i8o 
General Notes . 
native and foreign, and in a few days he became quite at home, and 
seemed quiet and friendly, — much more so than any of the other new 
arrivals. I soon noticed that his mode of feeding was peculiar. Instead 
of eating from the seed dishes or cup of soft food, like the others, he pro- 
ceeded in this way : Perching upon the edge of the bath tub (a large 
shallow dish of earthenware filled with water), he balanced himself skil- 
fully upon one foot, and with the other, scratched or dabbled in the water. 
This stirred up the seed, and bits of green stuff, scattered by the other 
birds, and as it rose to the surface he secured it, picking it up, bit by bit, 
with his bill and eating it. This he did constantly, very rarely taking 
food in any other way. Sometimes he scratched in the gravel, strown 
upon the floor of the cage, and moistened by spray from the birds’ ablu- 
tions, and picked up the seeds he thus found. 
The constant use of his little right foot, and the strain of reaching so 
far when the water was low, finally lamed Swampy (my birds have each 
his own pet name, used only in “the family”), and he was forced to hop 
about drearily on his left foot. I then scattered seed and Mocking Bird 
food carefully upon the surface of the water, and he at once accepted the 
situation and without scratching. He is quite well again now. He has 
never sung or uttered the faintest chirp, but may begin with the approach 
of spring. I will not weary you with a longer story, but trust the items 
concerning M. palustris , a bird not often caged, will prove of some 
interest. Very sincerely, Annie Trumbull Slosson, Hartford , Con?i. 
The Snowbird (funco kyemalis ) in Southern Illinois in June. — 
While on a recent trip to Southern Illinois, I astonished myself by shoot- 
ing, June 9, one mile from the Ohio River, near Elizabethtown, in 
Hardin County, an adult specimen of the common Snowbird ( Junco 
kyemalis. ) I killed the bird from a tree in the edge of a wood. I neither 
heard nor saw another of the species there. — S. A. Forbes, Normal , III. 
A Singular Cage Plumage of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. — 
In a Boston bird-store I lately saw a Rose-breasted Grosbeak in very 
remarkable plumage. The whole under-parts, from the throat to the 
crissum. including the sides, were uniform deep rose, nearly as vivid as 
is the normal breast-patch. The rump also was rose-tinted and 
there was a wash of the same color along the superciliary stripe. The 
bird was evidently a male and apparently an adult, for the wings and tail 
were clear black. 
I was told that it had been kept in a cage for about six months; when 
first captured it was of the usual color, but shortly afterwards it moulted 
and the present plumage was assumed. The owner had never seen a 
similar case although he has had many of these Grosbeaks in confine- 
ment. — William Brewster. Cambridge , Mass. 
Carnivorous Propensities of the Crow Blackbird. — One sultry 
afternoon a few summers since I was writing at an open window when my 
attention was attracted — or rather distracted — by the clamor of a number 
