Beckham, of Washington, in 'The Auk,' Vol

i«8S-] General Notes.

^8c

Ereunetes occidentalis on the Lower Potomac.

—

Respectingtheoccur- rence of theWestern Sandpiperinthe Eastern States, the onlypublished record isthatof C.

W.

Beckham, of Washington, in 'The Auk,' Vol. II, p. no. This gentleman speaks ofseveral specimens shot at Virginia Beach, Va.,September 6-7, 1S84. By wayofthrowinga little additional lighton therange of thespecies, it

may

notbewholly amiss tostatethat duringthe lastweek of August of the present year I found the western bird quite as

common

asthe eastern, atPineyPoint,Md., on thePotomac River. Ifanythingthe formerwas the more numerous, for ofeighteen specimensofEreunetespreserved, fourteen were identified by Mr. Ridg- wayas occidentalis, and these, too, were taken at random froma lotof about twenty-fivedead birds.

— Hugh

M. Smith, NationalMuseum, Wash- ington. D. C.

The Great Marbled Godwit at Portland, Maine.

—

Late in May, 1884, aspecimen ofthe GreatMarbled Godwit (Limosa foeda) was shot by a Portlandsportsman on Scarborough Marsh. The weather being

warm

atthe time the captor of thebird sent his trophy atonce toa taxidermist butIwas given an opportunityof examining it as soon as its preserva- tion wassecured. Imake anote ofthisspecimen because it is the only one whichI

know

to have beentaken in the vicinity ofPortland during

my

observations there, orbetween theyears 1870 and1885.

A

generation ago. in the days ofthe famous Maine sportsman. 'Cale' Loring, the MarbledGodwitappearstohave been atleastan occasional visitor tothe Scarborough Marshes. In the journal which Loring left, there is. I

am

told,not infrequent mention of this species, and no Portland sportsman will questionthe authenticity of such records. Of late years, however, the birdshaveevidently notlooked with favorupontheirold-timehalting- places.

—

Nathan

Clifford Brown. Portland.

Maine

The Little Yellow Rail {Porzana noveboracensis) in Kansas.

—

Prof.

L. L. Dyche, Curatorof Birds andMammals.StateUniversity,Lawrence, writes

me

thatApril iS. 1SS5. he captured one of these birds (a female;

on low wetland, aboutfivemilessoutheast of Lawrence. Ihave seen the specimen,whichismountedandonexhibitionin the finecollectionunder hischarge.

—

N. S. Goss. Topeka. Kans.

Harelda hyemalis in Marylandin Summer. —^-

On

the 27th ofJuly, 1885.

aDuck, which I supposed was Aix sponsa, was seen swimming in the PotomacRivernearPiney Point, Md. After a time itcame tothe shore, and approaching it rather cautiously I had notroubleincatchingit,as

itmade noattemptto use its wings. ^It proved to be a male Long-tailed Duck, in slightly wornplumage.

One

wingshowed signs of injury; the uppercovertsweregone, leaving bare thebases oftheprimaryquills; and therewas an eminence onthehumerus,indicating a fracture ofthatbone.

Without doubtthe presence of the bird in these watersatthis season was dueentirety to thediseased wing. The specimen has been mounted for the National Museum, in the collection ofwhich it bears the number

105,301.

—

Hugh

M. Smith, NationalMuseum, Washington, D. C.