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Massachusetts Notes.— On October 24, 1910, I shot a partial albino 
Sharp-tailed Sparrow ( Passerherbulus caudacutus ) on a salt meadow at 
Nantucket, Mass. I had seen it several days previous but was unable to 
secure it then. The upper parts are blotched with several patches of pure 
white feathers. The coverts of the left wing are also pure white while 
the feathers on the right wing are only margined with white. The tail, 
crown and primaries are normal in color as are also the underparts and 
nearly all the rest of the bird. 
Early in November, 1909, two White-fronted Geese ( Anser albifrons 
gambeli) were shot at a stand on Sesachacha Pond, Nantucket. I heard 
of their being killed last spring and was told by the man who had one of 
them mounted that they were Lesser Snow Geese. However, this bird 
has recently been presented to the Boston Society of Natural History 
and has proved to be Anser albifrons gambeli. It is a young bird and the 
white at the base of the bill is only just beginning to appear. Also the 
tips of the feathers of the underparts show faint traces of black. There 
are only three other records for New England, and these are all from 
Massachusetts. A male was shot at Quincy some time about 1848-50 
and was presented to the Boston Society ol Natural History. 1 At present 
there is no trace of this bird. Dr. T. M. Brewer, in ‘A Defence of his 
Catalogue of the Birds of New England,’ 2 says: “Anser gambeli, between 
1836-46, was much more common than it apparently is now, but even 
now there is no lack of evidence of its presence .... A fine specimen in 
immature plumage has been recently taken in Gloucester and is now in the 
collection of Mr. William Jeffries of Boston.” The bird referred to was 
shot October 20, 1876, at West Gloucester, and at the time was supposed to 
be Anser albifrons gambeli ; it turned out, however, to be a Blue Goose. 
This also is now in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History 
and is the only one ever recorded from this State. Possibly after all A. a. 
gambeli was not as common even between 1836 and 1846 as Dr. Brewer 
supposed. The second authentic record was one shot at Plymouth, 
November 26, 1897, by Mr. Paul W. Gifford. 3 It is an adult specimen and 
is to-day in Mr. William Brewster’s collection. Of these few records the 
third is the most interesting, for it is an adult bird that was caught alive 
in a wounded condition early in August, 1907, at Great Neck, Ipswich, 
by Mr. A. B. Clark. 4 This bird is still alive and I believe several unsuc- 
cessful attempts have been made to cross it with a wild Canada Goose. 
In ‘The Auk,’ Vol. XXVII, No. 3, page 339, Mr. R. Heber Howe, Jr., 
mentions a King Rail (Rallus elegans) being shot at West Barnstable on 
Dec. 30, 1909, as the ninth record for the State. I have five more un- 
recorded specimens making a total of fourteen. The first one was shot 
on the Neponset meadows, near Canton, on September 9, 1893, and is 
in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History. The other 
four were all shot in 1909, at Chatham, and as far as I can find they are 
the only ones known to the local gunners ever to have been taken there. 
Of these four the first was taken January 9, 1909, by Mr. Russell Bearse 
in a brackish marsh while he was duck shooting by moonlight. This 
is now owned by Mr. IV. E. Freeman of Arlington. The second was shot 
by Mr. W. A. Carey of Boston on October 2, and is now in his collection. 
He was shooting quail along the edge of a cranberry bog when the dog 
flushed this bird. The third was caught alive on October 25 by a setter 
dog in a bit of salt marsh, and is now in the collection of the Boston Society 
of Natural History. The fourth was killed by Mr. Frank Eldredge on 
October 20. This one was shot on Monomoy Island, in a salt meadow 
where Mr. Eldredge was after shore birds. It seems very remarkable 
that these last three should have all been taken within the space of about 
three weeks time and all within an area of a few square miles. Undoubtedly 
the King Rail is more abundant than is generally supposed, and although 
it is thought that it may breed within the limits of the State, no authentic 
case has yet been recorded. However, this recent abundance may lead 
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