Page:Condor20(5).djvu/36

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190 *. 2 . THE CONDOR Vol. XX was noted in Holland's Cove, swimming around our launch, and ashore at the same place a flock of Arkansas Kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis), of half a dozen individuals, lit on a .telephone wire near me and one'was secured for the record. One or two others were noted as well in that vicinity.--Jos?r?r M?,?LL?,Rn, San Francisco, California, May 6, 1918; Extension of Known Distribution in Some Northern California Birds.--In company with Mr. W. C. Jacobsen, State Superintendent of Rodent Control under the Horticult- ural Commission of Califorfiia, the undersigned was privileged to cover several of the northern counties of the state in ?'apid reconnaissance during the latter part of May, 1918. With previously known facts of bird distribution in the region traversed pretty well in mind it was possible to recognize any occurrence of species beyond their previously re- corded limits. The mere important-cases of this sort were as follows: Sayornis nigricans. Black Phoebe. On May 13 a pair was seen under a bridge across the Trinity River near Lowden; another pair was Seen May 14 near and under a smaller wooden bridg? at Hayfork; and a third pair the same day near a bridge over the East Fork of the Trinity River, at Minersville. In the second instance ol?e of the birds was carrying nesting material. All three localities are in Trinity County; all pos.sess a number of species of plants and animals usually found in the Upper Sonoran Zone, but in each place the bulk of the fauna and flora appeared to be Traa?ition. Aphelocoma californica immanis. Long-tailed Jay. Seen almost continuously on May 18 through the Upper Sonoran Zone in Modoc County, from Cornell on the east side of Tule Lake, to a point some .seven miles southeast of Straw, and again along the es- carpment between Canby and Alturas. ?n Lassen County the same day this jay was en- countered near Madeline, near the shores of Horse Lake, and in the vailey of Susan Creek five miles northeast of Susanville. In all these localities the Long-tailed Jay was clogely associated with the juniper belt. (?yanocephalus cyanocephalus. Pinyon Jay. A large straggling flock seen among the junipers near Straw, Modoc County, May 18. Chondestes grammacus strigatus. Western L?rk Sparrow. Noted at Weaverville and Hayfork, Trinity County; near Gazelle, in Shasta Valley, Siskiyou County; and sev- en miles southwest of Macdoel, in Butte Valley, Siskiyou County; as also at many points within the more commonly known range of the species. This bird is one of the frontier species of the Upper Sonoran Zone, in the direction of Transition. Amphispiza'belli belli. Bell Sparrow. Numbers noted in full song May 13 in the plant association characterized by the dominance of the chemissal (Adenostoma fascicu- latum) on the south and south?est facing slopes towards the head of Sawpit Gulch, 3000 to 3500 feet altitude, on Shasta County side of divide I:etween Redding and Weaverville (see Weaverville quadrangle, U.S. G.S.). The occurrence seemed to be perfectly nor- mal and indicates the existence of this Upper Sonoran sparrow doubtless as a permanent- ly resident species around the extreme head of the Sacramento Valley. The northera- most previous record-station for the Bell Sparrow .is Rumsey, Yolo County (see Pacific Coast Avif. no. 11, 1915, p. 121). Mimus' polyglottos leucopterus. Western Mockingbird. Three individuals ob- served along the state highway in the suburbs of Corning, Tehama County, on May 20. This is exactly as might have been expected, since Corning is well within the Lower So- noran life-zone, though near the northern limits of it in California. The extension of orchards of olive and citrus trees in that neighborhood is likely ?o favor the further spread of the Mockingbird. (See Auk, xxxwH, 1911, pp. 293-300.)--J. Gm.?'?,?., Museum o? Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, July 1? 191?. L?ng Waits for Sets of Winter Wrens.--On April 18, 1908, a nest'of Western Win- ter Wren (Nannus hiemalls pacificus) was found in a small huckleberry bush, ready for the inner lining of feathers. On May 24 it contained six fresh?eggs. On May 7, 1916, by watching the bird carrying nesting material, another nest was found among the roots of a fallen tree. When next examined, May 21, it was ready for the inner linirrg,'on May 28 it was in th e same conditipn, and on June 3 it contained one egg and not a lJit of lining. On June 11 it was thickly lined with small feathers, and contained six eggs.--Jo?r? M. D,?ws,.Eureka, Cali?ornia? February 4, 1918,