1332 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part b 



in five consecutive years. Another is that the arrival consists of a 

 series of discrete influxes, often several days apart. The numbers 

 observed may even decrease between successive influxes, suggesting 

 that not all the birds coming to Santa Barbara in the fall actually 

 winter there. A third point is that the arrival period lasts at least 

 6 to 7 weeks. A fourth is that in the early part of the arrival period 

 the birds come either singly or in small inconspicuous groups and are 

 trap-shy, so it would be easy to miss the first arrivals. Fifth, the 

 earliest Gambel's sparrows to appear are accompanied by Puget 

 Sound sparrows, which do not tarry long in the area. By early to 

 mid-October of 1957, 1958, and 1959, all of the birds entering the 

 traps were Gambel's sparrows. All these observations are sub- 

 stantiated by Mrs. Phillips' banding records. One point on which 

 observation and banding are not entirely in agreement is the pro- 

 portion of young-of-the-year to adults. On this point, the data from 

 observation tend to be more variable than those from banding. 



Except for the sight record of one white-crowned sparrow on 

 September 3, 1957, the dates for the first individual seen by Mrs. Phillips 

 at Hope Ranch (either gambelii or pugetensis, race not determined) are 

 Sept. 20, 1957, 1958, and 1959, Sept. 18, 1960, and Sept. 19, 1961. 

 The earliest date when birds identified with certainty as gambelii 

 were seen at Hope Ranch are also almost identical: Sept. 20, 1957, 

 1958, and 1960, Sept. 21, 1961 and Sept. 22, 1959. 



Both observations and banding indicate that the arrival consists 

 of separate influxes, with many or most members of the early ones 

 probably continuing their flight south. Each influx is accompanied 

 by much commotion: choruses of song, often weak and fragmentary, 

 the uttering of call notes and squabbling notes, restlessness character- 

 ized by almost continuous movement in the trees or brush, and the 

 frequent sudden flight or dive for cover of the whole foraging flock. 

 On the basis of these characteristics of behavior, Mrs. Phillips esti- 

 mates that in 1957 at least eight influxes occurred between September 

 20 and October 31. Others may have occurred in November, but 

 by then the numbers coming to the feeding station were too large 

 and too stable to reveal with certainty any new arrivals. In 1958 she 

 again observed at least eight influxes, between September 20 and 

 November 7, and in 1959 at least six influxes between September 20 

 and October 16, when she ended her daily observations. 



Banding records indirectly substantiate Mrs. Phillips' impression 

 that many members of each influx move on. Only 3 out of 60 Gam- 

 bel's sparrows she banded between Sept. 20 and Oct. 17, 1957, were 

 retaken the following winter. 



The intervals between observed influxes for the 3 years at Hope 

 Ranch varied from 2 to 15 days, with the shorter intervals tending 



