136 AXTHONY. Birdfi of San Fernando. L. Cal. [ April 



despondent and devoted all its spare time to thickening its trunk 

 and branches until they become enormous in proportion to the 

 height of the tree, and very badly contorted. Although I have 

 seen the tree nearly or quite every month in the calendar, I have 

 never seen it in leaf or flower. Along the dry arroyos about the 

 mine were a few stunted mesquites, cat-claw and a species of 

 Pninus, and a scattered growth of grease wood {Larrea) was to 

 be found in most of the open country. 



The notes upon which the present paper is based were taken 

 during two or three short trips through the country in 1887-88, a 

 week spent in the region in January, 1894, and from April 26 to 

 June 25, 1894, during which time I was located at the copper 

 mines near the San Fernando mission. At the time of my visit, 

 the country was undergoing one of its dry spells, no rain having 

 fallen for the past three years. 



With the exception of the immediate neighborhood of the 

 mission, birds were very scarce and remarkable for their shyness. 

 A few migrants lingered about camp after my arrival April 26, 

 but soon left. As I was constantly riding about between the 

 coast and the mine, it is not likely that very many of the summer 

 residents escaped notice. The list is, however, somewhat remark- 

 able for what it does not contain. Had I been able to spend more 

 of my time in the mesquite growth about the mission, the number 

 of species observed would have been much greater, but unfor- 

 tunately nearly all of my observations were confined to the dry 

 mesas and barren arroyos farther south where the birds were 

 necessarily very rare. 



1. Anas cyanoptera. Cinnamon Te.\l. — A small flock was started 

 troin a nuid hole at the mission on April 26. It is very probable that 

 man}- species of Ducks would be foimd about the small pools during the 

 winter months. 



1. .ffigialitis vocifera. Kildeer. — At the mission a few of these 

 Plovers were seen on several occasions but never at any other locality- 

 One or two made a practice of visiting the mines every night during 

 April and May, arriving at about 8.30 p.m. and making several circuits 

 of the camp before leaving. 



3. Callipepla californica vallicola. \'.\llev Partridge. — Very com- 

 mon near the water about the San Fernando mission and a few seen 

 throughout the country. At camp there were two flocks of not less than 

 twenty each that regularly visited the corral to pick up the grain 



