Northern phalarope (Lobipes lobatus) in Michigan

^^'igfs^^] General Notes.

Ill

thespecimen was notsexedthoughitscoloringandsizewouldfavoritsbeing a female.

The

birdwasin

company

witha smallflock ofGreen-winged Teal,andthewindat thetimewassoutheast. Itseemsa strange fact that thisbird has notbeenrecordedfromFloridabefore,aregionthathas so long received the attentions^ofsportsmen andnaturalists.

Mr. Perry has generously presented thisspecimento the

Museum

of Comparative ZoologyatCambridge.

— W. Sprague

Brooks,Milton,Mass.

Little

Blue Heron

{Florida ccerulea) in

Vermont. —

While on

Mon-

tebello Hill,Newbury,Vt.,on August16, 1912,between5and6.30p.m., Iwaslooking

down upon

a

swampy meadow

whichUesbelowandinwhich the Bittern

makes

itshome, and saw something unusual moving about.

Using

my

field glassesIsawthatitwasa whiteheronwadingslowlyinthe water. Itwas notso large at theGreat Blue

Heron

withwhich I was familiarand waspure white except thetipsofthewings whichwerea soft gray

—

evidently theLittle Blue Heron in immature plumage. I could not see thelegsasthewater

came

nearlyupto the body.

It

moved

^veryslowlyanddeliberately feeding

among

the plantswhich grewinthe water. Iwatcheditforhalfan houror

more

untilitpassed outofsight arounda curve. It

made

no caUof anykind.

— Anna

E.

Cobb,Providence, R. I.

Swimming

of

Young

Herons.

—

Inhisexcellent article,^'BirdGene- alogy,'(Auk,

XXIX,

1912, pp. 285-295), Dr. Charles

W. Townsend

speaks ofthe easeandgracein

swimming

shown

by

a young Green Heron

when

placedinthe water. It

may

beofinterestto note thatyoungheronsof several speciessometimestake to thewatervoluntarily.

On

atripto the breeding islandof

Snowy

Heronsnear Charleston,S.

C,

onJuly4,1912, Ifoundmostoftheyoungofallofthefivespeciesofheronswhichbreed there wellable tofly.

Many,

however, could onlyscramble aboutin the branchesoftheirnestingtreesorflyshort distances tokeepoutof

my way

asIpassed.

As

Iwalked aroundto thewindwardside oftheisland,driving numbersofyoungherons beforeme,IsawayoungLouisianaHeron,which hadflown afewyardsupthe wind, resting quietlyonthe water. Ithought

ithadfallen there,and wassurprised toseethatitwas

swimming

with truly swanhke grace. While I watched, about adozen others

—

Louisianas, LittleBlues,and,Ithink,oneortwo Snowies

—

flewoutfromshoreand deliberatelyahghtedonthe water. Iwaitedforsome minutestosee

how

theywould

make

backtoland,andsoonfoundthat, aftera shortrest,they couldrisewith easefromthe surfaceofthewater andflybackto thetrees onshore.

—

Francis

M. Weston,

Jr.,Charleston,S.C.

Northern Phalarope

(Lobipeslobatus)in

Michigan. — ^The

^{status of}

thisPhalaropeasaMichiganspecieshasbeen

somewhat

indoubt. Prof.

Barrowsstates(Mich.BirdLife,1912,166),"_Idonot

know

ofanactual Michigan specimenpreservedanywhere." I can add one unimpeachable record

—

there is a female inthe U.S.National

Museum,

No.170,517,

112

General Notes. [f^_

takenon September14, 1899, inLenawee

County by

Dr. C.

M.

Butler thatIexaminedlastwinter. In the University of Michigan

Museum

thereis a

mounted

bird, anadultfemale labeled^'Michigan,'No.1172a.

A

search in theoriginal catalogue revealsnofurtherdatabut I

am

in- chned to believe thatthisspecimen

came

from Mr. Jas.Hobson,atone time taxidermist at the

Museum

inthelateseventies. Mr.

Hobson

did considerablecollecting attheSt.ClairFlats,andthe bird

may

have been securedthere.

Mr.

W.

E.SaundersofLondon,Ont., hastwo specimens takenatRondeau, LakeErie,

by

Mr.PhiUip

Burk

andsent to

him —

^onesecuredon October 10,1906, andafemaleon October20, 1906.—B.H.Swales, University ofMichigan

Museum.

Black Vulture in

Vermont.— On

July 7, 1912, a Black Vulture {Catharista urubu)wasshotinPawlet,Vt.,atownadjoiningthisbutjust across the

New York

hue. Itwas brought to

me

foridentificationandis being

mounted by

alocaltaxidermist. Itseemedtobeanold birdin fine plumage andthewonderisthatitshouldbe takenseveralhundredmiles northofits

summer

home.

—

F. T.Pember,Granville,N. Y.

The

Swallow-tailedKite in

DeWitt

Co., Illinois.

—

EarlyinJune, 1906,Iobserved a birdoftliisspeciescirclingaboutover theopenhills

alongSaltCreek,about5 milessoutheastofClinton.

The

birdwasper- fectlyunconcernedby

my

presence,andcontinueditssoaringflightwithin easygunrange,

making

itsidentificationacertainty.

— Edwin

D.Hull, Chicago,III.

The

Alder Flycatcher in Colorado.

—

Ibegtorecordtwo specimens oftheAlder Flycatcher {E)npidonaxIraillialnorum),forColorado.

They

constitutethesecondandthirdrecordsforthestate,thefirstbeing aspeci-

men

^takenbyC. E. Aiken, nearLimon, Colorado,

May

27, 1905.^

The

identification of

my

birds asofAiken'sisby H.C. Oberholserofthe Bio- logicalSurvey.

The

first isanadult birdtakenintheClearCreekvalley, westofDenver,June4,1911,andthesecondanimmature male takenin

same

localityAugust6, 1911.

The

datesof collectionsomewhatsuggest breeding birdsandit is

by

nomeansunlikely,that

we may

beable toadd thisspeciestoourlistof

summer

residents. Bothoftheabove specimens are

now

in

my

collection.

—

F.C.Lincoln,Colorado

Museum

ofNatural

History, Denver, Colo.

Arkansas Kingbird

inMassachusetts.

— On

October 20, 1912, at

Monomoy

Island,Chatham,Mass., andjustoffthe heelof

Cape

Cod,I shot an immature male Arkansas Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis).

The

birdwasflittingaboutsome clumpsofbayberrybushes,

among

thesand dunesnearourclub house, andfirst attractedthe attention ofour club attendantbyitsbright yellowbelly.

'

A

History of the Birds of Colo.,byW.L.Sclater, p.275.