nUMMINGBIBDS 355 



be seen in the southbound migration are males. Thus the bird seen near 

 Yosemite Point on July 1 was a fully adult male, as it showed an all-rufous 

 back. But later in the same month the females and their young began 

 to pass through. Of the birds seen in Lyell Caiion on July 23 at least 

 one was a female (immature). The southbound migration was evidently 

 in full swing by that date as no less than 5 separate individuals were 

 seen during two or three hours spent on the meadows and adjacent slopes. 



A visit to Parsons Peak on September 6, 1915, showed that the migration 

 was still in progress, and further, that the Rufous Hummingbirds were 

 evidently using the crest of the Sierra Nevada as a fly-way. During the 

 short time spent at the top of the peak, 12,120 feet, two of these diminutive 

 travelers were seen flying southward, laboring against the strong southerly 

 breeze; both took advantage of the same gap in the rocks to gain a slight 

 respite from the buffeting of the wind. Other observers have told us of 

 similar incidents noted by them w^hile visiting peaks elsewhere along the 

 backbone of the Sierra Nevada. 



Four of the birds seen in Lyell Canon in late July were drawn to the 

 immediate vicinity' of the observer by a red bandana handkerchief which 

 he had purposely hung over his hat in the hope of attracting humming- 

 birds, a ruse which is often successful. The birds presumably mistake 

 the patch of bright color for a group of flowers in bloom. One or more 

 other individuals were seen on the same date visiting red castillejas and 

 other flowers then in blossom on the benches near where the Lyell Fork 

 cascades down from its headwaters to the level meadows below. 



At Dudley, on Smith Creek, east of Coulterville, 5 Rufous Humming- 

 birds were collected on August 8, 9, and 10, 1920, These were all young- 

 of-the-year. A great many more rufous-tinged hummingbirds were seen 

 during the last of July and early in August, but determination of their 

 specific identity (as between rufus and alleni) was not attempted, since 

 the distinguishing characteristics of the two species in immature plumage 

 cannot be noted in birds out of hand. 



Allen Hummingbird. Selasphorus alleni Henshaw 



Field characters. — As for Eufons Hummingbird (which see), but in adult male back 

 green. In hand, the next to middle pair of tail feathers in the adult male are plain 

 (not notched as in the Eufous) and, in both sexes, at all ages, the outermost tail feather 

 on each side is narrow, not more than 2 millimeters wide. 



Occurrence. — Sparse transient. Two immature individuals collected at Dudley, 6 

 miles east of Coulterville, August 5 and 10, 1920. 



The Allen Hummingbird is a breeding bird of the coastal district of 

 California, but at the conclusion of nesting both adults and young range 

 widely before departing southward. The flower garden on the Dudley 



