328 



General Notes. [J"'y 



gointf very close, nor fljing directly at the lights as most of the Warblers 

 dici. I could not identify the species, but think most of them were fallasii. 

 I saw one voiing Robin, but he soon bent his course downwards to some 

 shade tree where I have no doubt he found a roosting place. 



Carolina (?) Rails were frequently heard, especially on the 21st, 22d, and 

 23d ; they seemed to be flying on a lower level than the dome, barely above 

 the housetops. None were seen around the tower. The same remarks 

 apply to the Florida Gallinule. Night Herons {N. nyciicorax nteviiis) 

 and some other Herons that I think were Botaurus lentigiiiosns passed fre- 

 quently from the 22d to the 26th. They did not seem to be attracted by the 

 lights and appeared to be flying considerably higher than the dome, I should 

 think at least 100 feet or more. English Snipe were noticed a few times, 

 but only flew rapidly by. This was one of the few species I observed that 

 were flying in the normal manner. 



Small Sparrows that looked like Melosfiza georgiana were frequently 

 noticed, but the species coidd not be determined with certainty. They 

 arrived singly, and came from a lower level than the lights on the tower, 

 and in passing by always directed their course downwards, as tar as I was 

 able to see them in the darkness. 



One feature that especially interested me was that nearly all the birds I 

 observed had a peculiar dragging flight like a bird wounded through the 

 intestines ; it reminded me forcibly of the peculiar flight of the male Ictcria 

 virens during nesting time. Any ornithologist who has observed this will 

 recall the unnatural flight, the wings are raised high, tail dropped low and 

 head raised, so that the body instead of being carried nearly horizontally 

 is at a considerable slope. Tiie first impression suggested was of ex- 

 treme fatigue, but it is probable the birds are better able to sustain con- 

 tinued flight by flying in this manner with the wind. 



Another interesting fact is that among the forty odd species and many 

 times that number of specimens I only detected four adult birds. 



Afiparently most of the birds were killed by coming into contact with 

 the electric wires, as there was not a bruise nor hardly a rufiled feather on 

 them. Some had flown against the lights and broken or bruised their 

 bills, others had torn the skin or feathers from the side of the head or 

 throat, and in two instances the wings were gone. Two or three had 

 their necks broken. 



I estimate the number procured at about fifty per cent of those killed. 

 A large number fell on inaccessilile roofs, or wore blown into the eave 

 troughs during the high winds and lost. — -LuDWiG Kuimlien, Milxvaukee, 

 Wiscoiistn. 



Osteological Notes upon Puffins and Ravens. — In examining some 

 skeletons of adult specimens o^ Liinda cirihata, kindly loaned me by the 

 Smithsonian Institution, I find, occupying the usual site of the bone, but 

 completely enveloped by the tarsal theca, a rudimentary accessory meta- 

 tarsal, or the hallux metatarsal, which is freely articulated, but all evidence 

 of a basal phalanx of the toe is absent. Such a rudimentary element in 



