General Notes, 
occurrence of the Black Gyrfalcon in Rhode Island —1 beg to report 
the occurrence on November 22, 1891, of the Black Gyrfalcon (. Falco 
rusticohis obsoletus) on the little island ofConanicut near Newport, Rhode 
s and. The specimen secured was a female, in splendid black plumage. 
It was shot while perched on a haystack on Capt. Audley Clarke’s farm, 
not far from Jamestown, which is a seaside town right opposite Newport 
°ret ) or°ted n h U hn 1 l land i in ^arragansett Bay. The person who shot it 
reported it had captured a rat and was feeding “/hSreon^t^ the time" 
Several rat skins were noticed in the neighborhood, from which it may 
be inferred that the b.rd had had a considerable meal on rats. The mate 
reported to me to have presented the same dark, almost black appearance’ 
was no in sight when the female was killed, but is said to have appeared 
about the locality repeatedly, after November 23, i8 9 t, up to Maich 20, 
1892 Seveial local gunners tried to obtain it, but it was too wild and wary 
to allow any one within shot. He thus seems to have Remained for form 
months ,n the vicinity, in the apparent hope of once more meeting his 
female companion, who may have accompanied him from the far shores 
abrador. The weather was clear on the day the bird was shot, but 
XtuT C ° " had been UnSettled and -veral days 
noWeV P t Cime K’ u h l Ch rem,ndS 0ne 0f anEa S le in miniature and is a 
and critchley of P d 7 “”“ adminibl ^ b - v s Southwick 
Nat, m i l 7 c ° V e r e - 11 WaS secured fol ' the Museum of the 
Natura History Society of Newport, where an ornithological collection 
IS now in process of formation. -A. O’D. Taylor, Ne-wLt * / 
Aak July, 1892.' p. 300- 
Auk, XV, Jan., 1898, p. 
Black Gyrfalcon ( Falco rusticolus obsoletus') in Rhode Island. — In 
looking over some newly-received bird skins in the collection of Mr. Jas. 
P. Babbitt of this city, I came across a specimen, a fine female in nearly 
full plumage, of this rare Falcon, which I succeeded in purchasing and 
added to my collection. It was shot by Mr. Arthur Scudder at Tiverton, 
R. I., on December 26, 1896. He was duck shooting from a boat over 
wooden decoys, and at the time the Gyrfalcon was shot it was hovering 
over the decoys, as if preparing to pounce upon one of them. I referred 
it to this form by Ridgway’s ‘ Manual, ’ and after carefully studying over 
Mr. William Brewster’s five series of Gyrfalcons, I felt still more certain 
of its identity. — A. C. Bent, Taunton , Mass. 
