NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 



189 



Auricula monileYer., Lam.,Chem. 

 flava Desh. in Lam. 

 " coniformis Orb. 

 Melampus monile Lowe. 



Melampus torosa Morch. 

 " monilis Shuttl. 



232a. M. RedfieldiPfr. 



245. H. vestita Pfr. 



Catalogue of Birds collected in the vicinity of Fort Tejon, California, with a 

 description of a new species of SYRNIUM. 



BY JOHN XANTUS. 



The following list presents the results of ornithological collections made in 

 the vicinity of Fort Tejon, in California, during a period embraced between the 

 end of May, 1857, and the beginning of November, 1858, about 17 months, and 

 including but one season of northward migration of the species. The 144 spe- 

 cies enumerated are not to be considered as all that belong to the region above 

 mentioned, as many birds are so rare, retiring, or difficult of approach, that 

 they can only be secured in a series of years. Many additional species of 

 rapacious and water birds were seen but could not be obtained, and though 

 many of these were readily recognized, I have not felt at liberty to mention 

 them in the list, which consists entirely of species actually collected within a 

 few miles of the Post, and now in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. 

 Of all the species collected, or observed, copious notes were taken relating to 

 the numbers, dimensions, habits, reproduction, &c. These will all be made 

 the subject of a special memoir hereafter, and I limit myself here to a simple 

 enumeration of species. 



It will be seen from the catalogue that the Fauna of Fort Tejon is essen- 

 tially that of the coast of California, as shown by the abundance of the Cali- 

 fornia Jay, Brown Pipilo, &c, Psaltriparus minimus, etc., and has only slight 

 relations to that of the interior or Colorado region. 



Some of the most interesting results of the collections made at Fort Tejon, 

 consist in the addition to science of several new species, as Syrnium occidental, 

 Empidonax Ilammondii, Vireo Cassinii, etc., and in the increase of the Fauna of 

 the United Srates by some Mexican species, as Selasphorus calliope, Dendrocygna 

 fiilva, &c. ; Helmintkophaga ruficapilla had not previously been found west of the 

 Rocky Mountains, while Carpodacus Cassinii was for the first time obtained west 

 of the Colorado river. 



It may be proper to state that Fort Tejon is a U. S. Military post, situated 

 near the Tejon Pass, at the head of the Tulare Valley, between the cascade and 

 coast mountain ranges of California, in about latitude 35 north, longitude 119 

 west. The height of the Post is about 4250 feet above the sea, and this alti- 

 tude with the proximity of higher mountains, gives to it a peculiar Fauna, in 

 many respects quite different from that of the low lands of the same parallel. 



It is an interesting fact, that while the Bighorn, (Ovis monlana,) and the 

 Missouri black- tailed or mule deer, (Cervus macrotis,) are abundant in the 

 vicinity, the common black- tailed deer of California (Cervus columbianus) is 

 seldom, if ever, met with. 



A comparison of the present list with that published by Dr. T. C. Henry, 

 U. S. A., of the species inhabiting the vicinity of Fort Thorn, in the upper Rio 

 Grande, and in the Rocky Mountain district, will be of particular interest, as 

 illustrating the differences in the character of the two regions. Dr. Henry's 

 loner residence at or near the post above mentioned, enabled him to exhaust 

 the ornithology of the country more fully than I could do, in a much less time, 

 his list reaching 198 species, while mine embraces only 144. It is, however, 

 quite probable that the uumber of Fort Tejon birds could not readily be brought 

 up much above 200 species, as the great elevation of the Post would make it 

 little liable to the visits of many water birds, or of the land birds requiring 

 a hot climate and low country. 

 1859.] 



