240 
General Notes. 
[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 {Mimus fiolyglottus') 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 wire 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 only 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, New 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 Psaltriftarus . — 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 male and a last year’s “young of the year.” 
During February of this year (1883), which in this section of the 
country (Sioux City, Iowa) was an extremely cold month, many 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 they have been known to visit this section. The wings of 
