58 THE CONDOR Vol. XlX a desire to see only thoroughly reliable statements concerning our avifauna given publicity, leads us to question two of Mr. Ray's nesting records, which seem to us to be certainly erroneous. His records concerning the nesting of the California Brown Towhee and the Western Kingbird are. based on alleged dis- eoveries of Jesse Klapp. Both of these species, if they are to be found in the county at all, are so rare that the finding of the nest of either would be re- markable. There is evidently some mistake in the record, for Mr. Klapp in- forms us that he has never found th? nest of the California Brown Towhee and does not know that he has even seen the bird in the park at any time. I-Ie re- ported to us early in the summer that he had seen a kingbird feeding young Fig. 22. NEST OF COOT AT EI?E OF LAKE J.V[ERCED, SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY. and we went at once to the part of the park where he said he saw it. We did not find any ldngbirds but did find the Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Mr. Klapp thinks that the birds he saw may have been this species rather than the Western King- bird. He says he has found no nests of the kingbird. So far as we have been able to discover the following list contains all the birds known to be nesting in the county up to the present time, together with those whose nesting in the coun- ty is probable. 1. Podilymbus podiceps. Pied- billed Grebe. Brood of seven young seen at North Lake in Golden Gate Park, June 11, 1916. Also breeds at Lake Merced; young seen there on several occasions. 2. Lunda cirrhata. Tufted Puf- fin. Breeds abundantly on the Farallon Islands. 3. Ptychoramphus aleuticus. Cassin Auklet. The most abund- ant of the species breeding on the Farallon Islands. 4. Cepphus columba. Pigeon Guillemot. A nesting colony of half a dozen pairs was found on the cliffs south of the Golden Gate, July 2, 1916. At that time most of the nests contained young. It also breeds on the Farallon Islands. 5. Uria troille californica. California Murre. Breeds abundantly on the Faral- lon Islands. 6. Larus occidentalis. Western Gull. Breeds on the Farallon Islands. 7. Oceanodroma kaedingi. Kaeding Petrel. Breeds on the Farallon Islands (Loomis, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., vi, 1896, p. 359). 8. Oceanodroma homochroa. Ashy Petrel. Breeds commonly on the Farallon Islands. 9. Phalacrocorax auritus albociliatus. Farallon Cormorant. Breeds on the Far- allon Islands. Reported to be breeding on Seal Rocks by W. Leon Dawson. In answer
