324 Hubbs, Nuttall's Sparrow in California. [j^y 



apparently breeding along the edge of the cliffs between Port 

 Hartford and Pismo (May 24). Both adults and half-grown were 

 common at Oceano in the sandy regions, among the "forests" of 

 blue lupine which attain here a height of 6 to 8 feet (June 11-12). 



The hilly coast line about Point Sal (June 14-17) cuts in two the 

 range of this bird, which appears again in the sand dunes a few 

 miles further south, near the station Casmalia, Santa Barbara 

 County (June 14). At Surf (Lompoc Junction), this sparrow is 

 very common in the sand dunes and along the tracks of the rail- 

 road (June 18, 22); it is also common at Arguello station near 

 Point Arguello where young with rectrices but half developed were 

 seen (June 19-21); they are absent in such places as the high cliff 

 "Espada" near Sudden. 



About Point Conception Z. I. nuttalli is the commonest bird on 

 the terrace between the hills and the wave swept cliffs; among 

 those seen were a number of young of the year (July 13-17). 



Just around Point Conception, the rolling hills, rising from the 

 shore line to the mountains, form the terminal barrier to the dis- 

 tribution of the species. A single summer record has been pub- 

 lished, based on observations made farther to the east or south. 

 Bowles 1 noted two pairs near Santa Barbara: "One pair was 

 feeding some bob-tailed young, evidently newly out of the nest, 

 while the second pair showed every evidence of having a nest, 

 though we failed to locate it." Had Mr. Bowles been near Point 

 Conception, only forty miles east, he could have found not only 

 two, but a hundred or more pairs. The writer spent a whole day 

 (July 8) searching the various types of habitat between the shore 

 and the foothills near Santa Barbara, and failed to find a single 

 individual of the species. Its absence was still more striking along 

 the coast near Goleta, for here its favorite breeding grounds, sandy 

 soil overgrown with sage, and some (rather low) blue lupines, were 

 wholly unfrequented by the sparrow, although scarcely more than 

 thirty miles away it was abundant. Similar observations were 

 made at numerous other points along the entire Channel coast 

 south to middle Ventura County (June 23-July 12). 



1 Auk, 28, 1911, p. 174 (the only definite record the writer has found, based on observa- 

 tions south of Port Hartford, San Luis Obispo County). 



