Page:Condor17(5).djvu/22

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192 TH? CONDOR Vol. XVII Roadrunner Burrowing Owl Dusky Poor-will California Thrasher Phainopepla California ,Shrike Yellow-billed Magpie Long-tailed Chat Bullock Oriole of the general conditions to be found there in summertime, and his list of species shows what may be expected should anyone make a thorough study. Before giving the general list of birds noted, the following two lists will show in general what the typical species of the zones are. SOME UPPER SONORAN SPECIES; LAND BIRDS ONLY Bi-colored Redwing Western Meadowlark Willow Goldfinch Green-backed Goldfinch California Linnet Black-chinned Sparrow Bell Sparrow California Brown Towbee SOME TRANSITION Mountain Quail Band-tailed Pigeon Pacific Horned Owl California Pigmy Owl CabShis Woodpecker Olive-sided Flycatcher Monterey Hermit Thrush American Dipper Western Bluebird Gymnogyps californianus. SPECIES; LAND BIRDS ONLY Cassin Vireo Coast Jay Tawny Creeper Audubon Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Western Tanager Pine Siskin Point Pinos Junco California Condor. On May 27 Carriger saw a single bird sail majestically over our camp on Big Creek and disappear into the high moun- tains to the east. Mr. Gamboa, a cattle rancher, stated that a few years ago the birds were fairly common in the summer and usually left in the winter. In 1910 he counted fifteen around a dead cow. Usually in evidence during each month of the Year and cer- tainly nest in the county. Mr. Gamboa said that the ranchers do not persecute the birds when seen about a dead cow as they know that they are purely scavengers. Cathartes aura septentrionalis. Turkey Vulture. Buzzards were commonly seen over the entire territory covered and were especially numerous in the oak-covered val- ley northwest of Jolon. According to the Indians and older Spaniards who still live in the mountains these birds nest commonly each year in the hills near the coast and not on the eastern side of the range. We found them fairly tame and one photo which we took shows a group of seven resting in a dead tree. Falco mexicanus. Prairie Falcon. One bird.was noted on May 16 near Jolon. This bird was swiftly flying through the oak trees and evidently hunting. Noted also on Santa Lucia peak. A bird was seen on May 27 to sail into a flock of sea gulls flying near the beach and strike one of them to the sand. After performing the trick the bird flew away, evidently not caring to eat his prey. Perhaps he was only practicing. Falco sparverlus sparverius. American Sparrow Hawk. This hawk was not so common as would be expected, only a few being seen. They were all in the Jolon valley and kept away from the pine and redwood zone of the coast ranges. For several days we noted their absence and kept on the lookout for them, expecting that perhaps they were absent in the Transition zone; but on. May 19 while climbing Santa Lucia Peak we saw a few birds. Acipiter velox. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Noted on Santa Lucia Peak and along the seacoast in the vicinity of Big Creek. Not a very common bird. Accipiter cooperi. Cooper Hawk. One bird seen in the vicinity of Jolon. Buteo borealis ca?urus. Western Red-t?iled Hawk. Noted throughout the region but in very sparing numbers. Pairs were nesting along the eastern foothills of the coast range in the pines and larger oaks. In the wooded parts of the western slopes a few were seen flying, and perched on tall stumps. This bird gets its usual food in the open country, and it must be difficult for it to get a good meal in the forested region unless it eats grasshoppers.