256 



Bird - Lore 



while three full-grown youngsters impor- 

 tuned him in vain for food, which the mother 

 soon supplied. Beneath the tree was a nest 

 that showed signs of having been but re- 

 cently vacated, while a few feet away a new 

 nest was ready for occupancy. A further 

 search would no doubt have revealed several 

 other families, as in former seasons. A 

 Costa's Hummingbird was seen about the 

 blossoming echeverias. A drive of two or 

 three miles to the head of Tuna Canon 

 showed it to be favored by Phainopeplas, 

 about fifteen pairs being noted. A Black- 

 chinned Hummingbird here visited a flower 

 I was in the act of gathering. Wood Pewees, 

 Warbling Vireos, Black-headed Grosbeaks, 

 and Bullock's Orioles were much in evidence. 

 The abundant nesting birds of the canons 

 of the Sierra Madre range, observed in June 

 and July, feeding young, have been: Warbling 

 Vireo, Hutton's Vireo, Parkman's Wren, 

 Western and Traill's Flycatchers, Wood 

 Pewees, Green-backed and Willow Gold- 

 finches, Yellow and Pileolated Warblers. 

 One family of Lutescent Warblers was ob- 

 served and carefully followed up for posi- 

 tive identification on July 27. Black- 

 throated Grays were fairly numerous, as 

 were also young Thurber's Juncos. A dotted 

 Canon Wren busily gleaned insects from the 

 face of the cliff, feeding her family of three 

 bob-tailed replicas of herself that scrambled 

 about among the rocks of the stream-bed. 

 A few Tanagers were seen and one family of 

 Olive-sided Flycatchers. From the higher 

 altitudes come notes from our contributing 

 members, placing the last two, with the Black- 

 headed Grosbeak, the Robin, the Western 

 Bluebird, as perhaps the most abundant 

 nesting birds in the vicinity of the mountain 

 resorts. A complete list of the nesting birds 

 observed this season would be quite too long 

 for the space available. Calliope Humming- 

 birds, Lazuli Bim tings, and Violet-green Swal- 

 lows appear in goodly numbers. One Varied 

 Thrush was seen by several competent ob- 

 servers in company with Robins near a San 

 Bernardino Mountain resort. A pair of 

 Blue Grosbeaks have successfully reared a 

 family for the third successive season in a 

 locality near the coast. On July 24 they were 



still about the nesting-site, the male in full 

 song. 



About twenty-five Purple Martins were 

 seen about the cornices of a Broadway 

 building in the center of the business dis- 

 trict at 6:45 p. M., July 15, and again a few 

 days later. 



The migration of shore-birds seems to have 

 developed early, the common species having 

 been present in large numbers for a full 

 month. 



On July 10, at Balboa, I had under ob- 

 servation for the greater part of the after- 

 noon, six Knots, four of which were in full 

 summer plumage. So far as I can learn this 

 constitutes an early record for the region, 

 August 8 being the earliest published record 

 heretofore. One Yellow-legs was noted, and 

 a few Least Terns. 



July 12, three Western Grebes were seen 

 on the ocean at Santa Monica; July 15, one 

 Black Turnstone, a few Willets, and many 

 Marbled Godwits, Hudsonian Curlew, Least 

 and Forster's Terns, and large flocks of small 

 Sandpipers; July 20 Forster's Terns, one 

 Caspian Tern, five Long-billed Curlew, many 

 Snowy Plover, Godwits, and Hudsonian 

 Curlew. The colony of Bank Swallows at 

 San Pedro was visited and young seen at the 

 entrances of the burrows, in most cases two, 

 but in a few instances three, being fed. 



August 10, shore-birds were abundant, 

 Willets being especially numerous. Black 

 Terns were resting with the Least Terns on 

 the sands, and others flew about over the 

 ocean. Semipalmated Plover were in con- 

 siderable numbers, and three Red-breasted 

 Mergansers were in the Lagoon. White- 

 winged Scoters, probably non-breeding birds 

 that remained through the summer, were 

 noted in considerable numbers. A small 

 colony of Barn Swallows that nest under a 

 bridge at Playa del Rey, were apparently 

 feeding young in the nests on this date, 

 though the yoimg birds were not actually 

 seen. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo has been 

 about an Artesia ranch for the last fortnight. 



The first southbound land-birds were re- 

 ported, August 7, as Rufous Hummingbirds 

 and Western Tanagers. — Frances B. 

 Schneider, Los Angeles, Calif. 



