Here is the record of my correspondence with a person who saw a strange
bird in Pennsylvania. Any ideas? I don't.

> >I live in Kane, Pa. and I recently saw a bird that I can't identify.
> >It was gray with a black or darker gray face and a reddish area that
>extended
> >from the underside of the head to the wings. It looked like it was a pouch.
> >It had a long bill and the wings were slender and seemed oddly shaped.
>It was
> >very slow moving and low to the ground. We were driving in a car and it flew
> >along side of us and I could see it clearly out the passenger window. It was
> >flying along side the road (on the shoulder).
> >Any ideas?
> >Thanks, Michelle
>
> Michelle, from your description I can't guess what kind of bird this was.
> Can you give me a little more information? About how large was it,
> compared with a crow, a robin, a sparrow? Were you driving through open
> country? Woodland? Was the tail long, short, average length?
>
> Dennis Paulson
>
> Mr. Paulson,
>The bird we saw was very large. We thought it might be an Albatross because
>of the wing span. We drive a 9 passenger station wagon and I would say it
>would easily be the size of the hood of the car. About 4 1/2 to 5ft across
>the wings and the body about 3 ft.long
>We live in the Allegheny Forest area so it is a mountain region and the bird
>definitely looked out of place.
>The tail seemed short compared to the size of the bird.
>We tried to find it again but we didn't have any luck.
>Thanks, Michelle

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 253-879-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 253-879-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html