toed Wood- 

 pecker is undoubtedly one of the rarest winter visitants in central New 

 York, and its occurrence in Onondaga County in the vicinity of Syracuse 

 has, I believe, never been made public. It is with pleasure therefore that 

 I record two instances of its capture that have come under my notice. 



On December 25, 1SS3, Mr. E. F. Northrup took a specimen in a 

 swamp a few miles north of the city, but through ignorance of its value 

 delayed skinning it until too late. I saw the bird on several occasions 

 doing duty as copy for a water-color sketch, and tried to secure possession 

 of it, but without success, and to my disgust it was finally thrown into an 

 asli barrel as unfit to skin. A mention of this capture was made 

 in Bulletin No. 1 of the Biological Laboratory of Syracuse University, 

 published in February, 1SS6, by Morgan K. Barnum, entitled 'List of the 

 birds of Onondaga County.' This Bulletin, however, was not a success, 

 and beyond a few copies given to applicants and friends the entire issue 

 was stored away in the College archives. 



The second specimen, an immature female, was taken at Tully, New 

 York, on February 22, 1889, D J r m J friend Mr. J. A. Dakin who kindly 

 consented that it should form a part of my own collection. He in- 

 forms me that it was exceedingly shy and difficult of approach, and that 

 it was only after a long pursuit and some sharp manoeuvring that it was 

 finally secured. — E. M. Hasbroi'CK, Washington, D. C. 



The Red-bellied Woodpecker in Northwestern New Jersey. — I shot a 

 female Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerfies carolinus) at Newton, New- 

 Jersey, on the 16th of November, 1SS9. I have only found this species in 

 northern New Jersey on one or two occasions, but it is of more frequent 

 occurrence in the southern part of the State. — Stewart Lewis, American 

 Museum of Natural History, Nezv York City. 



Food of Young Hummingbirds. — July 2, 1887, Mr. E. S. Hoar of Con- 

 cord, Mass, found a Ruby-throated Hummingbird's nest in his garden. 

 It was saddled on the drooping branch of an apple tree about eight feet 

 above the ground, and contained two eggs which were hatched July 4. 

 On^the 7th Mr. Hoar kindly allowed me to inspect the nest and its con- 

 tents. The young were then nearly as large* as their mother, and were 



*It is remarkable that they should have attained so large a size in so short a time. 

 They did not. however, leave the nest until July 18. 



