Vol.XTI"! AxTTiONY, Bt'yffs of San Fernando. L. Cal. I'^y 



scattered by the mules. They arrived soon after daybreak each morning, 

 from opposite directions, and after an hour or so departed, lingerin,<( 

 about the hillsides on their respective sides of the arroyo until about 

 four o'clock in the afternoon, when another visit was paid the corral and 

 an hour or more devoted to getting supper, after which they departed, 

 all going in the direction from which they came, as fast as their sturdy 

 little legs could carry them, seldom fiying even for a few feet unless 

 alarmed. I never knew just how far these birds went to roost or why 

 they left the immediate vicinity of camp, but that they travelled some 

 distance I discovered one evening when returning to camp. I was 

 rather more than a mile from the corral when I saw a flock of Partridges 

 coming toward me from dii-ection of camp, running along the dry arroyo. 

 Thev were some distance from me and evidently unaware of my presence, 

 and bv remaining quietly in the shelter of a large cardoon I had the 

 pleasure of seeing the entire flock file swiftly by, keeping up a series of 

 low conversational notes as they hurried on up the gulch. The last two 

 were shot and all doubts regarding the identity of tlie flock set at rest 

 when their crops were found filled with barley. I think that nearly all 

 of the Partridges within a radius of two miles of the mine were drawn 

 to that spot by the scattered grain, and were represented in the two 

 flocks daily seen. 



4. Zenaidura macroura. Mourning Dove. — One or two visited the 

 corral occasionallv. Thev were rather more common about the mission 

 but nowhere abundant. 



V Melopelia leucoptera. White-winged Dove. — In 18S7 I found 

 this species not uncommon about the mission and in the neighborhood of 

 the water holes in June, and its peculiar notes were often heard from the 

 giant cactus and cirios between that point and the gulf. It was not at 

 all common, however, in 1894, only one or two being heard at camp and 

 less than half a dozen seen about the water holes at the mission. 



6. Cathartes aura. Turkey Vulture. — Very abundant everywhere. 

 In 1887 I found the bones of a recently killed X:alifornia \'ulture 



{Pseudogrypkiis californianus) at a w^ater hole about twenty miles north 

 of San Fernando, in a country exactly similar to that about the mines, 

 but after questioning a number of the natives, I concluded that its 

 occurrence there must have been very unusual and that this point was 

 probably the limit of its range. 



7. Elanus leucurus. White-tailed Kite. — A single bird, which 

 dashed past me, June 12, on the San Carlos mesa, fifteen miles south of 

 the mines, is the only record I have for the species south of Cape Colnett. 



8. Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi. Harris's Hawk. — In 1887 and 1888, 

 Harris's Hawk was not uncommon between El Rosario and San Carlos, 

 and several were seen about San Fernando. They were uncommon, 

 however, in 1894, only two, or perhaps one pair, were seen about camp and 

 as many more at the mission. A few were nesting in cirios between the 

 mine and the beach. A good many nests of this species and of Biiteo 



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