THE OOLOGIST. 



11 



and other insects. I have often felt 

 sorry for him, he seems so lonely, but I 

 presume he does not mind it. 



The Cedar Waxwing [Ampelis cedro- 

 rum) is an irregular winter visitor with 

 us, coming in flocks of from about 

 twenty to perhaps one hundred. They 

 feed on the seeds of the locust and pep- 

 per trees, which are quite extensively 

 grown for shade trees in Santa Clara. 



Has the Mockingbird {Mimuspolyglot- 

 tus) ever been recorded in Santa Clara 

 Co.? I have never seen a record of it, 

 although I know they occur in winter 

 in Alameda Co , which is next to us on 

 the north. My tirst record was on the 

 23d of Jan. 1899, when I saw a male 

 Mockingbird near a residence in a large 

 garden near Santa Clara. I was told he 

 had been around the place for several 

 weeks. Since then I have recorded 

 them as follows; Feb. 9, 1900, female, 

 seen in a garden in Santa Clara; Feb. 

 13, 1900, male, bird noted in a garden 

 near a house two miles west of Santa 

 Clara; Oct. 12, a pair, male and female, 

 seen near the place I saw a bird Feb. 9, 

 1900, male t^i ging. From these records 

 I conclude that the Mockingbird is 

 rather a common straggler to our 

 county in the winter time. 



Oar winter Sparrows, Gambel's 

 [Zonotrichia leucophrys gambeli) Inter- 

 mediate, [Zonotrichia I. intermedia) and 

 Golden Crowned (Zonotrichia coronaia) 

 all arrive about the first of October. 

 The Whited-crowned Sparrow {Zono- 

 trichia leucophrys) arrives several weeks 

 later. They all congregate in large 

 flocks in the hedge rows and brush piles 

 where they spend a very merry and soc- 

 iable winter. These birds are all very 

 much despised by the orchardists,for in 

 February and March when the fruit 

 blossoms are beginning to come out, 

 they form the chief article of diet for 

 these Sparrows. The destruction that 

 a flock of these birds can do in one day 

 is something enormous. 



In the winter time our Finches all 



congregate in flocks, it being no uncom- 

 mon sight to see a flock of House Finches 

 (Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis), Law- 

 rence's and Arkansas Goldfinches (As- 

 tragalinus lawrencei and psallria), which 

 will contain several hundred birds. 



After the first of October we always 

 have with us the American Pipit {An- 

 thus pensilvanicus) in abundance. They 

 feed in large flocks in the grain fields 

 and orchards, delighting particularly to 

 run after a plow and pick up the worms 

 as fast as they are turned up. The ma- 

 jority of them leave about the first of 

 April, although I have one record for 

 four birds noted on the 24th of April, 

 which 1 consider a very late date for 

 them. 



I think of all our resident birds in 

 winter the California Bush-tit {Psaltri- 

 parus minimus californicus) is, perhaps, 

 the most interesting. They congregate 

 in small flocks and will search a garden 

 so thoroughly, investigating all the trees 

 and shrubs, that it has to be a very 

 smart spider who can escape with his 

 life. They are such dainty little birds 

 and are so fearless that they always 

 draw my attention, and I consider it a 

 great privilege to watch a flock of them 

 "do" a peach tree in our back yard. 



This is a very incomplete account of 

 some of our winter birds in their chosen 

 homes, but as time is pressing I must 

 desist. Would time permit, I might 

 enumerate the Chickadees, the dainty 

 Kinglet, both species of which are com- 

 mon winter residents, the Woodpeck- 

 ers, Jays and many others, not omitting 

 the infernal, and ever obnoxious English 

 Sparrow. 



This paper is merely intended to show 

 our eastern brethren something of our 

 abundant bird life in winter, as well as 

 in summer, for we can study birds al- 

 most a'' diligently in winter as in nest- 

 ing season, and it is but a poor ornithol- 

 ogist who cannot enjoy the birds unless 

 he is despoiling them of their most prec- 

 ious treasure — their eggs. 



William N. Atkinson, 

 Santa Clara, Cal. 



