14 



THE OSPREY. 



Galitornia Department. 



EDITED BY DONALD A. COHEN, ALAMEDA, CAL. 



COOPER CLUB NOTES. 



Northern Division. — Alameda is away ahead of 

 San Jose as an ornithological town. At the date fixed 

 for the July meeting at San Jose, no quorum was ob- 

 tained, and a meeting was called to be held a week- 

 later at Alameda. July lo, this meeting was held at 

 the residence of Mr. H. R. Taylor, and was well at- 

 tended. Mr. W. S. Cobleigh, of Canton, 111., (who 

 joined the Club when he lived in California,) created 

 quite a sensation by personating W. H. Hoffman, of 

 Los Angeles, editor of the defunct .hn-fauna. The 

 joke was not discovered by some of the members un- 

 til late in the evening. Mr. M. A. Carriker, Presi- 

 dent of the Nebraska City Naturalists' Association, 

 was present as a visitor. The following names were 

 proposed for membership : C. Cummings, Danville ; 

 L. E. Taylor, Fyffe ; and E. K Taylor, Alameda. L. 

 P. Williams, of Redlands, was re-elected having been 

 dropped last year. The resignation of Geo. H.Ward, 

 of Napa, was accepted. A letter from the Oologists' 

 Association, offering their co-operation in the matter 

 of trying to secure the completion of ' Bendire's Life 

 Histories of North American Birds,' was read. .\n 

 interesting paper on the ' Nesting of the Olive-sided 

 Flycatcher,' by Mr. C. Barlow, was read by the au- 

 thor, who exhibited a photograph of a nest and eggs 

 of the bird in a Fir tree, 71 feet up,* and a photo- 

 graph of himself in the tree at the lofty nest site. Mr. 

 W. Otto Emerson exhibited three Point Pinos Juncos, 

 and a Palm Warbler accidentally occurring on this 

 coast. Adjourned to meet at Alameda, August 7. 



Chas. E. Grosbeck was elected to active membership. 

 Mr. Jos. Grinnell exhibited a series of Pipilo, show- 

 ing the distinguishing characteristics between his 

 newly-named /'. cleiiioilic (from the island of San 

 Clemente, ) and the mainland form P. maculatits meg- 

 alonyx. This division meets July 31, at Los Angeles. 



The Northern Division met at Alameda, Saturday 

 evening, August 7. at the residence of Mr. H. C.Ward, 

 Vice President Kaeding in the chair. C. Cummings 

 and E. L. Taylor, whose names were proposed at last 

 meeting, were elected to membership. The name of 

 E. K. Taylor, proposed at last meeting, was with- 

 drawn. A. L. Bolton, of Oakland, was proposed for 

 membership, the usual action to be taken at next 

 meeting. R. C. McGregor and H R. Taylor were 

 appointed a committee to draft proposed alterations 

 in the constitution, relating to dues and number of 

 meetings, to report on same at next meeting. A letter 

 from W. E. Bryant, (now in Los Angeles,) chairman 

 of Alameda County Committee on State List of Birds 

 now being compiled, was read, showing what progress 

 had been made. H. R. Taylor, editor and proprietor 

 of The Nidologisl, the Club's official organ, requested 

 that a new official organ be named, and formally an- 

 nounced the present journal had indefinitely sus- 

 pended publication, and that the May number (al- 

 ready out,) was the last he intended publishing. D. 

 A. Cohen was appointed a committee of one to confer 

 with The Osprev with the view of securing it for the 

 Club's official organ. Proposed resolutions, by a 

 letter from C. Barlow, were adopted by the Club, 

 expressing thanks to the official organ for its past 

 services and deploring its inability to continue the 

 same, and a similar resolution had been proposed and 

 adopted earlier in the evening. R. C. McGregor 

 delivered an interesting talk on some of his experiences 

 and observations on his recent trip in Californian 

 and Mexican waters. Adjourned to meet at San Jose, 

 September 4, with C. Barlow. 



Southern Division. — The Southern Division of 

 the Cooper Club met at Pasadena, June 26. Mr. 



*This article and illustration will appear in The Osprey. 



The regular monthly meeting of the Southern Divi- 

 sion of the Cooper Ornithological Club was held at 

 Los Angeles, July 31, 1897, President McCormick in 

 the chair, and twelve members present. The minutes 

 of the June meeting were read and approved ; the re- 

 port of the July meeting of the Northern Division 

 was read and ordered to be placed on file. The name 

 of Lee Chambers, of Santa Monica, was proposed for 

 membership, action to be taken at next meeting. The 

 Committee on Early Life-histories reported that 

 abundant notes had been collected on the early life- 

 history of a number of the common species of South- 

 ern California birds ; but as the notes were on species 

 so scattered through the list of Southern California 

 birds that a systematic report could not be obtained, 

 and because the whole time of the committee could 

 be well occupied in thorough work on any one of 

 these species, it was requested that the Division au- 

 thorize the committee to confine its work at present 

 to the House Finch and its allies. The report was 

 accepted and the request granted. 



Program; 'Nesting of the Olive-sided Flycatcher,' 

 a paper read before the July meeting of the Northern 

 Division by C. Barlow. Mr. Grinnell made a few 

 remarks on his observations in the Sierra Madre 

 Mountains during the month of July, 1897. — Horace 

 A. Gaylord, Sci" V SoiilhtTii Division C. O. C. 



The Cooper Club will issue a State List of Birds 

 some time in the future. 



Mr. H. C. Ward and wife, of Alameda, are spend- 

 ing a few weeks at Pacific Grove, on the Monterey 

 County coast. 



Mr. W. E. Bryant, temporarily located at Los 

 .\ngeles. thinks he may possibly return to his old 

 haunts in the fall. 



Mr. Fred J. Baker, of Oakland, Ore., visited the 

 editorial den recently. He thinks of locating in Ala- 

 meda and starting a taxidermists' store, 



Mr. W. Otto Emerson states that he secured but 

 three specimens oi Junco kyeiiin/is pinosiis ivom over 

 fifty birds shot during the breeding season near Point 

 Pinos, Monterey County. Tlutrheri was the prevail- 

 ing type. 



Since the egg traffic on the Faralones has been 

 stopped by the Government, only a few California 

 Murre's eggs have been sold in the San Francisco 

 market. These were obtained from various islands 

 along the coast. 



The trip made into the Sierras by Messrs. C. Bar- 

 low and H. Ward Carriger. was devoid in quantity 

 of rare takes. Sets of Olive-sided Flycatcher and 

 several sets of rare Warblers were secured. Most of 

 the birds nest high up in the thick foliage of the gi- 

 gantic Conifers, rendering detection slow and uncer- 

 tain, and climbing laborious and dangerous. 



The Alameda County record of the nidification of 

 the Duck Hawk is limited to one pair of birds whose 

 eyries have been known for several years. Nineteen 

 eggs have been taken from the pair in two seasons 

 past, and it is safe to assert that a late brood was 

 reared each season after the birds were allowed to 

 lay again. 



