Page:Condor3(6).djvu/10

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I46 female on Sept. 28 ahd a male on Oct. ?4. Mr. Grinnell writes me that he has a specimen, a male, taken at Pasadena Sept. 3 , ?896. Aside from this I be- lieve that I have about all the speci- mens heretofore taken in I,os Angeles County, but nevertheless I believe that Iq?elminlhophila celata is a regular fall migrafit in very li?nited numbers. I have taken it now in four different years (see Co?r?oR III, i), in fact in every year in which I have looked for it. The grey head and duller colors of celata usually serve easily to d?Stinguish it frown 1t. c. 'lutescerts, in whose com- pany I have generally found it. _,. H.S. SW^?T?. Los ,qngeles, Cal. The Status of the Cedar Waxwin in Cali- fornia. I N THE May CON?)Ou Mr. J. W. Mailliard makes an enquiry in re- gard to the summer and winter ranges of the Cedar Waxwing (/Im- pelis cedrorum). Since then [ have jotted down whatever notes I could find on t. he subject, and these may be sum- marized somewhat as follows: The Cedar-bird is principally if not exclusively a winter visitant to the State.' I have been unable to find any definite breeding record for California; but a distribution map is pretty well dotted with winter stations from Red Bluff to San Diego, and from the Nevada line to the Coast, excepting the high mountain ranges. In the more northern and alpine sections it occurs chiefly as a sp?ing and fall migrant. Within its winter habitat as above indicated, the species is found abundantly each year, though its h:cal distribution is very ir- regular,. being governed largely by food-supply. In certain localities wax- wings may appear suddenly in large 'flocks, while points but a few miles dis- tant are avoided altogether.' Besides ?nulberries, mistle-toe berries and wild grapes, the berries of the pepper-tree, THE CONDOR Vol. I I I so abundantly ptanted for shade and beauty iu Southern California, are es- pecially sought after. These latter ber- ries mature in largest quantities in the early spring months and it is then that the casual observer is most sure to notice the presence of the Cedar bird. The Cedar Waxwing arrives within the State during 'the latter half of Sep- tember. My earliest fall record at Polo Alto is September ?3, ?9o?, when six were seeu in the heart of town. At Pasadena, I saxv them first on Septem- ber ?4, r897, when three were noted. Fisher, in the "Ornithology of the Death Valley Expedition," records finding a fleck of five at Three Rivers September ?5, ?89?. The species is not, however, noted iu numbers until well along into October. From that month until the middle of May it is more or less numer- ous according to local food attractions. In the spring the species remains com- mon nntil even after ?nany of our strictly summer visitants are rearing, young. This fact has led to the sup- position that the waxxving itself should be found nestlug. But according to my own observations, up to the time of their disappearance, the birds remain in flocks, without showing any intentions of pairing. My latest spring observation for the species at Pasadena was May' ?7, ?895, when a small flock was still feeding iu the pepper-trees on my, home. place. Belding, in his "I, and Birds of the Paci- fic_District," records the latest at San Diego, May t4, r884; at Poway, May rS, a large flock; at San Jose, May ?o, large fi-cks;and at Chico, May ?5, ?884, a small flock. So that the usual time of arrival and departure of the species throughout the State is remarkably con- stant. There are, however, four instauces of the occurrence of waxwings long after the ordinary time of departure. As noted in "Birds of the Pacific Slope of Los Angeles County," two were seen at South. Pasadena June ?6, ?897; Fisher has recorded two at Lone Pine,