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General Notes . 
; ‘ T ringa hairdii , Baird’s Sandpiper. — Four specimens taken at Rocka- 
way. The first two in September, 1872, shot on a small piece of meadow, 
out of a flock of Tringa minutilla. The third was taken August 26, 1873, 
while snipe shooting on a low strip of sand that separates the ocean and 
bay. My attention was first called to it by hearing a peculiar long-drawn 
whistle, and soon after I perceived a small snipe flying very high. The 
next moment it darted down and settled among my decoys, where I se- 
cured it. The fourth was taken in the same locality as the first two, Sep- 
tember 20, 1874. Three of the above specimens were males.” — Edd. 
Pelidna suBARquATA on the Maine Coast. — I have to thank Mr. 
C. H. Chandler of Cambridge, for allowing me to view a mounted speci- 
men of the Curlew Sandpiper, which he shot on the beach at Pine Point, 
Scarborough, Cumberland Co., on September 15, 1881. The plumage is 
immature — probably a bird of the year. It was in company with Peeps, 
but its larger size and lighter coloration, were noticed, hence this visit to 
American shores is registered. The species is new to the Maine fauna, 
at least this is the first instance of actual capture within the limits of that 
State.* — H. A. Purdie, Newton, Mass. 
The King Rail in New England. — It seems that in making up the 
New England record of the King Rail ( Rallus elegans )f I overlooked a 
note on this species, published in “Forest and Stream” of March 11, 1880. 
In this note Mr. Jno. H. Sage announces the capture of a female specimen 
at Portland, Conn., September 17, 1879. — Nathan Clifford Brown, 
Portland, Maine. 
Purple Gallinule (. Ionornis martinica ) in Rhode Island. — Mr. 
Newton Dexter states that some years ago Mr. P. W. Aldrich showed 
him a fine Purple Gallinule just received in the flesh from Westerly, R. I. 
Mr. Dexter bought, and now has the bird. He is not able to give the 
exact year, but thinks it was in 1857. — Fred. T. Jencks, Providence, R. I. 
Note on the Habits of the Young of Gallinula galeata and 
Podilymbus podiceps. — Mr. N. R. Wood, who collected quite a number 
of young Grebes and Gallinules this summer at Montezuma Marsh, near 
Clyde, N.Y., tells me that the little Gallinules use the thumb to aid them 
in moving about. The thumb in the young of this bird is quite long 
and sharp, and the nestlings, when unable to walk, hook it into any 
yielding substance, and drag themselves along. The young Grebes are 
more vigorous than the Gallinules, and progress by little hops. — Fred- 
eric A. Lucas, Rochester, N. T. 
* See Brewer, Proc. Bost. Soc- Nat. Hist. XVII, 1875, P- 446. 
f This Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. 40. 
