1912 BIRDS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA r,9 



228. (488b) Corvus brachyrhynchos hesperis Ridgway. Western Crow. 

 Common resident of the lowlands. IJreeds in the willow regions mostly in 



April. More widely distributed in winter. A. M. IngersoU informs me that the 

 Crow nests along- the Sweetwater and San Diego rivers, a few miles from the 

 coast in southern San Diego County. This is the most southern breeding record 

 I have seen, though it is known to cross the Mexican line in winter. Antonin Jay 

 took four fresh eggs in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County, March 27, 

 1898, and R. Arnold took five considerably incubated eggs in the same locality, 

 May 17, 1894 (Grinnell, Pub. 2, Pasadena Acad. Sci., 1898, 32). 



229. (491) Nucifraga columbiana (Wilson). Clarke Nutcr.\cker. 

 Common resident of coniferous forests in Upper Transition and Boreal zones 



in the mountains, from 6000 feet to timber line. In winter descends to lower alti- 

 tudes, straggling rarely to the valleys. At this season ranges south to, or very 

 near, the Mexican line. I have taken full-grown young at Bear Valley, in the 

 San Bernardino Mountains, early in June, so the nesting season must be early, 

 probably in the latter part of March and the first part of xApril. At this time of 

 year, owing to the deep snow, the nesting grounds are aluKist inaccessible and, 

 up to the present time, I know of no eggs haying been taken in southern Cali- 

 fornia. 



y. Grinnell found Nutcrackers abundant on Mt. Pihos, X'entura County, in 

 [une, 1904. They were occasionally observed as low as 5500 feet altitude (Auk 

 XXII, 1905, 385). Mr. Grinnell also observed them on San Bernardino Peak, 

 July 12, 1905, and in June and July, found them common at the head of the Santa 

 Ana River and down as low as 6000 feet (Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. v, 1908, 84). 

 H. E. Wilder saw a bird at Riverside, October 15, 1898. This must be considered 

 a very unusual occurrence. F. Stephens has a specimen, taken from a fair sized 

 flock, on Laguna Mountain, San Diego County, February 21, 1877. The locality 

 where this bird was secured is about twenty miles north of the Mexican line, and 

 Mr. Stephens writes me that he does not doubt that the species crosses the boun- 

 dary regularly in winter. 



230. (492) Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus (Wied). Pinvon J.w. 

 Resident of the mountains, mostly on the desert side. Irregular visitant to 



the mesas and foothills along the base of the mountains, l^idoubtedly breeds in 

 favorable localities in the coniferous forests, but 1 know of no eggs having been 

 taken in southern California. I found the species common in the pihon timber 

 near Gold Mountain, in the San Bernardino Range, in June, 1907, and F. S. Dag- 

 gett noted it in large flocks at Bear Valley, June 12, 1897. H. A. Gaylord saw 

 several large flocks flying north over Pasadena in the fall of 1894 (Nidologist 

 III, 1896, 106), and J. Grinnell noted flocks every day or two in the same vicinity, 

 September 1 to 21, 1895. They were flying northwest over the mesas and along 

 the base of the mountains (Pub. 2, Pasadena Acad. Sci.. 1898, 32). F. Stephens 

 took one specimen and saw many others on Laguna Mountain, San Diego County, 

 about twenty miles north of the Mexican boundary, February 21, 1877. He be- 

 lieves that the species crosses the line in winter in company with the last. 



