Jan., 1918 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 45 County, on August 28, 1917. The bird is likewise an immature individual, showing pale margins on the mantle feathers. The species is not uncommon in Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains during the breeding .season; but what is the southward migration route from that region? The reg- ular pathway must make a very positive thrust to the eastward, or else the species would be common in California as a transient. Are these two jurehals, taken more than twen ty years apart in the San Diegan Region, just inexperienced navigators who neglected to put the helm hard over as they set forth for the winter home of the :species?--LoE ?,?, ?tate Normal School, Los Angeles, California. Northern Owls Again Visit Washington.--The indications for the fall of 1917 are very much the same as were those of 1916 as regards the migration of two of the large owls. The Dusky Horned Owls (Bubo. virginianus saturatus) are again very plentiful and many game birds have been destroyed by them. A number of these owls have been killed, all that ! have examined appearing to be saturatus, though showing a rather wide range of variation. As was the case last year, nearly all of them have been females; in fact ! have seen no males at all this season. One markedly noticeable feature in the Dusky Horned Owls taken this fall is the great luxuriance of feathers. In the made-up skin this is seen to best advantage about the legs and feet, where the hair-like feathers closely resemble a long and heavy coat of fur. Looking over my series of these owls taken in the pabst few years I can find none that are nearly as well feathered as those of the present season. This may, perhaps, sug. gest a very severe winter, but up to date it has been about the mildest that I have ever seen here, The Snowy Owls (Nyctea nyctea) have also again put in their appearance, in spite of the summer-like weather. The first reported was shot on the Nisqually Flats, Thurs- ton County, on November 11, 1917. Another was shot in the same locality on November 14. As was the case with the early arrivals last year, the stomachs were empty and the birds very thin, which I think shows that the owls were at a loss what to catch for food. This was my theory last year, when ducks and other small birds were as plentiful as they are now.--J. H. BowLes, Tacoma. Washington, December 17, 1917. September N?tes from Keddie, Plumas County, California.--Evening Grosbeaks {Hesperiphona vespertins californica) were several times seen along Butterfly Creek. On September 11 a large flock was encountered. In immatures, at lea?t, the molt was not yet completed, the feathers of the crown being more or less in sheath. A female Williamson Sapsucker (?phyrapicus thyroide?ts thyroideus) was taken near Keddie, September 11. This was the only one seen. Pipits (Anthus'rubescens) were plentiful on the muddy 1ats at .Smith Lake, alti- tude 3700 feet, three miles south of Keddie, when I visited that locality September 19. Pileated Woodpeckers (Phloeotom;is pilealus picinus) were frequently heard and seen near Keridie. I flushed individuals now and then from their feeding grounds about the bases o old stumps. So engrossed were they on such occasions that I could ap- proach within thirty feet. The White-headed Woodpecker (Xenopicus albolarvatus albolarvat?), like the Lewis, is a woodpecker of erratic disposition, Sometimes very shy, again surprisingly in- different to human presence. As a rule,.it was easily approached when feeding among burnt-over timber. Often seen to begin its inspection of a tree at the base, working very deliberately to the first limbs, then a-wing to another tree. Very responsive to the "hand- clap" decoy, and frequently at such times uttering a cal! bearing rememblance to certain notes of the Brewer Blackbird. None of the specimens taken had fully completed molt- ing; the old and new body feathers were pretty well mixed. Song Sparrows (Melospiza roeionia fisherelZa) were fairly common, and from some quite young individuals taken I would infer that this is the breeding form. The Band-tailed Pigeon (Columba ?asciata )?asciata) was not common during my stay in the region. I saw a single bird about a spring on several dates, the latest being September 26. Sierra Grouse (Denclragapus obscurus sierrae) are sometimes forced by the snow
