Sept., 1909 
FALL NOTES FROM EASTERN KANSAS 
157 
along Washington Creek, but they were not at all common. One was also taken at 
the edge of a pond in the weeds, where it was feeding on frogs. 
2. Porzana Carolina. Sora. One taken Sept. 19, 1907, in a small marsh, was 
the only one seen. We were rather surprised to find it here, as it was a dry marsh, 
far from water, and there had been no rain for some time. 
3. Bartramia longicauda. Bartranrian Sandpiper. A single bird taken in an 
open field on top of a hill on the morning of Sept. 22, 1907. It had apparently 
just come in, and was looking for a place to light. 
4. Colinus virginianus virginianus. Bob-White. During 1907 there were one 
or two pairs of quail along the side-hill south of camp, where they could be heard 
calling during the morning and evening. The next year there were at least three 
coveys within a radius of a mile; but the nearly grown birds were hard to flush. 
The birds here were probably from first settings, and were larger than those found 
in the river bottoms, whose first nests were destroyed by the heavy June floods. 
5. Zenaidura macroura carolinensis. Mourning Dove. Common in suitable 
localities along Hasty Creek. We were sure of finding from two to a dozen during 
the morning and evening, near a ford, where they came for water. During the 
morning they sat around in the trees a good deal, and frequently came flying 
swiftly into water, while we were watching. Several young birds were taken in 
the immature plumage. The birds were seen usually two, three, or four together, 
showing that the male, female, and their young had remained in company after the 
nesting season. 
6. Cathartes aura septentrionalis. Turkey Vulture. During 1907 there were 
three or four of these birds in the vicinity, but the next year the number had 
increast to twenty-five. They spent most of their time around the hills to the 
south, but shooting disturbed them, and when we were out in that direction they 
usually soared off across the valley. One or two, and sometimes the whole flock, 
were in sight from camp nearly all day long. 
7. Ictinia mississippiensis. Mississippi Kite. During 1907 a flock of a dozen 
of these birds was found every day feeding over the bare hills south of camp. 
There was a long ridge here, with a series of points projecting from it, the whole 
covered with sumach bushes and tall weeds. In this cover there were great num- 
bers of a species of cicada, on which the kites were feeding. They hunted back 
and forth in long circles, soaring and turning, hardly ever getting very far from 
the earth. Occasionally one swoopt down over the brush, and captured an insect, 
and sailed off eating it while flying. We never saw the birds in trees during our 
whole stay, but always on the wing. The first day they were tame, and came 
right around us, and it was a minute or two before we realized what they were. 
We had several good shots, but had no loads heavy enough for them, and so were 
forced to come back later on. We got one that afternoon (Sept. 14, 1907) and two 
others later (Sept. 13 and 16), but the birds had become wilder and were hard to 
get. We had to remain quiet hidden in the weeds until the birds drifted around 
close enough for a shot. 
They appeared to roost somewhere to the east, as they always came from that 
direction in the morning, and went that way in the evening. Those taken had all 
eaten nothing but the cicadas, and were exceedingly fat. They were gone by 
September 20, and were not seen again. We lookt for them carefully the next 
year, but failed to find them. This is, so far as is known, the farthest north that 
they have been taken in the state, tho they are reported as nesting near Baldwin, 
Kansas. 
