156 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



Falcon, ^ ; Gray Gyrfalcon, f, f ; Gyrfalcon, 

 I" ; Ferruginous Pygniy Owl, } ; Audubon's 

 Caracara, V' '-f ' Gray Sea Eagle, ^. There 

 are fifteen kinds of Eagles' eggs in sets, includ- 

 ing, of course, many foreign. Other rarities 

 are Brewster's Booby, Lapp Owl, Sooty Alba- 

 tross, Greenshank, Little Gull, Derby Fly- 

 catcher. Of Chuck-will's-widows there are ''o" ; 

 of Merrill's Parauque, ■'j^ ; American Osprey, 

 ^, y, V, f. These are undoubtedly the 

 finest series of each in private collections. A 

 few of the foreign rarities are, Rufous-headed 

 Merlin, African Painted Snipe, Bounelle's 

 Eagle, Dwarf Eagle, Cream-colored Courser, 

 Spectacled Warbler, Little Indian Pygmy Owl, 

 Duck Hawk, y ; Lanner Falcon, V ; Great 

 Bustard, V^ ! Cinereus Crane, ^^, etc. In all 

 it is a most interesting and valuable collection. 



Random Notes on the Birds of 

 Alameda County, Cal. 



BY DONALD A. COHEN. 



IN connection with the bird life of this 

 county a few remarks on its situation and 

 characteristics will be of interest. 



Alameda County is situated about in the 

 middle of the western line of the State of Cal- 

 ifornia, between latitude 38° and 37° north, 

 and is bounded on the north by Contra Costa 

 County, on the east by San Joaquin County, 

 on the south by Santa Clara County, and on 

 the west by San Francisco Bay. Its area is 

 about 865 square miles. 



The rainy season begins about October i 

 and ends about May i ; the average rainfall is 

 about twenty-one inches for the season. The 

 temperature seldom rises above 85° or falls 

 lower than 30°, and averages about 68° Fahren- 

 heit. 



The soil is wonderfully productive of animal 

 and vegetable life. Most of its area consists 

 of orchards, vineyards, broad fields of grain, and 

 pasture land, with patches of land here and 

 there set out to vegetables on a large scale; 

 but a considerable part is still in its primitive 

 state, consisting of forests, meadows with a 

 small creek or a pond here and there, several 

 large creeks, an occasional fresh-water swamp, 

 extensive salt marshes well cut up by sloughs, 

 and a few small sand dunes. 



The Coast Range Mountains extend north 

 and south through the western portion. The 

 timber is chiefly live oak, especially in the 

 western portion, and black oak in the east- 

 ern. Redwoods, alders, maples, willows, pines, 

 sycamore, laurel, madrona. and manzanita. and 



many others are found in suitable localities, 

 while cypresses and Australian gums {eucalyp- 

 tus) have been profusely introduced. 



The following is a running commentary on 

 the habits of the birds hereinafter mentioned, 

 from my personal observations covering a 

 period of fifteen years. For the records of a 

 number of birds given as occurring I am in- 

 debted to Mr. L. Belding's valuable work, 

 Land Birds of the Pacific District. 



The Western Bluebird is a rather common 

 resident, preferring the hills and mountains 

 during the breeding seasons, but in winter and 

 early spring a few stray down to the shores of 

 the bay. I have noticed a small flock of them 

 every winter in a certain block in the city of 

 Alameda, and cannot determine what attracts 

 them to this particular spot. 



Our bird is more independent of man than 

 is its Eastern cousin, finding its own " bird 

 house " in a natural cavity. 



The Mountain Bluebird, I am told, breeds 

 not far from the county line on Mount Diablo, 

 in Contra Costa County, preferring a higher 

 altitude, as its name indicates, than we can 

 afford, but it is seen here in winter. 



The Western Robin, very slightly different in 

 plumage from the Eastern, is a winter resident, 

 and uncommon during the fall and generally 

 very abundant from the last of December to 

 the last of March. Occasionally they are al- 

 most absent some winters, judging from the 

 territory around Alameda. As a rule for the last 

 fifteen years they have been exceedingly nu- 

 merous every third winter and proportionately 

 scarce every other third winter; 1884, 1885, 

 and 1893 were " banner years " for great num- 

 bers. I once saw one in August and several 

 m September and October, but they do not 

 seem to come before December in any number. 

 My first one seen this year was November 3. 

 They remain until the fruit trees have blos- 

 somed, March 15 to April i, and by that time 

 most of them have departed for their breeding 

 grounds, which are probably mostly to the 

 north, as none seem to breed here; yet they 

 breed at Monterey, one hundred miles south. 

 Stragglers and wounded birds, especially the 

 latter, remain late. A male bird with a broken 

 wing appeared about my garden until nearly 

 July of this year. Their food seems to be 

 mostly procured from the ground, and they are 

 very fond of ivy and bay berries. I have occa- 

 sionally heard this Robin's song in fine days 

 in February and March. 



I have seen them breeding in the Eastern 

 States, and wonder what our Eastern readers 

 think when I tell them that here Robins are 

 considered fine eating. Some people prefer 

 them to Quail. They are very fat, fine fla- 



