General Notes. 
I2 3 
large birds have been known to come to the rescue of a wounded compan- 
ion, and believing that this same trait has never been noticed in the Eagle, 
I note the following account as witnessed by Paul Scheuring (Nov. 6, 1880). 
While hunting on the marshes of Green Bay, he discovered four large 
Eagles (Haliaettis leucocefikalus) circling around not far distant; he im- 
mediately paddled towards them and succeeded in wounding one to such 
an extent that it could not fly, but lay fluttering on the water. Before he 
could reach it the other three Eagles had flown to the assistance of the 
fallen bird. Catching hold of its wings the noble birds did their best to 
carry it off, but not being able to raise it they only managed to drag it 
a considerable distance, which showed their friendly intentions just as well 
as if they had succeeded in flying off with it. 
After seeing that they could not render their wounded companion any 
assistance, they flew away with a wild scream, leaving the poor bird 
to the mercy of Mr. Scheuring, who quickly dispatched it by holding it 
under the water until it was quite dead. — Saml. W. Willard, West De 
Pere , Wise. 
Richardson’s Owl in Rhode Island. — A specimen of Richardson’s 
Owl ( Nyctale tengmalmi richardsonr) was obtained this winter near this 
city. Its capture was ascertained by Mr. Newton Dexter, who saw the 
bird in the possession of a young lady whose brother shot it.— Frederic 
T. Jencks, Providence , R. /. 
The Avocet (. Recurvirostra americana ) nsj,. Massachusetts. — A 
bird of this interesting species was shot October 19, 1880, near Lake Co- 
chituate in the town of Natick, Middlesex County, by a local gunner. Mr. 
Paul S. Roberts, in whose possession I first saw it, secured and mounted 
the specimen. The plumage is immature, being that of “R. occidentalism ’ 
of authors (figured in Vigor’s Zool. Voy. of Blossom, pi. xii ; Gray’s 
Gen. of Birds, III. pi. civ; Cassin’s 111 ., pi. xl). My record is the third 
authentic one for New England, and the first for Massachusetts.* 
We are indebted to Mr. E. J. Smith of Natick for knowledge of this cap- 
ture, he writing the fact to Mr. C. J. Maynard, whq kindly gave me the 
information. — H. A. Purdie, Newton , Mass. 
The Whistling Swan in Massachusetts. — On the morning of the 
16th of October, 1880, about 8 A.ivt.. I observed a flock of Swans ( Cygnus 
americanus , Sharp.) on their autumnal migration. The flock contained 
five individuals and probably belonged to one family. They were flying 
in a nearly due south course, in the typical triangle of 6o°, at an elevation 
of about one third of a mile and with a velocity of about fifty miles per 
hour. They did not pass directly overhead but a little to the west of my 
place of observation, and for a few seconds their position was such that the 
downward motion of the left wing of each bird cast a shadow upon the 
* See Merriam, Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IV, 1877, p. 103 ; Brown, Bull. N. O. C., IV> 
1879, p. 108 ; Boardman, Ibid., V, 1880, p. 241. 
