BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



4 1 . California Pygmy-Owl ; Gnome-Owl ; Claucidium gnoma 

 calif ornlcum (Scl.)- 



Size, diminutive. Length, about seven inches. Back uniform dark 

 brown, inclining to reddish or grayish, dotted with fine round white spots ; 

 under parts white, with streaks of blackish on the breast, and brown on 

 the sides. A resident species in the northern portions of the Coast Range 

 and Sierra Nevada Mountains. 



CUCKOO FAMILY 

 Toes, two in front and two behind. Two very different species. 



42. Road-Runner; Geococc^x calif ornianus (Less.). 



A ground dweller, running with great rapidity and agility. Extreme 

 length nearly two feet; body very slender and tail long. General colora- 

 tion dull grayish and brownish, streaked with whitish and with iridescent 

 gloss of green. Living in the sage-brush, and most abundant in southern 

 California. 



43. CaHfornia Cuckoo; Cocc^zus americanus occidentalis Ridgw. 

 An inhabitant of the trees and groves. Size about of a robin, rather 



longer and more slender. Above plain olive-gray, below white, the black 

 tail-feathers tipped with white. Locally distributed in California, 

 chiefly in the interior valleys. 



KINGFISHER FAMILY 



44. Belted Kingfisher; Ceryle alcy^on (Linn.). 



A common bird everywhere along streams. Length about a foot, 

 and rather stocky, with a big crested head, a long, sharp beak and very 

 weak, small feet. Dark bluish above, pure white below, with a band 

 of the color of back across breast. The sides of the female are rufous 

 in color. 



ARTIFICIAL KEY TO THE WOODPECKERS 



. Back streaked, barred or spotted black and white. 

 I. Back with broad white streaks. Wings spotted with white. 

 \. Length, 9 or 10 inches. 



Harris's Woodpecker 45 



2. Length, 6 or 7 inches. 



Gairdner's Woodpecker 46 



[1701 



