Nov., 1915 I?URTHER REMARKS JJPON T, HE KERN RED-WING 229 given in the tables, this being caused by a larger proportion of the twelve being under rather than over the average before given, though none fell below the former minimum. On the other hand the average of the same measurement in the four females was greater than that of the eleven females given in the published tables, and the maximum was exceeded. Yet if the two lots had been combined the figures given before would be changed but very slightly. We know that the smaller the number of specimens measured in groups the more the measurements will vary, so this small deviation was to be expected. These birds were so scarce, and the area in which they were to be found apparently so limited, that it seemed a pity to destroy more than necessary, and what we obtained were enough to sustain the conclusions heretofore reached. Also if this form is as spitsely represented as it appears to be, it seemed unfair for one collector to make so great an inroad into its numbers as to endanger its existence. Hence our weapons were turned away and no more specimens collected. That the habitat of the Kern Red-wing is extremely limited seems, from our present knowledge, to be a reasonable conclusion, even though it is known to inhabit two districts rather widely separated topographically. The first place where it was found was the "Walker Basin", which is a meadowlike valley of only a few thousand acres in extent, separated from the San Joaquin Valley by a range of mountains over four thousand feet high, its only outlet being by way of a narrow gorge through which the Walker Creek flows into the Kern l?iver, whose bed is at the bottom of a narrow canyon for miles below the point of intersection. The marshy portion of the Walker Basin is so limited that but few individuals exist there. In fact we saw none at all while passing along the edge of this district, but van l?ossem took some there in 1914. As far as we know, the next, and only other, spot where these birds are to be found is on the South Fork of the Kern l?iver, some four or five miles above its junction with the North Fork, twenty-five or thirty miles farther
inland than the Walker Basin and separated from it by tw? fairly high ranges
of mountains, the river itself being probably at an elevation at this point of some 3000 feet. liere the narrow valley opens out a bit, to half a mile or more in width, with "fans" covered with desert vegetation running up into the steep canyons that cut into the masses of shattered rock which constitute the mountains on either side. In the comparatively level bottom are small marshy spots and lagunas where bunches of tules or cat-tails grow, while in places water has been brought in from the river and alfalfa or barley is grown. We found the red-wings mostly in the lagunas, or near them, though some were seen among the hundreds of Brewer Blackbirds (Euphagus cyanoce- phalus) which were following the water as it spread over the fields and feast- ing on the insects among the alfalfa. The red-wings were usually in small groups or colonies, and far from numerous. In fact we came across but few spots they seemed to favor by their presence. This irrigated strip extends some eight or ten miles up the river to where the valley contracts again and it seems to be the only likely locality in which to expect these birds in all that neighborhood. Inquiry among the ranchers and stockmen living in the valley, the passers-by, and even the indians who are quite numerous there, elicited no information as to any conditions conducive to the presence of red-wings up or down either of the forks of the Kern l?iver, and all who claimed to know
