THE CONDOR Vol. XV and are gone by the last of September. The same author thinks it possible that two broods might be reared in southern Washington but only one farther north; and he gives the nesting time as May to July. These months include all the spe- cific dates given for the region north of California. In the mountains of Arizona, nests with eggs have been reported with appar- ent authenticity from March 6 to September 25 (Bendire, ?892, p. I23). This indicates a protracted breeding season, though the extreme dates are probably quite exceptional. It does not follow either that the same pair of birds rears two or more broods the same year. That not all the birds nest in a given locality at the same time is attested by Fowler (Corn)oR, ?893, p. 69.) The accompanying table shows all the actual dates of nesting known to the writer within the state of California. Extremes are May 3 and July 3 o, the first for a 'fresh egg, the latter for an egg nearly ready to hatch. The mean date 'for TABLE GIVING DATA IN REGARD TO THE NESTING o? THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON IN CALIFORNIA Place Date Pine Mt., 3250 ft., May 3, 1901 San Diego Co. Pine Mr., 3250 ft., May 11, 1901 San Diego Co. San Jacinto Mts. at 6500 ft., May 14, 1897 Riverside Co. San Jacinto Mts. at 6500 ft., May 14, 1897 Riverside Co. Mt. Wilson, 5500 ft., May 23, 1897 Los Angeles Co. Cuyamaca Mts., 4 miles from June 4, 1896 Julian, San 'Diego Co. Pine Mt., 3250 ft., June 24, 1901 San Diego Co. San Jacinto Mts. at Fuller's July 1, 1908 Mill, 5900 ft., Riverside Co. Mt. Wilson, 5500 ft., July 5, 1894 Los Angeles Co. Lagunitas, July 30, 1912 Marin Co. Barley Flats, 5600 ft., last of July, 1888 Los Angeles Co. Barley Flats, 5600 ft., last of' July, 1888 Los Angeles Co. Contents of Nest 2 eggs (fresh) 1 egg (incubation well advanced) ' 1 squab (just hatched) 1 squab (half-grown) Authority Sharp (1902, p. 16) Sharp (1902, p. 16) Gilman (1903, p. 134) Gilman (1903, p. 134) 1 squab (about one week old) Grinnell (1898, p. 20) adult bird on nest, but not flushed. 1 egg (incub. adv.; same nest as May 11, 1901) 1 egg-: (incubation slight) 1 egg (considerably incubated) 1 egg (incubation far advanced) 1 young (able to fly) 1 young (able to fly) Albert M. Ingersoll (in letter) Sharp (1902, p. 16) Museum Vert. Zool. Grinnell (1898, p. 20) Joseph Mailliard (in letter) Antonin Jay (in letter. Antonin Jay (in letter eggs in the nest is June ?6. A remarkably brief nesting season is thus indicated as regards our immediate region, and the same evidently holds with our winter visiting birds from the northwest coast. The general statement is prevalent in works on western ornithology that two or more broods are reared by the Band-tailed Pigeo_n each year. A close exami- nation .of all the definite evidence submitted makes such a-state of affairs, how- ever, improbable. The notion seems to have originated with the report (prob- ably 'an intentional prevarication on the part of an unprincipled collector and deal- er in birds' eggs) that the Band-tailed Pigeon bred in southern Arizona "fiearly every month in the year, and several broods must be reared by each pair during the season". The observations made by Swarth (I9O4, p. 5) and Fowler (?9o3, p. 69) in the same region do not support the above statement. Considering the time necessary to rear a brood--as already shown, close to two months--and the extreme dates between which eggs or young have been
