general notes 
87 
GENERAL NOTES 
RED BAT AND SPOTTED PORPOISE OFF THE CAROLINAS 
Fragmentary observations at sea are frequently worth recording for want 
of more complete data. September 3, 1919, the writer was bound south on the 
coastwise steamer “Arapahoe.” We rounded Diamond Light-ship, North Caro- 
lina, in the early afternoon. About an hour after sunrise, approaching the Capes 
of the Carolinas from the North, no land yet in view, a red bat (Lasiurus borealis) 
was observed darting about ship in erratic fashion, looking for cover. It settled 
between two booms at the break of the forecastle, but was promptly driven out. 
Later in the day a bat was seen once or twice about ship, probably the same 
individual. The preceding afternoon, standing to sea from-New York, there had 
been calms and light airs, the weather more or less thick, with a dull grey sky. 
September 3 was clear, with a north-west breeze, rather light. This bat, doubt- 
less a migrating individual, could then not have been driven off-shore by heavy 
weather. It was likely following its regular migration route southward, across 
the water. 
In the afternoon, having passed well south of Diamond Light-ship, a number 
(perhaps 35) of spotted porpoises {Prodelphinus plagiodon) were observed. As 
many as ten or a dozen occurred together; jumping clear of the water, low; and 
also “rolling.” Some came close along-side where one could see them swimming 
under the clear water, or lolling there, before they broke. They appeared very 
dark above with pale bellies. Nearby the purplish cast and the spotting were 
conspicuous. In one case one was accompanied by a smaller grey porpoise 
swimming close beside it, which looked like Delphinus. 
— J. T. Nichols. 
New York City. 
THE COYOTE NOT AFRAID OF WATER 
My theories regarding the aversion to water shown by the coyote were upset 
recently while on a trip to the Imperial Valley, in the desert region of south- 
eastern California. A visit was made to Salton Sea, a large alkaline lake, and to 
some islands on the western shore, where numerous colonies of pelicans and 
cormorants are to be found each spring. The islands are really sand dunes which 
do not rise more than ten or fifteen feet above the surface of the sea. Each 
island is separated from its neighbor by a narrow channel of water which may be 
shallow enough to wade, .or it may be eight or ten feet deep. On one island I 
was greatly astonished to find the fresh tracks of a coyote (Canis ochropus estor 
Merriam), so situated as to indicate that the animal had swum a channel about 
30 feet wide and 8 feet deep. The tracks showed plainly where it had come down 
at one side of the channel, had entered the water, crossed to another island, made 
the circuit of that island, and then returned across the strip of water. Water 
from the shaggy coat had run down the legs into the footprints and there was 
evidence also that the animal had shaken itself. Upon following the tracks, I 
discovered that it had feasted upon two mudhens, the remains of which it had 
buried after the flesh had been picked clean from the bones. This particular 
island was separated from another one by a channel about 2 feet in depth and 22 
