Page:Condor13(6).djvu/43

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Nov., 1911 I?ROM i?IELD AND STUDY 211 ure from all previously recorded nest situations being placed 8 feet up in ? Monterey cypress where it was well hidden in a thick clump of foliage. The nest, a well built structure consisting almost entirely of pine needles, contained four eggs. in which incubation .had begun. A second nest of the junco was found 16 feet up in the Monterey cypress in an open situation well out on the limb, and contained fresh eggs. This nest is even a better built structure than the first one found. It is a very compact affair of pine needles, roots, grasses and weed stems and well lined with various animal hair. (This nest was revisited on March 31 at which date the number of eggs had increased to four.) It might be inferred that on account of the extreme dampness of an uuusuaily rainy spring the juncos had selected these elevated nesting sites in preference to the customary ground-locations. Whether this theory is correct or not it is interesting to note that we found a ground-nest on April 16 with yonng fully a week old. This nest was placed near the foot of a tree which, however, offered but little protection. There has been some ques- tion raised as to the identity of the juncos breeding in the region bordering the foothills in San Mateo County; but Mr. J. R. Pemberton who collected examples in this locality pronounced them typical pinos?ts. Of more lhan passing interest were two nests found of the Santa Cruz Chickadee (PenthesIes r?tfesce?s barlowi) both in natural cavities in Australian eucalyptus trees. The first, found by Cartiger, held two eggs apparently deserted. The second, found by the writer, held seven fresh eggs which were placed in a cavity four feet above the ground and warmly lined with a great quantity of fur, red cow-hair and soft dry green moss. In this instance the sitting bird was flushed, although with Chickadees this is a circumstance of considerable rarity. Other nests noted on the afternoon's outing were one of the California Shrike (Latins ludovician?tsgambeli) freshly built, one of the Green-backed Goldfinch (?lstragali?tspsaltria hesperophilus) nearly completed, and one of the Allen Hummingbird (Selasphor?ts alleai) with two fresh eggs. All three nests were placed in Monterey cypress trees.--MILTON S. Bobolink in San Mateo County, California.--Mr. Vernon Shephard, taxidermist, of 28 North Startyah Street, San l?rancisco, California, has recently donated to the Museum of Verte- brate Zoology of the University of California a specimen (no. 19731) of Bobolink (Dolichonya: oryzivor?ts). The bird was taken by Mr. Shephard between June 5 and 10 near San Bruno Lake in San Mateo County. The bird is a maie in "nuptial" plnmage.--W. P. TAYLOR. Notes from Alaska.--The University of California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology has re- cently received as gifts from Mr. Allen Hasselborg of Juneau, Alaska, specimens of birds taken by him in southern Alaska, some of which are of sut?icient interest to justify the recording of their capture. A letter accompanying the last skins received contains brief notes on these and additional species, and extracts from it are appended below. The compiler of these notes can vouch for Mr. Hasselborg's thorough acquaintance with the species referred to, and there need be no hesitation in accepting the records in the two cases where specimens were not taken. The numbers pertain to the. bird collection of the Museum. Gayla adamsi. Yellow-billed Loon. Adult, not sexed, head only saved. Mole Harbor, Admiralty Island, May 25, 1911 (no. 19119). Adult male; "off Dixon Harbor" (on the mainland, a little north of Cross Sound); August 17, 1911 (no. 19728). He further remarks "I have seen three others this year [1911] one about the first of June, off Point Hugh [southerumost point of Glass Peninsula, Admiralty Island], one in the Favorite Channel [at south end of Lynn Canal], June 5, and one in Berner's Bay [east shore of Lynn Canal], June 17. Last year I saw one off Lituya Bay about June 20, and one in Gastineau Channel [between Douglas Island and the mainland] in November." These records of the Yellow-billed Loon are of interest, as the various expeditions .sent to the region by the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology failed to secure any specimens. In 1907 a single bird was seen at Windfall Harbor, Admiralty Island (see Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., vol. 5, 1909, p. 182); on the 1909 expedition, which traversed the length of the Alexander Archi- pelago, the species was not encountered at all. Picoides america?ts. American Three-toed Woodpecker. Three specimens, all from Ad- miralty Island; adult female, Oliver Inlet, January 1, 1910 (no. 16716); adult male, Kanalku Bay, June 18, 1910 (no. 16717); adult male Seymour Canal, November 15, 1910 (no. 19729). ]?Ie also found two nests at Berner's Bay, in June, 1911, but was unable to examine them. C?aetura va?ta:i. Vaux Swift. "I saw Vaux Swifts repeatedly in June and July in the big valleys running back from Berner's Bay, and on August 24 saw four in the valley at the head of Excursion Inlet." Excursion Inlet is on the northern shore of Icy Strait, between Lynn Canal and Glacier Bay. Z'o?otrichia coro?ata. Golden-crowned Sparrow. "On June 21 I saw a Golden-crowned Sparrow at 2500 feet elevation at Berner's Bay, and believe it was nesting. "--H. S. Correction. In "Some Birds of the San Quentin Bay Region, Baja California", on page 152 of the last issue of T?E CONDOR, Long-billed Curlew (Ar?tme?i?ts american?ts) should read HudsonJan Curlew (2V?trne?i?ts h?tdso?ic?ts) the writer having made this blunder in writing up the article from his nOteS.--ALFRED B. HOWELL.