Vol 1909" VI ] • General Notes. 77 



curator; they both agreed that the bird should be regarded as an Essex 

 County record. According to Mr. Townsend's 'Birds of Essex County,' 

 and Howe and Allen's 'Birds of Massachusetts,' this is the first authentic 

 record of the occurrence of the Clapper Rail in Essex County, though both 

 cite: "Mr. J. F. Le Baron informed me that he shot a specimen some years 

 ago at Ipswich." C. J. Maynard, the Naturalist's Guide, p. 145, 1870. 

 The mounted bird will be presented to the Peabody Museum, Salem. — 

 William P. Wharton, Groton, Mass. 



Late Flight of Woodcock on Long Island, N. Y. — On December 5, 

 1908, while hunting near Flanders, Suffolk Co., I flushed a Woodcock 

 (Philohela minor). On December 8, after a storm and heavy rain, eleven 

 were shot in a small swamp at Lawrence, Nassau Co., close to the New 

 York City line. The same day one was seen in a little strip of woods about 

 one mile from this swamp. 



In 30 years on Long Island, I have never seen other than stragglers 

 after about November 20th and do not recall ever before seeing one in 

 December. — Harold Herrick, New York City. 



Capture of the Ruff at Seabrook, N. H. — Mr. John Hardy of Boston 

 has kindly presented me with an adult female Ruff (Pavoncella pugnax) 

 shot at Seabrook, N. H., Sept. 23, 1907, by Charles Fowler, who said it 

 was with a flock of Black-bellied Plover. — John E. Thayer, Lancaster, 

 Mass. 



Eskimo Curlew taken at Newburyport, Mass. — I purchased of Mr. John 

 Hardy of the Boston Market, a male Eskimo Curlew (Numenius borealis) 

 taken at Newburyport, Mass., by A. B. Thomas, August 27, 1908. He 

 shot two, but the other bird had its head so badly shot that it could not 

 be made into a skin. — John E. Thayer, Lancaster, Mass. 



The American Golden Plover (Charadrius dominicus) in Ohio in Autumn. 

 — On October 23, 1908, I met a flock of 6 American Golden Plovers at the 

 Grand Reservoir, Ohio, and on October 27 a pair of them was shot, to- 

 gether with a Baird's Sandpiper and a pair of Wilson's Snipe at the Lor- 

 amie Reservoir in Shelby Co., O. Fall records in Ohio for the American 

 Golden Plover are very rare, in fact any record of the occurrence of this 

 species in this State is interesting and noteworthy. The female of this 

 pair of Golden Plovers has the tip of the upper mandible curved over the 

 lower one to the extent of about 4 mm., with the tip curving decidedly 

 downward almost at right angles, thus forming a veritable crossbill. The 

 cause of this formation cannot be seen, only the upper mandible seems to 

 be rather thin and weak, when compared with that of the other specimen, 

 nor was the bird as fat as the male. — W. F. Henninger, New Bremen, 

 Ohio. 



