Occurrence of Cory's Shearwater (<I>Puffinus borealis</I>) and several species of Jaegers in large numbers in the vicinity of Gay Head, Massachusetts, during the autumn of 1886

iS5?7-] General Notes. _yI

Milwaukee

Naturalist.I. No.9, Sept., 1SS6.

Museum

Bulletin. 1, Nos. 5.6. Sept., Oct., 18S6.

Naturalist,The.

A Month.

Journ. Nat. Hist, forthe North of England, Nos. 135-137.Oct.-Dec, 1SS6.

Naturalist's

Companion,

II.No. 2, Sept.. 1SS6.

Ornithologistand Oologist, XI,Nos.9-10. Sept.-Nov.. 18S6.

Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, pt. 2. 1SS6.

ProceedingsU. S. Nat.Mus., 1S86, pp. 161-2S8.

Random

Noteson Nat. Hist. Ill,Nos.9-11, 1S86.

Smihtsonian Report. 18S4,pt. II.

Zoologist. X,Nos. 118-120,Oct.-Dec, 18S6.

GENERAL NOTES.

OccurrenceofCory'sShearwater(Puffinusborealis)andSeveral Species ofJaegers in Large

Numbers

inthe Vicinity of Gayhead, Mass.. during the

Autumn

of 1886.

—

^Inthe early part of the

summer

of18S6,bothmack- ereland bluefish were very scarce near the coast of the Middle States.

anditwasascertainedthattheywerebusily

engaged

in feedingon asmall white fish,threeorfourinches long,occurring in

immense

numbers, r^o to 200 miles ^off the coast. This fish proves to be

young

sea herring (CluJ>ea vulgaris).

Towards

the endof Septemberthisherring

came

in- shoreinlarge numbers,from Point _JudithtoBuzzard's

Bay

and Vinevard Sound,

where

they remained until the end of October,and perhaps still later.

They

were accompanied by mackerel ofunusually large size and fatness, whichfurnished for

many

weeks an ample supplytofishingcrafts of various kinds, andtheywerecaptured,forthe mostpart, with the hook and line.

With

the herring

came

also

enormous numbers

of _Puffinus and Ster- corarius, theformer proving tobealmostexclusivlythePuffinusborealis Cory, with a few Puffinus stricklandi.

None

of the P. major were seen.

The

Stercorarius consisted principally of

6

^1.parasiticus and 6\ -pom- arinus; thesein everyimaginable stage of coloration;

some

beingentirelv dusky and others in various grades of immaturity; very few. if any specimensinfull

plumage

beingseen.

The

Shearwaters occurredin flocksofperhaps from fiftytotwoor three hundred, the bunches beinggenerallyfound quietly restingon the water andfeeding, while

swimming, upon

the herringsthat were so abundant inthe vicinity.

They

wereverytame, butapproachto

them

could be best

made

bya steam launch, which would almost runover

them

before they

would

start tofly.

A

dozenbirdswerekilledbythe discharge oftwo

guns

fromalaunch.

About

ahundred specimens were secured,and thousands couldeasily have been killed ifnecessary.

72

^{General Notes. [January}

When

last heard from, towards the beginningof

November,

the birds were stillwith the herrings, and were found very abundantlyoft"

Gay

Head.

Menemsha

^{Bight, Cuttyhunk, and elsewhere, both in Vineyard}

Sound

and Buzzard'sBay.

The

Jaegerswere shyer, and were generallykilled singlyas they flew past.

Thev

did not

seem

^{to associate closely} with the Shearwaters.

—

S. F. Baird. Washington, D. C.

Phcenicopterus ruber asa South CarolinaBird.

—

^{In '}

^The

^{Auk' for July.}

1886. Mr.

Loomis

gaveashort account of thecapture ofthisspecies near Georgetown.

As

1

am

able togive afull accountofitscapture, 1 trustthat the following^will prove acceptable. Learning from

my

friendDr. G. E.

Manigault, that

W.

St.Julien Mazyck.Esq.,captured the bird, Iwrote to

him

for afullaccount of ^its capture. Mr.

Mazyck

very kindly wroteme, underdate of

November

22,as follows^:

— _"The

_{fall of theyear 1S76} was stormv, with

much

rain.

Somewhere

between the toth and 16thofSep- tember there wasagale ofwind.

A

dayor so after the gale,Mr. B. H.

Ward

observeda large,strange birdon

De

BardienIsland,which hedeter-

mined

^{to watch and}

make

an effort to capture. Inadvertently mention- ingwhathe had seen,one of his neighbors the nextday killed the bird, and broughtitto

Paw

ley Island,

when

I identified itas theFlamingo.

"Thatnight, several hoursafter itwaskilled,I skinned suchparts as I

judged would ^{be acceptable to} Dr. Manigault.

The

legs and other long bones werebadly shattered by the turkeyshot,and with no experienceI

made

apoorjobof thebird.

The

heat and moisture of the weather soft-

enedit somuch. Dr. Manigault. wrote, that he coulddo nothing withit.

He. however, identified itas a

young

male.

•The

bird was evidently lost in the storm and driven to this shore, where he remained four or five days before being killed."

—

Arthur

T.

Wayne,

Charleston, S. C.

Occurrence of the Florida Gallinule at Springfield, Mass.

— A

^Florida

Gallinule (Gallinula gafeata) was takenOctober 1, 18S4, at a pointonthe Connecticut Riverabout fivemilesbelow Springfield.

The

birdwas first noticedinthe waterclose tothebank, in the actof diving. Iimmediately went to the spot withadog,

who

^dashedin where the bird disappeared,

when

itimmediately

came

to the surfaceand instantlytook to

wing

and was shot.

A companion

then informed

me

that itwas similar to a bird that he had recently taken. Early in September, 1SS6,I was told that a strange bird, " likea verylarge Kail,"had beenseen inthe reedsin aset- back, nearthe

mouth

of the

Agawam

^{River, which enters into the}

^Con-

necticut directlyoppositethiscity.

On

the 14thofSeptember,

upon

going to this place,^Iatonce succeededingetting this bird up. but in shooting missedit. Italighted abouta hundredyardsupthe set-back, where,after

some

search,itarose from

some

tall grasswithin a few feet of whereI

stoodand

was

^killed.

Four

dayslater(September iSth), atvery nearly the

same

place where