120 



THE OSPREY. 



Galifornia DeDariment. 



CALIFORNIA NOTES. 



EDITED BY DONALD A. COHEN, ALAMEDA, CAL. 



Mr. A. L. Bolton, we hear, has started for the 

 Yukon Region. 



In a recent letter from Mr A. W. Johnson, now in 

 England, he speaks of returning to California about 

 1899. 



Mr. C. Barlow reports an unusually early record 

 of nesting of Western Red-tail, he having found a 

 fresh egg on February 28. 



Mr. H. W. Carriger, in a letter dated March 24, 

 says "I have taken Barn Owl, 1-6; Bubo, 1-3; White- 

 tailed Kite, 1-4; Mutton's Vireo, n-4: etc. 



Mr. H. C. Johnson, having given up business in 

 California, under date of March 21, writes he has 

 located permanently at his "old collecting grounds" 

 at American Fork, Utah. 



An egg, in first class condition, with complete data, 

 of the California Vulture has recently arrived in this 

 direction. It was taken from the nest early in March 

 and came into the possession of Mr. H. R. Taylor 

 for a good, round sum. 



Mr. Henry W. Carriger of Sonoma thinks of going 

 to the Klondike in April, but intends to look for eggs 

 of Bitlw, Bald Eagle, Red-bellied Hawk, White- 

 tailed Kite and other varieties before he leaves. He 

 reports, under date of March g, that he has already 

 found 4 nests of California Bush Tit in various stages 

 of completion. 



Western Robins had nearly all left this locality by 

 first week in April. I'hey were unusully abundant 

 from March 15 to 20, fearlessly flocking into gardens 

 in town in quest of their favorite food, ivy berries 

 We have never known the main body of them to 

 arrive so late as has been the case this year. All of 

 them seek higher altitudes, both northward and 

 southward to breed in. 



Mr. H. R. Taylor, on March 8, received two Duck 

 Hawks by express. The sender says they are 10 

 months old and were reared from nestlings. Their 

 present owner has had a substantial aviary built for 

 them and hopes to see a set of eggs in the nest box 

 he placed for them. The birds are regular pets, 

 tame and apparently gentle and Mr. Taylor hopes to 

 record their many interesting habits in captivity. 



April 9 We notice by recent San Francisco news- 

 papers that the ice-bound whaling fleet, lying north 

 of Point Barrow is in great peril from the breaking 

 up of the ice and that the crew "are eating dog." 

 The steam tender Jeannie that conveyed the E. A. 

 Mclllhenny party from San Francisco last June is 

 among the lot of five or six vessels. The party is 

 most likely quartered on the mainland according to 

 their original intention. 



'San Francisco Chronicle,' April 12, states that 

 letters have been received yesterday from the ice- 

 bound whaling fleet lying north of Point Barrow. 

 The crews have been relieved from danger of famine 

 by food and shelter from the Point Barrow and 

 Point Hope'lstations of H Liebes & Co., furriers. 

 The E. A. Mclllhenny party are quartered at the 

 Point Barrow station and Mr. Mclllhenney says it 

 will pull through all right. 



The State of California will suffer from short 

 crops owing to its unusually dry spring, and slightly 

 from late killing frosts. These conditions have ap- 

 parently influenced the arrival of our migratory birds 

 by holding them back considerably and the windy 

 weather has noticeably retarded nidification among 

 our small varieties that are resident. It also appears 

 that hummingbirds will be very scarce about Ala- 

 meda as was the case last year. 



Mr. Scott is captain of a fishing and hunting ves- 

 sel and resides in Alameda, and on his fall trip from 

 Kodiak, Alaska, brought along five or six Ptarmigans. 

 The cock bird and two hens are now living and are 

 in apparent good health. They are fed on grain and 

 buds of trees and shrubs, being exceptionally fond of 

 willow buds. Mr. Scott showed the editor how tame 

 they were by entering the inclosure and stroking 

 them Brown feathers are now appearing over their 

 winter mantle of white. 



Having kept close observations on Western Robins 

 this winter it may be interesting to add a few more 

 notes to this department upon their occurrence in this 

 vicinity. Toward the last of February the birds be- 

 came gradually common, a flock of about 200 ap- 

 pearing on the 26th. They are now tolerably numer- 

 ous. I never knew them to arrive so late as they 

 have done this winter. I noticed but one bird on a 

 35 mile trip through San Francisco and San Mateo 

 Counties and into Santa Clara County, March 5th 

 and 6th. Robins have been singing about Alameda 

 since early in January. 



Mr. N. M. Moran recently wrote to Mr. C. Bar- 

 low, Secretary of the Cooper Ornithological Club of 

 California, that he and his brother Mr. R. B. Moran 

 were enjoying an extended European trip. The let- 

 ter was dated from Bozen in the Austrian Tyrol and 

 Mr. Moran says that there every available foot of 

 land including the forests is under cultivation, hence 

 they do not expect to find any collecting in the vicin- 

 ity. In passing through Washington, D. C, lack of 

 time prevented their going through the Smithsonian, 

 but in England they spent considerable time viewing 

 the Ornithological Department of the British Museum. 

 In Dresden they saw the Royal Saxon collections and 

 ornithological library which he pronounces magnifi- 

 cent 



GorresDondence. 



CURATOR OF OOLOGY. 



To THE Editor of the Osprey : 



Your suggestion in January Osprey that two well 

 known Oologists, J. Parker Norris and A. H. Frost, 

 send tire sets of eggs whose identity is the subject of 

 controversy to the Smithsonian Institution for de- 

 termination suggests the query ; What authority in 

 Washington can decide? Since the sad loss to science 

 in the death of Major Bendire, no one, I believe, has 

 come forward to carry on his work. Specimens are 

 in the U. S. National Museum for comparison, but 

 what head have Oologists now to look to in emer- 

 gency. The situation is an unfortunate one, and it 

 would really seem, in view of the widespread inter- 

 est in the matter, that some man of brains, experience 

 and sufficient leisure might be found to take up the 

 task which the late Major Bendire made his life 

 work. — Yours truly, H. R. Taylor, Alameda, Cal. 



March 12, '98. 



