426 General Notes. [^ 



at the base of the bill and a median, angle-shaped line of buff on 

 each tail feather that are lacking in the Black Duck, while the rich 

 buff of the head and throat, immaculate on the chin and parts 

 adjacent, and the broad ochraceous streakings of the body are 

 rarely approached by its northern relative. The Texas race 

 maculosa seems poorly differentiated from fulvigula; the dusky 

 markings about the head are a trifle more extensive and the black 

 at the base of the bill is less conspicuous as a rule. The adults of 

 both have red legs. 



It may be well to point ont here an error in Ridgway's 'Manual' 

 wherein the Black Duck and the Florida Duck are in the group 

 ' Wing without any white band.' As a matter of fact, in both of these 

 species there is a very distinct band tipping the feathers of the specu- 

 lum and it is rarely absent even in females. 



It is rather beyond the scope of the present paper to take up the 

 two Mexican species (Anas aberti and Anas diazi) of the Black 

 Duck group, but from descriptions there is certainly room for 

 doubting their specific distinctness from fulvigula. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Capture of an American Eider at Chicago. — There appear to be very few 

 authentic records of the American Eider (Somateria dresseri) having been 

 taken on Lake Michigan, so that its occurrence at Chicago may be 

 of interest to readers of 'The Auk.' 



On December 1, 1908, an individual of this species was shot by a fisher- 

 man over decoys set off the 55th Street Pier near Jackson Park, and was 

 brought to me for identification. It proved to be an immature male in 

 beautiful plumage. I made the skin and had the specimen positively 

 identified by Dr. Ned Dearborn of the Field Museum of Natural 

 History. — J. L. DeVine, 5478 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, III. 



Breeding of the Least Bittern {Ardetta exilis) in Chester Co., Pa. — On 

 June 6, 1909, while wading through a cat-tail swamp near Berwyn, Chester 

 Co., Pa., two incomplete Least Bittern's nests were found and one bird 

 seen. On visiting the place again on June 12, one of the nests was found 

 completed, and contained 4 eggs. The nest was situated in a clump of 



