240 



Getieral N'otes. [October 



The Mocking Bird in Western Kansas and the Northern Phal- 

 AROPE IN Southern Wyoming. — During two seasons' active collecting 

 in the region of Fort Wallace in Western Kansas, I have found the Mock- 

 ing Bird {^Mimiis folyglottus) not rare, as Mr. Goss (this Bulletin, VIII, p. 

 188) thought they must be for such an altitude and latitude, but common 

 during the season, and many of them undoubtedly breed there. Frequent- 

 ly when camped under some solitary cottonwood, I have known from one 

 to four of these birds to be overhead among the branches, and that too 

 only a few yards above us. Numerous specimens were obtained and many 

 more might have been. I do not recollect meeting them except along the 

 valley of the Smoky Hill and its principal tributaries. 



Although I never took a specimen of the Northern Phalarope in Western 

 Kansas (and I have shot not a few water birds in the very ponds where Mr. 

 Goss had such good success), yet I have seen them in June in flocks of 

 several hundred at Lake Cuad in Southern Wyoming. As Mr. Goss 

 observed, they chose the turbulent waves far beyond gunshot range, flying 

 about apparently in sport. The telegraph wii"e runs close to the shore of 

 Lake Caud, and I at one time picked up a number of specimens killed by 

 the wire from the flock passing by it; one of which had a wing severed 

 from its body without a drop of blood having marred its beautiful plum- 

 age ! Wilson's Phalarope, though breeding there in numbers, always 

 choses the meadow lands, are very rarely seen upon the lake, and 

 then onlv close to the shore. As in the Northern Phalarope, Wilson's 

 Phalarope also has the female far more richly marked than the male. — S. 

 W. WiLLiSTON, Ne-w Haven. Conn. 



Nest and Eggs of Parus montanus. — Mr. Wm. G. Smith sends 

 me from Colorado the nest and two eggs of the White-browed Chickadee, 

 of whose breeding very little is known. The nest consists of a handful 

 of matted fur. apparently of a rabbit, mixed with some small feathers. 

 It was placed in a hollow of a pine tree, about fifteen feet from the ground, 

 and contained six eggs nearly ready to hatch. The eggs are ■white, un- 

 marked, contrary to the rule in the genus and family, but as in the neigh- 

 boring genus PsaUriparna. — Elliott Coues, Washington. D. C. 



The Gray-crowned Finch in Confinement. — I have the good for- 

 tune to have in my possession a fine, live specimen of Leucosticte, which 

 I believe to be a inale and a last year's "j-oung of the year." 



During Februai-y of this year (1883), which in this section of the 

 country (Sioux Citv, Iowa) was an extreme!}' cold month. man\' north- 

 ern birds were driven south to feed and take shelter among us. During 

 this time, when my collection of Snowy Owls and Rough-legged Hawks 

 {^Archibuteo lagopus) was rapidly increasing, the Gray-crowned Finches 

 also came to pay us a visit. Although I did not see any at the time, it is 

 evident they were here, for the bird I now have, with several others, was 

 captured at that time by some boys in the western part of this city. It is 

 the first time thev have been known to visit this section. The win^js of 



