Page:Condor2(4).djvu/14

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88 THE CONDOR . [VoI. II teIls me ofa towhee with half the tail white, easily seen as the bird flew. ?ass?'r domesticus.--There was a family of four albino English sparrows last summer in San Lorenzo streets. All were of a dusty white. I,ast August I noticed one in a garden there. There were also three in a brood in Haywar(1.--l%IEl?SON. Hayxvard, June 9, 2895 g juv. Mc- Gregor Collection. A small spot on chin and a patch above each wing black; flight feathers and some feathers of head and interscapular region tipped with dark brown; otherwise the plumage is dirty white.--Taken by Emerson. (/[s[o[?ortts fia[ustr[s pahtdicola.--Red ? wood City, ()ct. 22, ?899.' q?. Coil. C. I,ittlejohn. The xvhite parts are: fore- head, neck, upper tail coverts, some feathers in top of head, three greater coverts of left wing and all the greater coverts of right wing, and inside of thighs. In this example the white streaks of dorsum seem unusually clear. TroA,'lod. vles a'don parkmanii.--A' spec- imen taken with one white feather in the breast.--E,?F,?sox. San Gregorio, San Mateo County. Mr. Littlejohn has the wings and tail of a wren in which five primaries of the left wing, six primaries of the right xving, and half the tail are white. JYerula migratoria profiinqua.--Win- ter of ?89? in Alameda, I took a female Western Robin with one white tail feather.--Col?v.?. Nestino of the [astern Bluebird at Denver, Colorado OR five consecutive years a pair of Mountain Bluebirds have made their nest in a box which I fast- ened under the eaves of my house: (article in AVdoloj?'ist of November, ?894.) The general supposition in such cases is that it is the same pair of birds, and I xvould more strongly think so in the case of these bluebirds from the fact that they nested two to three weeks earlier than other pairs having to locate themselves. It was this early nesting last spring 0899) which made possible the rare occurrence I wish to record, viz., the nesting of a pair of Eastern Bluebirds in the same box. By .June xo, the young Mountain Bluebirds were able to fly, and had departed'or scattered, young and old. A few days later I' realized there was another pair about the house, in fact--"birds of another col- or," with considerable shyness in their nature, and the actions of strangers in a strange land. I thought it best not to bother them too much, as I didn't want to drive th4m away, so I made no in- vestigation until June 2.', which was the date that i obtained the setof five eggs, slightly incubated. They had con- structed an entirely new nest, sprawl- ing it all over the one t'ound in the box and the bottom of the box as well, bnt of similiar construction and material. It is obvious that if the Eastern Blue- bird came to the state every spring and nested, its dates wonld be later than those of our mountain species by sev- eral weeks. I believe, however, that this occurrence has a direct connection with aremarkable find on the part of Mr. C. E. Aiken of Colorado Springs, during the migration of x899. He had occassion to take a trip to Lincon, a railroad junction about half way to the "eastern bordeg" of the state and there encountered a wave of eastern birds, no doubt driven out of their course by a severe storm, and thrown within Col- orado limits to the extent of several ad- ditions to our already large list. These additions will be brought out iu a second supplement,now in prepara- tion by Prof. W. W. Cooke, to his "Birds of Colorado." F?r) M. DILLE. June 20, ?9oo.