434 General Notes. [£g 



of the general organs healthy. The bird was in the " pin-feather " moult, 

 the ensheathed new feathers of the tail being each about an inch long. 

 Upon removing the skin covering the uropygial gland, 1 at once observed 

 that the lef 1 lobe of thai structure was enormously enlarged, and the cause 



for this was not far to seek. Some superficial inflammation or other at the 



apex of one of the erupt ins quill-feathers of the tail on that side had pre- 

 vented thai particular quill from coming out. As it grew, it proceeded to 

 coil upon itself beneath the skin, until two and a half coils hail formed, like 

 the coils of the shell of some snails, the transverse diameter of the whole 

 structure being about a centimeter and a half. Apparently the disease 

 was of some standing and the surrounding inflammation, due to the above 

 cause, considerable, which latter — in part at least — -may Have had its 

 share in causing tin- death of this bird. Years ago, in my surgical practice, 

 1 had a case or two where the hair of the beard in a man behaved in a 

 similar manner, causing an abscess to form which, in one instance, was as 

 large as a hazel nut , the eoiled-up hair inside, which gave rise to the trouble, 

 having a length of an inch or more. — R. W. SHTTFELDT, Washington, D. ('. 



Road-runner in Colorado. — In the third supplement to Cooke's lis! 

 of Colorado birds i Auk, Oct., 1910, p. 412), there is a record of this species 

 (Geococcyx californianus) having been taken at Shawnee (altitude 8125 

 feet), Platte River. Colo., March L5, 1907. 



The following narrative sheds an interesting side light on the possible' 

 circumstances bringing about such an unusual record, also giving one an 

 inkling as to what might have occurred in other startling records. 



A short time ago the writer was conversing with Mr. A. T. Allen, taxi- 

 dermist of Denver whose shop he frequently visits, to see if any rare or 

 uncommon birds had been brought in to lie mounted. Mr. Allen men- 

 tioned the fact that he had mounted a Road-runner which had been brought 

 in to him by Mr. ,1. W. Price, of Shawnee, Colo., who had shot the bird 

 there on March 15, 1907, this date being a matter of record in Mr. Allen's 

 day book. It seems a fair presumption that the bird recorded by Cooke, 

 and the one just mentioned and mounted by Mr. Allen were one and the 

 same. About a year after Mr. Allen had mounted this particular Koad- 

 runner, a customer came into his place of business, and purchased a mounted 

 Koad-runner. saying that he lived in the Southwest, where these birds are 

 common, and that it had not occurred to him to take one (alive or mounted ) 

 east to show his friends, until he had stopped off on business at Denver, 

 hence his purchase of the mounted bird. Further conversation between 

 this customer and Mr. Allen lead the former to tell Mr. Allen that he had 

 a year previously, spent considerable time in Denver, and at that time had 

 with him a tame Koad-runner. He kept this bird with him in Denver 

 some time, ami then liberated it " up in Platte Canyon " some time previ- 

 ous to March, 1907. — W. II. Bergtold, Denver, Colo. 



