Vol. XIVl ^ 7 AT- J 



i3g^ J Lreneral Notes. "? I Q 



then repair to some convenient roost, and there remain for ten to fifteen 

 minutes. The juices of the stomach dissolve the sweet coating of the 

 berry and then the kernels, together with the broken husks, are disgorged. 

 The ground under a favorite roosting place of the Cedar-birds or Robins 

 is frequently nearly covered with these disgorged kernels and one can see 

 the seeds rattle down as each bird gets rid of two or three at a time. 



In my back yard there is a shed under some high eucalyptus trees which 

 appear to be the common rendezvous of several flocks of these birds which 

 feed in the neighborhood. The pattering of the pepper seeds as they fall 

 on the shed-roof is incessant all day long, and the ground is brown with 

 them. I have often watched Robins and Mockingbirds at close range, 

 and I noted that during the process of disgorgement the birds for a 

 moment appeared to be in distress, and after two or three spasmodic 

 coughs and a side-wise jerk of the head, out would come two or three of 

 the kernels. All the birds which eat the pepper-berries have the same 

 habit, and with the Mockingbirds, Western Robins, Cedar-birds and 

 Phainopeplas, the peppers seem to be a very important food-supply. 

 Besides these birds, I have seen the Townsend's Solitaire and Varied 

 Thrush in the act of disgorging. 



It is only within the last 12 or 15 years that the pepper-trees have been 

 so abundantly planted in Southern California, and the fact that the birds 

 in so short a time have acquired such an unusual habit, to conform with a 

 new kind of food, seems to me. very significant. Possibly this habit of 

 disgorgement has been a common practice wherever the character of the 

 food requires it, but it was new to me. Some one can probably throw 

 more light on the subject. — Joseph Grinnell, Pasadena, Cal. 



An Unusual Song of the Red-winged Blackbird. — In the first week of 

 May last, I happened on a company of Red-winged Blackbirds, in full 

 play of their courting hour. The males among them were, of course, as 

 tuneful and as actively engaged in the cutting of capers as is their wont, 

 at such times. 



But on this occasion it was more interesting to notice that the females, 

 ordinarily so very demure, were showing themselves to be not a whit the 

 less animated by the spirit of the play. And very amusing indeed it was 

 to watch these comedians in sober brown, but in extemporized ruffs, 

 puffs and puckers, pirouette, bow and posture, and thus quite out-do in 

 airs and graces their black-coated gallants. Their shrill whistle, the 

 meantime continually vied with, or replied to, the hoarse challenges of 

 their admirers, while in noisj' chattering, and in teasing notes, they 

 were excessively voluble. 



Whilst loitering thus entertained my ear had been attracted by repeti- 

 tions of a strain which came from the dense foliage of a nearby pine. In 

 meter it was the same as the coke-al-lee-e-e of the shoulder-strapped 

 members of the company. It was, however, pitched in a higher key, 

 wholly free from gutturals, nor did it contain any sound that could be 



