202 THE CONDOR Vol. XVIII towhee's nest I was at first under the impression that a cowbird had been up to her usual pranks,--EMEaso.? ATKINS, LOS Angeles, California. Sierra Junco in Golden Gate Park.--On June 5, 1915, I saw a pair of juncos in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, and am quite sure they were Junco oreganus thurberi. The occurrence of this species in the bay region in summer seems to me worthy of note.-- W. A. SqL?IllES, San Francisco, California. Pomarine Jaeger in San Francisco Bay.--On May 15, 1916, at about 4:30 r. M., while crossing the Bay from San Francisco to Sausalito, my attention was drawn to a bird whose actions closely resembled those of gtercorarius pomarinus but, unfortun- ately, the individual was too far distant to warrant a record,' The return trip of the following morning proved more successful, however, four birds of this species being seen at such close range as to make identification positive. One passed very close to the ferry boat about west oL and near to, Alcatraz Island; the other three were noted just after passing the island. At the time of these occurrences (about 8:30 A. ?.) a heavy west wind and a strong flood tide, both of unusual intensity, were in evidence, the consequent tide-rips in the neighborhood of Alcatraz being extreme. In Orinnell's Distributional List o! the Birds o! California this species is referred to as follows: "Common fall migrant coastwise. Recorded from San Francisco .... San Francisco Ba? .... and from bff Monterey." Thus it would appear that this is the first authentic spring record for the Bay waters. For many years I have regularly travelled between San Francisco and Sausalito during the spring, but in spite of constant vigilance my records of this species have heretofore been confined to the months of September and October, when their appear- ance in small and varying numbers can be safely depended upon, though not necessarily daily.--Jom? W. MAILLIARD, ?an Francisco, California. Hummingbird Mistakes Scarlet Yarn for a Flower.--On a recent trip to a favorite canyon in quest of hummingbirds, I discovered that someone had been plcniclng there and had tied bits of scarlet yarn as danger signals on the poison oak bushes in the vicinity. I noted a female hummingbird, apparently the Black?hinned, repeatedly trying to extract honey from these bits of yarn. This was new to me, and at first I thought she might be huntin? for building material. On close observation, however, I concluded that the bright color fooled the bird, and that she expected to find some new kind cf nectar.--W. LEE CHAMBERS, Eagle Rock, California. The Vernacular Name of Passer domesticus' in North America.--In the March-April, 1916, issue of THE Co?oa Mr. H. H. Mitchell questions the advisability of using the name Engiish Sparrow for Passer domesticus, the House Sparrow of Europe, The state- ments of Mr. W. B. Barrows have a bearing on this point. In 1889 Mr. Barrows wrote "The name 'English Sparrow' is a misnomer, as the species is not confined to Eng- land, but is native to nearly the whole of Europe. The fact that most of the birds brought to America came from Engiand explains the origin of the misleading name by which it is now so widely known that any attempt to change it would be futile" (The Engiish Sparrow in North America, U.S. Dept. Agric., Dlv. Orn. and Mature., Buil. 1, 1889, p. 17). On the same page Mr. Barrows states that the first birds were brought from England to Brooklyn in 1850, and on this and succeeding pages he gives records of the principal early importations and transfers of the species from one city to another. Inasmuch as the name English Sparrow was considered too weil fixed to change as long ago as 1889, any attempt to correct the error now seems hopeless.--TRAcY I. STOl?ER, Berkeley, California. Breeding of the Scott Oriole in Los Angeles County, Californla.--During the few days spent at Palmdaie in the Antelope Valley between April 27 and May 4, 1916, the Scott Oriole (Icterus parisorum)'was found to be fairly common wherever tree yuccas grew abundantly. Possibly a few of the birds were late migrants, as many apparently unattached males were seen. Two nests were found, however, on one of which work had just started on April 30; the other contained four eggs in which incubation had just commenced on May 4.--ADmXA.? VAN ROSSEM, LOS Angeles, California.
