i8S6.] EvERMANN OH Birds of Ventura County, California. 87 



willows, with here and there an occasional sycamore. Scattered 

 in-egularly over the valley in its narrow portion are clumps of 

 live-oaks, which are still more numerous in the canons and on 

 the adjacent foothills. Further up the sides of the movmtains are 

 dense growths of chaparral. At many places in the valley are 

 large patches of prickly pear {Opiiutia ticfia)^ where the 

 Cactus Wren, Mockingbird, Roadrunner, etc., are most numer- 

 ous. The cottonwoods and larger willows are the chief nesting 

 places of Crows, Long-eared Owls, and Red-bellied Hawks. 

 The Western Red-tail most usually selects the taller sycamores. 

 Tiie live-oaks are frequented by the Least Tit, Brewer's Black- 

 bird, Lawrence's Goldfinch, and the White-tailed Kite. The 

 California Jay, Brown Towhee, White-rumped Shrike, Cali- 

 fornia Mockingbird, etc., usually nest in the undergrowth of sage 

 and other chaparral which is found covering nearly all unculti- 

 vated parts of the valley and caiions. Along the coast, near the 

 mouth of the Santa Clara River, are several small lagoons or 

 ponds virhere vast numbers of Ducks, Geese, and other water 

 birds winter, and where a few species remain to breed. 



I have admitted into the following list 202 species, of wliich num- 

 ber 201 were identified by me personally. The remaining species 

 {E/npidonax obscurus) is admitted to a place in the list on 

 account of the finding in the county of what seem to be its eggs. 

 The eggs were brought to me by a boy, and I have no doubt but 

 they are of this species. 



By admitting to the list only the results of my own observa- 

 tions, the number of species is not as great as it would other- 

 wise have been. It has been my aim to make a reliable, rather 

 than a long, list. Careful observations, esjoecially among the 

 higher mountains and along the coast, will doubtless add several 

 species to the number now recorded. 



The nomenclatvire and classification adoptetl in this paper is that 

 of the new American Ornithologists' Union • Check-List.'* 



The species that are known to breed in the county are indicated 

 by a star preceding the name. The number in parenthesis after 

 each name is that of the new A. O. U. Check-List. 



I. ^chmophorus occidentalis. (i.) Western Grebe. — Seen occa- 

 sionally in the bay in winter. I have a fine specimen which was caught 



* [From advance-sheets of the A. O. U. 'Code and Check List,' by desire of the 

 author.— Edd.] 



