130 THE CONDOR Vol. XVIII Some Raptores of Douglas County, South Dakota.--The following list was made in Douglas County, southeastern South Dakota, in the years of 1909, '10, '11, and '12. Cathartes a?ra septentrionalis. Turkey Vulture. I have two autumn records of this species, one of which is for September 8, 1911. Circus huelsonius. Marsh Hawk. A typical bird of the prairie marshes, and from an economic standpoint, one of the most beneficial birds of the region. Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle. A fine example o'f this specie? was accidentally killed November 11, 1911, by flying against a wire fence, near the town of Delmont. Falco sparverius. Sparrow Hawk. Probably a rare summer resident; becomes common in September. Panaion hhliaetus carolinensis. Osprey. Occasionally seen in autumn. Asio wilsonianus. Long-eared Owl. I have but one record, a specimen taken Sep- tember 24, 1911. Asio flammeus. Short-cared Owl. Resident. Found in the vicinity of sloughs and marshy hay land. Cryptoglaux acadica. Saw-whet Owl. A specimen taken at Armour, January 27, 1910. Otus asio asio. Screech Owl. Three nests of this species were found. Two were in cavities in cottonwood trees, and the third was in a deserted Flicker hole in a telephone pole. Nyctea nyctea. Snowy Owl. An occasional winter visitant, more common in severe winters. Their favorite resting places are straw stacks. Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea. Burrowing Owl. Common. Breeds singly or in colonies; a nest examined May 16, 1911, was located in a bu.rrow, about eight feet from the entrance, and contained ten eggs, at different stages of incubation.--?LEX. WALKE?, Tillamook, Oregon. The Broad-tailed Hummingbird in California.--At the present time the Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) is relegated to the list of "species credited to California on unsatisfactory grounds" (Grinnell, Pacific Coast Avifauna, 11, 1915, 184), and properly so, the three alleged occurrences o? the species being shown to have been erroneous. Nevertheless the writer is convinced, from reasons that follow, that the species does occur within the state, and that field work in the proper localities would soon demonstrate its presence. During May, 1912, with one assistant, I spent about two weeks in the Inyo Mountains, in pursuit of field work for the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. This is a high, rugged range separating Owens Valley from the more forbidding desert region to the eastward. We were encamped in Mazourka Canyon, some ten miles from its mouth, a canyon emptying into Owens Valley opposite the town of Inde- pendence. Several times during our stay I was satisfied that I heard the shrill buzz of wings of the male Broad-tailed Hummingbird, but not until our last day at this point was I able to get sight of the bird. This noise is as loud, and quite as characteristic as in the Rufous and Allen hummingbirds, though of a different tone; as far as I know it is absolutely distinctive among North American hummingbirds. Acquaintance with the species in the mountains of Arizona had familiarized me with this flight sound, and also with the fact that the birds are frequently most difficult to see despite their noisy mode of progression. I was n?ot greatly surprised at my failure to catch sight of the hummingbirds which I was satisfied were in Mazourka Canyon, but kept on the alert, and finally had a fleeting glimpse of one. On May 24, as we were breaking camp, a male bird, with shi-ill buzz of wings, darted in front of me, and poised in the sunlight but a few feet away. Though gone again before I could make a move for a gun, the sight was sufficient to clinch the identification, to my own satisfaction at least, for the green back and top of head, and gleaming red throat, together with the manner of flight, formed a? unmistakable combination of characters. As no specimen was secured it is quite proper that the species remain for the present in the "Hypothetical List". My intention here is to call attention to this occurrence as an incentive to future observers in this region. From faunal and zonal considerations it is to be expected that the species occur in the Inyo Mountains, as well as in other nearby ranges.--H. S. SWAR?H, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley. California.
