^gc? 1 ] General Notes. 1 79 



is quite curious is a long piece of fishing cord. The nest contained two 

 eggs, and upon dissecting the female I found one more egg which would 

 have been laid the following day. It will be seen that all the specimens 

 of the Gray Kingbird which have been actually taken in South Carolina 

 were from this famous Island — a favorite summer resort for the people 

 of Charleston. — Arthur T. Wayne, Mount Pleasant, S. C. 



Picicorvus an Untenable Genus. — In 'History of North American 

 Birds,' Vol. II, p. 255, it is stated that the so-called genus Picicorvus "is 

 so similar to Nucifraga as to be hardly separable ; the principal difference 

 being in the slender and more decurved and attenuated bill, with a slightly 

 concave, instead of convex, culmen, and plain instead of spotted plumage." 

 At the time, only one of the Old World species of Nucifraga, N. caryo- 

 catactes, the type of the genus, was available for comparison, and such 

 was still the case when the A. O. U. Check-List was prepared; but 

 more recently other species have been secured by the National Museum, 

 and these, notably N. multiguttata Gould, from the Himalayas, show 

 that the supposed distinction as to shape of the bill exists only as a 

 specific character, N. multipunctata having the bill quite as slender as 

 that of "Picicorvous" columbianus. Furthermore, the American species 

 frequently shows indications of white apical spots to feathers of the breast, 

 and still better developed white spots at tips of primaries. I can therefore 

 see no good reason for continuing the recognition of Pi'ci'corvous as a 

 genus, and would follow Audubon in calling Clarke's Nutcracker Nuci- 

 fraga columbiana. — Robert Ridgway, U. S. National Museum, JVas/iifig- 

 ton, D. C. 



Notes on the Distribution of the Bobolink in South Carolina. — Mr. 

 Loomis in his article entitled 'A Further Review of the Avian Fauna of 

 Chester County, South Carolina,' in 'The Auk' for January, 1894, p. 27, 

 makes this statement: "This is exemplified in the Bobolink, which is 

 abundant along the South Carolina coast in autumn, but only so in the 

 interior of the State in spring." This latter clause is entirely incorrect. 

 The Bobolink is very abundant along the coast from April 28 to May 26, 

 and some remain until June 5. They are known as 'May Birds,' and 

 play havoc with the rice which has just sprouted by pulling it up. The 

 rice fields have to be watched from morning till night by men called 

 'bird minders' who are shooting the entire day. A great many planters 

 now plant the 'late' rice in June to avoid the birds. The May Birds do 

 not confine themselves entirely to the rice, but also resort to the oat 

 fields which at that season are 'in the milk,' and they become exces- 

 sively fat. I have killed frequently more than forty Bobolinks at a shot 

 from the oat fields in May. The Bobolink is also very partial to the 

 enormous potato fields which are in full bloom the last of May and nearly 

 ready to be dug. I have never been able to find what they feed on in the 

 potato fields but it must be some bug peculiar to the potato. It is safe 

 to say that millions of Bobolinks depredate upon the rice planters every 

 Mav. — Arthur T. Wayne, Mount Pleasant, S. C. 



