'Spi'] General Nofes. 



113 



midst of a flock of several Imiuh-eil birds, wliicli chanced to settle rii^lit in 

 front of us. They were very tamo. 



All birds taken previous to Sept. 26 were Northern Phalaropes, and while 

 it is not possible to state that all the Phalaropes seen were of the same 

 species, we can saj that no individual was noticed with any specially dis- 

 tinct coloring to attract our attention. A single specimen of Red Phala- 

 rope was taken Sept. 26 about one mile off shore. It was swimming 

 about alone, and on dissection proved to have been feeding on land insects, 

 probably blown oft" by the stiff' northwester then in full force. 



What I desire to call attention to in this case is that a bird of not reg- 

 ular occurrence suddenly appears in large numbers, and once with us re- 

 mains for six weeks. 



As evidence that nearly all birds seen were included in the original 

 flock, I would say that,— 1st, the Phalaropes appeared in a flock, after a stift' 

 although short northeast wind. 2nd, On days when many small bunches 

 were seen, we did not see the large flock. 3rd, Birds startled did not seem 

 to us to make any attempt to resume a flight, but simply flew oflf and set- 

 tled down again. 



Twelve or fifteen were taken, all being very fat. — W. A. Jeffries, 

 Boston, Mass. 



Golden Eagle at Shelter Island, New York. — A fine specimen of this 

 noble bird was shot at Shelter Island Heights on the 19th of last October, 

 and brought me to be mounted. It was a female, in young of the year 

 plumage, and exhibited the following measurements (in inches), taken 

 before skinning : length 36.25, extent 82.25, wing 24.87, tail 13.75, culmen 

 1.75, gape 2.70, tarsus 4. 25. The craw and stomach contained the re- 

 mains of a rabbit. The young man who shot it stated that it was in the 

 act of swooping down upon him, being within a few yards, when he 

 fired, and it fell dead at his feet. This is the first instance of the occur- 

 rence of this species here that has come to my notice, and it is a rare rec- 

 ord for Long Island. — W. W. Worthington, Shelter Island Heights, 



N.r. 



Falco dominicensis Gmel. versus Falco sparverioides Vig. — Although 

 the very diflerent looking birds to which the above names, in a restricted 

 sense, respectively belong, usually have been recognized as distinct spe- 

 cies, their specific identity was claimed on good evidence as long ago as 

 1855 by Dr. J. Gundlach, who then stated,* as he has subsequently on 

 various occasions, that he found the two paired together, and undoubt- 

 edly holding the relation to one another of light and dark individual 

 phases. Such relationship, however, seemed so improbable, that most 

 authors (the present writer among the number) have overlooked or 

 declined to accept Dr. Gundlach's testimony, or (as in my own case)have 



* Erinn. VIII, Jahresb. Deutsch. Orn.-Gess. p- Ixxxiv (Journ. fur Orn. 1854, extra- 

 heft). 



