General Notes. 1 85 



course of starvation, and then submitted the unfortunate kitten a^-ain. 

 This time her reception was very different. At sight of her he manifested 

 great excitement, and in a very few minutes left his perch with a jump and 

 a flop, and seized the poor beast in his talons. He struck her very nicelv, 

 pinning fore paws and head together with one foot, the hind paws together 

 with the other, thus preventing the slightest resistance. My . remorse at 

 this stage of the proceedings was somewhat alleviated by the fact that the 

 kitten did not even quiver, having apparently been instantly killed by the 

 force of the blow. However, the Eagle at once put an end to what little 

 life may have been left by breaking her spine with his beak. He thereupon 

 tore a hole in her abdomen, and cast the intestines daintily aside. The 

 contents of the stomach were examined and, with the exception of a single 

 tid-bit which appeared to be a piece of bread, rejected. The rest of the 

 body was then rapidly devoured. On the following morning a full-grown 

 tom-cat was turned loose in the cage. The Eagle attacked him several 

 times but was valiantly repelled, and up to the end of the third day, when 

 he made his escape, Thomas remained master of the situation. Dissatis- 

 fied with this experiment, mv friend sul^sequently introduced the cat in a 

 half-stunned condition, and after getting well scratched the Eagle succeeded ' 

 in overcoming him. — Nathan Clifford Brown. Portland. Mai>ic. 



Note on Mareca Americana. — I shot at Wayland. Mass.. October i, 

 1881, a young male Widgeon {Mareca americatta). It was flying in com- 

 pany with a flock of twelve others, apparently of the same species. — A. 

 Thorndike. Brook-liiic. Mass. 



Destruction of Birds by the Cold Wave of May 2ist and 22nd. 

 — It seems worth \- of note that, judging from indications in this vicinit\-, 

 the destruction of bird life b\- the recent cold wave must have been very 

 considerable. 



Oh the morning of Ma>- 21st, a specimen of Helminthophila pcregrina 

 was picked up so nearly chilled to death that it died shortly afterwards. 

 The same was also true of a specimen of De/idrceca ponisvlvaiiica. On 

 the morning of May 22nd. three other specimens of the following species 

 were picked up here which had apparently died of cold : Deudrccca tnacu- 

 losa. Myiodioctes piisill/is, and Rmpidotiax tninimus. 



These facts suggest that the abundance of bird life may, to a considerable 

 extent, be influenced by sudden extreme changes of temperature, as well 

 as by heavy gales.— F. II. King. Rix'rr Fa/Is. Wis.. May 24. 1SS3. 



A "Tidal Wave" of Birds in Washington. — ^ In the twenty-five 

 years during which I have paid more or less attention to birds hereabouts 

 I have never seen anything like the -'wave" that rolled up in the second 

 and third weeks of May of this year. The highest spring "season" is 

 usually the month from April 20 to May 20, at which latter date the tide 

 has usually ebbed equably from its greatest height at the middle of May. 

 This year the birds seemed to be held back bv the cold and wet, and such 



