The Season 



289 



as yet. Four Semipalmated Plover were 

 first seen on July 8 and they have increased 

 steadily since that date, as have also the 

 Western and Least Sandpipers. Dowitchers 

 are still very scarce, 1 having been seen on 

 July 22 and 2 on July 23. Forster Terns 

 were seen first on August 4. 



A week spent in the mountains August 5— 

 12, at an elevation of 6,000 feet, showed few 

 signs of migration or flocking. Most species 

 were in family groups, feeding together where 

 food was most abundant. Robins had de- 

 serted the mountain meadows and were 

 feeding on berries which were fast ripening 

 on the open bushy mountain-sides. On the 

 same slopes were Western Tanagers, Cassin 

 Purple Finches, and Western Evening Gros- 

 beaks, which flew back and forth from the 

 shrubs to the bordering forest trees, while 

 underneath the bushes Green-tailed Tow- 

 hees and Fox Sparrows kept to their usual 

 haunts. In the dense forest growth Slender- 

 billed and Red-breasted Nuthatches, Golden- 

 crowned Kinglets, Mountain Chickadees, 

 and Audubon Warblers gleaned their insect 

 food, and a White-headed Woodpecker 

 searched every cranny of a moss-grown 

 stump; Wood Pewees caught the low-flying 

 insects, while the Olive-sided Flycatchers 

 darted out from the dead tops of the highest 

 trees. In the alders along the river bank 

 were Calaveras and Pileolated Warblers and 

 in the brush that grew on rocky divides were 

 Rock Wrens and Wright Flycatchers. Higher 

 still in the Juniper belt were Clarke Nut- 

 crackers in family groups. Two birds ordi- 

 narily common at this altitude during the 

 nesting season seemed to have departed: 

 the Mountain White-crowned Sparrow and 

 the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and only one 

 Nighthawk was seen. As we came down 

 through the foothills on August 12, families 

 of Horned Larks perched on the wire fences, 

 and Meadowlarks and Brewer Blackbirds 

 were seen. As we approached the upper bay 

 large numbers of Barn Swallows and Cliff 

 Swallows were assembled — the only flocks 

 observed during the week. — Amelia S. 

 Allen, Berkeley, Calif. 



Los Angeles Region. — An item of in- 

 terest that reached me too late for last report, 



records the appearance of a small flock of 

 Cedar Waxwings at the bird-bath of a 

 Whittier member as late as June 4. 



June 14, one to two weeks earlier than in 

 former years, occurred our annual obser- 

 vation of birds, with reference to nesting in 

 a canyon of the Sierra Madres. The day's 

 list was made up of fourteen resident birds 

 and twenty summer visitants. Bird-songs, 

 nests, the gathering of nesting materials, 

 food-carrying, all proclaimed that this 

 favored place held its average quota of 

 breeding birds, but in only one instance was 

 a family of young birds found — Pileolated 

 Warblers apparently just out of the nest. 

 The anxious behavior of a pair of Lutescent 

 Warblers nearby seemed to point to a 

 possible nest in the locality. Nesting of this 

 species in this locality is rare. Western 

 Tanagers were numerous and in song. Black- 

 chinned and Costa Hummingbirds were 

 noted, and one pair of Lawrence Gold- 

 finches was seen. 



June 22. Mrs. F. T. Bicknell reports a 

 pair of Bald Eagles nesting on a cliff at 

 Catalina Island. The Allen Hummingbird 

 was also seen there. On this date a small 

 number of Western Martins appeared at 

 Echo Park, and have frequently been seen 

 since that time. On August 1 and 2, they 

 fed young that were perching on the wires. 

 August 6, there were eighteen, most of which 

 were young. August 8 and 9, all disappeared. 



July 9, Upper San Antonio Canyon. Com- 

 parison of list of this date with that of May 

 14, the walk being taken at the same hours 

 and over the same course, afforded striking 

 contrasts. Pine Siskins, Cassin Finches, and 

 all the Warblers had disappeared. There 

 was little song, other than that of the Black- 

 headed Grosbeak and the Warbling Vireo. 

 Blue-fronted Jays, Wood Pewees, Thurber's 

 Junco, and the Western Tanager were 

 feeding young. Violet-green Swallows, an 

 Arkansas Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatch- 

 ers, and a Western Gnatcatcher were added 

 to the lists. The Swallows were evidently at 

 home in the dead spruces of a high forested 

 slope, and came down to hawk over the 

 chaparral of the Upper Sonoran area, where 

 the last-named birds were also seen. A 

 Water Ouzel passed up the stream. 



