Mar., I9o4 [ THE CONDOR 45 from the eastward, for the skin seems identical in every respect with others from the Huachuca mountains, Arizona. Psaltriparus rainlinus. California Bush-tit. Small scattering flocks were fre- quently seen in the pepper trees and cottonwoods close around the Springs. Auriparus fiaviceps. Verdin. A common bird, from a desert standpoint. Mr. Gihnan has described its nesting in this vicinity elsewhere (CotqI)OR IV, 88). Regulus c. cineraceus. Ashy Kinglet. Fairly common in the trees about the Springs, and also in brush along the ditches to the eastward. Polioptila c. obscura. Western Gnatcatcher. Several were seen, and one shot for identification, close about the Springs. They were generally in the company of bush-tits. Pohoptila plumbea. Plumbeous Gnatcatcher. A common species, being found in pairs, or sometimes half-a-dozen within a few yards' radius, in mesquites, or any other sort of desert brush for that matter. The call-notes of .this species are quite different from those of either of the others, but defy intelligible description. Mr. Gilman told me this species occurs to the westward about fifteen miles, be- yond which he has not seen it. The black-tailed gnatcatcher is common at Ban- ning and a few miles to the eastward. But he has never found the two species intermingling. There is apparently a hiatus of several miles left between their ranges where neither have been seen except for the single straggler recorded beyond. Polioptilacalifornica. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. I secured a lone specimen, a female, on January first, two miles east oi Palm Springs. I heard and recognized its call, and singled it out from among a scattered band of the plumbeous. The black-tail was being set upon and vindictively harried by a pair of plumbeous, which very plainly indeed resented its intrusion upon their domain. This bird was doubtless a straggler from the direction of Banning. 1tylocichla g. nana. Dwarf Hermit Thrush. Several observed in canyons along streams which make down from San Jacinto Peak. Merula m. propinqua. Western Robin. A few, perhaps a dozen in all, were constantly present in the pepper trees about the Springs. Sialia m. occidentalis. Western Bluebird. Found in flocks frequenting mes- quite tracts where they were feeding on mistletoe berries. In Palm Canyon great numbers were in evidence among the giant palms. A dozen or more would be seen clinging to each pendant cluster of dates obviously attracted by the fruity outside pulp. While thus feeding upon the fruit of the palms, the noise made by by the seeds dropping into the dry brush at the bases of the lofty trees was so great as to give the impression, before the true cause was discovered, that some large animal was trampling through the undergrowth. Sialia arctica. Mountain Bluebird. Mr. Mailliard saw four near Palm Springs and secured two. The Elf Owl in California ?v ri? ?ow? ?J[ ?ITH the possible exception of rare stragglers I am of the belief that the V V ' Colorado river marks the western boundary line of the habitat of the elf owl (J/Zicro?a[las wgitne. yi.) I have reasons to think that this statement will hold good. In Arizona, during the nesting season, the natural home of the
