1889. ] General Notes. 195 
among a large straggling flock of Horned Larks, what I thought was an 
albino, and after a tedious pursuit over ploughed fields, I succeeded in 
securing the bird which proved to be a Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax 
nivalis). This was the only one in the flock and the only one that I have 
ever seen in Virginia. The day was extremely disagreeable, with driz- 
zling rain and sleet, and very cold. 
The following are some birds which I have observed, and which by 
some authorities are not ascribed to that section of the country, or else 
are considered as stragglers : 
Chen hyperboreus. SNow GoosE.—One specimen, winter of 1877. 
Nyctea nyctea. SNowy OwL.—One specimen, winter of 1877, Buck- 
ingham Co. 
ZEgialitis wilsonia. WuLson’s PLover.—One shot on a sand bar in 
James River, Nelson Co.; it was in company with Spotted and Solitary 
Sandpipers and Killdeer, August, 1887. 
Protonotaria citrea. PROTHONOTARY WARBLER.—One seen in King 
William Co., April 29, 1879. 
Dendroica dominica. YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER.—Numbers seen 
in May and June in different portions of the State. 
Lanius ludovicianus. LOoGGERHEAD SHRIKE. — Numbers seen; resi- 
dent; more seen in December than in any other month. — Wirt RoBIN- 
sON, 2d Lieut.. gth Artillery, Fort Adams, R. I. 
Costal Variations in Birds.—Dr. Shufeldt’s valuable paper ‘On the Affin- 
ities of Aphkriza virgata’ contains the following passage. ‘‘Thenagain 
it is pretty well agreed that when we come to define the line between cer- 
vical and dorsal divisions of the column, we look chiefly to the ribs for 
assistance; yet these are by no means always to be relied upon; as some- 
times in the same species, an additional pair may remain free at the fur- 
ther end of the cervical region, or an additional pair (always at the anterior 
part of the dorsal division) may connect with the sternum by a pair of 
hzmapophyses.” 
In ‘The Auk’ for July, 1888, allusion was made to the fact that it was by 
no means unusual for the Great Auk to possess an extra (ninth) pair of 
ribs, these being attached to the second ‘sacral’ vertebra, and subsequent 
examination shows this additional pair of ribs to have been present in no 
less than twenty-three, out of one hundred and forty-four sacra, pretty 
nearly one out of every six. 
It is extremely difficult to say whether or no extra, free ribs were, or 
were not, occasionally present in the cervical region, from the fact that 
series of consecutive vertebrz cannot be obtained, but there is little doubt 
but that this was the case, although no twelfth vertebra bearing a costal 
facet has yet been noticed. 
The question of the attachment of extra ribs to the sternum can be de- 
cided by that bone only, and unfortunately sterna of the Great Auk are 
much scarcer than almost any other bone. Still thirty sterna are available, 
and of this number twenty-three have seven pairs of costal facets, while 
