Purple Gallinule (Ionornis martinica) in Rhode Island.—Mr. Newton Dexter states that some years ago Mr. P. W. Aldrich showed him a fine Purple Gallinule just received in the flesh from Westerly, R. I. Mr. Dexter bought, and now has the bird. He is not able to give the exact year, but thinks it was in 1857.—Fred. T. Jencks, Providence, R. I.
Note on the Habits of the Young of Gallinula galeata and Podilymbus podiceps.—Mr. N. R. Wood, who collected quite a number of young Grebes and Gallinules this summer at Montezuma Marsh, near Clyde, N. Y., tells me that the little Gallinules use the thumb to aid them in moving about. The thumb in the young of this bird is quite long and sharp, and the nestlings, when unable to walk, hook it into any yielding substance, and drag themselves along. The young Grebes are more vigorous than the Gallinules, and progress by little hops.—Frederic A. Lucas, Rochester, N. Y.
Rhynchops nigra.—An early Record for the Massachusetts Coast.—Champlain,[[61]] while cruising along the sandy shores of Cape Cod on a voyage of exploration in July, 1605, makes mention of the Black Skimmer, as his narration, p. 87, shows.
“We saw also a sea-bird with a black beak, the upper part slightly aquiline, four inches long and in the form of a lancet; namely, the lower part representing the handle and the upper the blade, which is thin, sharp on both sides, and shorter by a third than the other; which circumstance is a matter of astonishment to many persons, who cannot comprehend how it is possible for this bird to eat with such a beak. It is of the size of a pigeon, the wings being very long in proportion to the body, the tail short, as also the legs, which are red; the feet being small and flat. The plumage on the upper part is gray-brown, and on the under part pure white. They go always in flocks along the seashore, like the pigeons with us.”
That this species was found on our shores early in this century is proved by the older natives of the Cape telling me, since the bird’s recent occurrence, that “them cutwater or shearwater birds used to be with us summer times.” Also Mr. Brewster informs me that Nantucket fishermen assert that Skimmers bred on Muskegat Island fifty years ago.—H. A. Purdie, Newton, Mass.
Notes on the Habits of the Kittiwake Gull.—Some fishermen whom I lately employed to get a few Kittiwake Gulls on the winter fishing grounds off Swampscott, Massachusetts, gave me the following interesting account of the habits of this species, and the way in which my specimens were procured.
A number of small schooners sail from Swampscott every winter morning, and reach the fishing banks, which are some twelve miles off shore, about daybreak. The men then take to their dories, and buckets of bait—generally cod-livers or other refuse—are thrown out to attract the fish to the spot. Of this custom the Kittiwakes—or “Pinny Owls,” as these men invariably call them—are well aware, and swarms of them quickly collect around the boats to pick up the morsels before they sink. They are very tame, and if one of the flock is shot the others hover over it as Terns will do on similar occasions. The usual way of taking them, however, is with hook and line, the bait being allowed to float off on the surface, when it is quickly seized by one of the greedy horde. In this manner great numbers are annually taken by the fishermen, who either skin and stew them or use the flesh for bait. I was assured that a “Pinny Owl” stew is by no means an unpalatable dish.
After the morning fishing is at an end the vessels start for their anchorage in Swampscott harbor, and the fish are dressed on the way. This gives the Gulls another chance which is not neglected, for the entire flock follows closely in their wake. When the catch has been a large one, and the work of cleaning the fish is continued at the anchorage, they remain about the spot for hours picking up this offal directly under the sides of the vessels. Here again the poor birds are often mercilessly slaughtered by city gunners who shoot them for sport or practice, leaving the dead and wounded to float out to sea with the ebbing tide. The fishermen admit that their numbers have greatly diminished of late years, but they are said to be still very abundant through the winter months.—William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass.
Sterna forsteri breeding off the Eastern Shore of Virginia.—An impression seems to prevail among ornithologists that Forster’s Tern breeds only in the interior of North America. At least I cannot learn that Dr. Coues’ comparatively recent ruling[[62]] to that effect has been publicly corrected, or that it is generally known that the bird nests on the Atlantic Coast.[[63]] On this account it may be worth while to state that during a visit to Cobb’s Island, Va., in July, 1880, I found Forster’s Terns breeding in moderate numbers on all the neighboring islands. They nested apart from the other Terns, but often in company with Laughing Gulls, on the salt marshes or on marshy islets, where their eggs were almost invariably laid on tide-rows of drift-weed that fringed the muddy shores. The largest colony seen in any one place comprised perhaps twenty-five pairs, but it was more usual to find from six to a dozen mingled with a countless number of Gulls. I was late for the eggs, but secured a few far advanced in incubation, besides several downy young and many adult birds in full nuptial dress.—William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass.
Note on the Foot of Accipiter fuscus.—On the plantar surfaces of each foot of the Sharp-shinned Hawk two papillae may be noticed, which differ from the others, more properly described as pads, in their greater length and more symmetrical form. These pads are placed at the second phalangeal joint of the third toe, and at the third phalangeal joint of the fourth toe, that is, at the bases of the penultimate phalanges of the third and fourth toes. These papillae are shown to be modified pads, the same as those at the other two joints, by the less developed papillae of Circus, Astur, and others. This transition can readily be traced in the sketches of the feet given in the systematic works on Hawks, though the special prominence of the papillae in the Sharp-shinned Hawk does not seem to be particularly noted. On removing the skin, however, a marked difference at once comes in view. While all the pads are nearly obliterated, the papillae still remain as solid cones of connective tissue (?), having much the same shape and sizes as the entire papillae. These cones or cores are internally connected with the superficial fascia of the toes and seem to straddle the flexor tendons running below.