Vol. XV"! 



1S9S J 



General Notes. 



51 



The American Egret at Maplewood, N. J. — On July 27, 1897, Mi-. 

 Alfred Brower, my cousin, shot two specimens of the American Egret 

 (Aydea egretta) on his pond in Maplewood, New Jersey. They were 

 both young birds, although full grown. — Charles C. Owen, East 

 Orange, N. J. 



Virginia Rail killed by striking a Telephone Wire. — On September 8, 

 a specimen of the Virginia Rail {Ralliis virginianus.) was found in a 

 yard in the centre of Englewood, N. J. The bird was stunned and had 

 evidently come in contact with a telephone wire. During the day it 

 revived and when I received it the next morning was apparently all 

 right, although occasionally it showed a weakness in the legs, accom- 

 f)anied by an apparent dizziness. It lived for several daj-s, when it was 

 killed and preserved. Several photographs were taken, which are of 

 some value in showing natural positions. 



The above is a rather curious incident, as the wire which the biid must 

 have struck is only about fifty feet from the ground, and is in the centre 

 of a town of some six thousand inhabitants. The night was perfectly- 

 clear, and it is very hard to account for the bird's presence there. One 

 or two of these birds are killed every year on the Hackensack and Eng- 

 lish Creek marshes, but thev are considered rare. — Wm. P. Lemmon, 

 Englexvood, N. J. 



Baird's Sandpiper {^Triiiga bairdii") on the California Coast. — I 

 desire to put on record the capture of a male Baird's Sandpiper on the 

 ocean beach south of Pt. Pinos, near Monterey, California, August 25, 

 1897. Noticing two birds larger than the rest in a small flock of Tringa 

 mitirctilla flying past, I singled ovit and brought dow-n one with each 

 barrel. One proved to be a male Arenaria interpres and the other a male 

 Tringa bairdii. 



The only other record of the occurrence of this species in California 

 that I have found is one in the ' Catalogue of the Birds in the British 

 Museum,' Vol. XXIV, p. 573. — Joseph Mailliard, San Geroninio, Cal- 



The Greater Yellow-Legs Catching Minnows. — While hunting along 

 the shore of Lake Chautauqua one dav during the first week of October 

 just past, I discovered three Greater Yellow'-legs ( Tetanus melanoleucus) 

 wading in about three inches of water. They were evidently feeding, so 

 I stopped to watch them. They would run along with their bills just 

 beneath the surface of the water. After w-atching them for some time, I 

 killed them. When I cleaned the birds, I found minnows (about \h. 

 inches in length) in the stomachs of two of them. In looking this matter 

 up in the different works on ornithology, I failed to find any mention of 

 this bird feeding on fish. I recite this incident as a fact of probable 

 interest. — H. D. Kirkover, Fredonia, N. Y. 



