2 7 2 General Notes. [April 



" \j " 



all vegetation near it was killed. Nearly all th^^ trees and bushes above 

 water line were dead or dying from this manure. 



I remember seeing no other bird than the Brown Pelican. Unfortu- 

 nately I took no notes at the time, but perhaps this imperfect account 

 may be of some value as I hear the hatching places there are getting 

 very scarce. — Robert H. Lawrence, P. O. Htcmptulips, Washington. 



The Whistling Swan in Massachusetts. — I have lately purchased a 

 Whistling Swan {Olor americaniis) of Frazar Bros., the Boston taxider- 

 mists, who received it in the flesh from Michael McCarthy of Auburndale 

 by whom it was killed December 17, 1890, in Weston, Massachusetts. It 

 is a male, apparently an old bird for the plumage is perfectly free from 

 grayish although somewhat soiled, perhaps by handling after death. Mr. 

 McCarthy has given me the following account of the circumstances attend- 

 ing its capture : 



He was walking along the west bank of Charles River near Norumbega 

 Tower at about half past six o'clock in the morning, looking for ducks, 

 when he saw seven large white birds within a yard or two of the shore 

 in a bay where the water was perhaps two feet deep. They were appar- 

 ently feeding on the bottom, thrusting their heads and long necks under 

 the water everj^ few seconds. He succeeded in getting within about 

 seventy-five yards of them and fired, killing one, when the others at once 

 rose and flew out of sight, following the course of the river towards 

 Waltham, two, which were probably slightly wounded, lagging behind 

 the rest. All looked pure white like the one captured. The latter 

 weighed seventeen pounds. The morning was cloudy with an east wind 

 which brought rain about noon. There was a little ice in the middle of 

 the river but the water along the shores was perfectly open. 



Charles River at the place where these Swans were seen is a broad, 

 sluggish stream, expanding in a succession of bays and bordered on both 

 banks by nearly unbroken stretches of woods. 



There are three previous records of the occurrence of the Whistling 

 Swan in Massachusetts within recent years, the first (Bull. Nutt. Club, 

 HI, 187S, p. 19S) of a bird taken by F. P. Chadwick, March 4, 1878, on 

 Coskata Pond, Nantucket; the second (Bull. Nutt. Club, IV, 1879, p. 

 125) relatmg to a specimen in the collection of the Boston Natural His- 

 tory Society which is supposed to have been shot atNahantby a Mr. Tay- 

 lor about the year 1865; and the third (Bull. Nutt. Club, VI, iSSi, p. 

 123) of a flight of five birds seen passing over Somerset, October i6, 1S80, 

 by Mr. Elisha Slade. — William Brewster, Catnbridge, Mass. 



The Green Heron {Ardea t'zVe.ice;/.';) Wintering in South Carolina. — On 

 December 16, 1S90, I was very much surpiisedto see a Green Heron. As 

 I wanted to see if the bird would really winter, I refrained from shooting 

 it. I saw the bird again on January 9, 1891, and several times during the 

 middle and latter part of the month. The last time I saw the bird was on 

 February 13. This is the first instance I have of the Green Heron win- 

 tering. — Arthur T. Wayne, Moutit Pleasant, S. C- 



