Vol. XXII 

 1005 



Grinnell, Summer Birds of Mount Ptnos, Cal. "?8o 



be considered a distinct species with binomial appellation. The present 

 record places a known breeding locality of stephensi some seventy miles 

 northwest of its previously northernmost known station, Mount Water- 

 man. And I know of no probable breeding place between, for the fox 

 sparrow is a bird of extreme upper transition and boreal. The only other 

 possibly favorable locality, Frazier Mountain, near Tejon Pass, was 

 visited by Dixon, who went to its summit on July 18, without noting any 

 fox sparrows. Although over 8000 feet high it is too dry and too near 

 the influence of the hot interior plateau. The breeding records so far for 

 the Stephens Fox Sparrow indicate a very spotty range, viz. : — a very 

 limited area on San Jacinto Peak, a rather more extensive region on the 

 San Bernardino Mountains, a very limited tract along the highest ridges 

 of the San Gabriel Mountains, and the very small area on Mount Pinos. 



48. Pipilo maculatus megalonyx (Baird). Spurred Towhee. — 

 Spurred Towhees were observed only below 6500 feet. They were spar- 

 ingly represented along Seymour Canon where young were taken near 

 our base camp by June 27. 



49. Oreospiza chlorura {Audubon). Green-tailed Towhee. — Green- 

 tailed Towhees were common on Mount Pinos in much the same sur- 

 roundings as chosen by the Stephens Fox Sparrow; but the former were 

 noted a little lower, down to about 7500 feet on the east side of the moun- 

 tain. In the clumps of gooseberry, Ceanotkus and Sytnpkoricarpus brush, 

 the Green-tailed Towhees were to be heard and seen plentifully. Full- 

 grown young were taken by July 11. This species was also discovered on 

 Frazier Mountain, 15 miles east of Mount Pinos. 



50. Zamelodia melanocephala capitalis (Baird). Black-headed 

 Grosbeak. — Not common ; single individuals were met with in several 

 places about the mountain, even on the very summit where one was 

 heard singing violently from a dense fir tree late one evening. 



51. Cyanospiza amcena (Say). Lazuli Bunting. — At Seymour Creek 

 Meadow, about the thickets of rose-bushes and willows, Lazuli Buntings 

 were notably plentiful. A few were also observed in the canons further 

 up the mountain ; and even about the cienegas as high as 8000 feet, where 

 gooseberry and Symphoricarpus thickets furnished cover, the song of this 

 bird was often to be heard. 



52. Piranga ludoviciana (Wilson). Western Tanager. — Tanagers 

 were met with chiefly in the canons among the golden oaks, from 6000 to 

 6500 feet elevation. One pair was seen in the fir zone on the north slope 

 near the summit. 



53. Progne subis hesperia Brewster. Western Martin. — Only 

 noted once: three were seen flying about over the summit of Mount 

 Pinos on June 29. 



54. Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons (Say). Cliff Swallow. — A 

 few, mostly birds-of-the-year, were seen flying about in company with 

 Violet-green Swallows over Seymour Meadow, 5500 feet, July 15. 



55. Tachycineta thalassina lepida (Mearns). Violet-green Swal- 



