198 Vol. IX 



FROM FIELD AND STUDY 



Colorado Notes. — Hon. James Cowie, while hunting ducks on a lake northeast of Boulder, 

 on September 15, 1907, saw a flock of six birds which he failed to recognize and shot one for 

 identification, turning it over to the University of Colorado. It proved to be an immature Sabine 

 Gnlll Xetna sabinii). Altho Capt. Berthoud reported that the species was common in the early 

 days of the settlement of the State, I only find six actual records prior to this one, all but one 

 being from the plains near the eastern base of the mountains from Denver northward, the other 

 being from Breckenridge, at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Whatever may have been the case as a 

 matter of past history, the species is certainly rare enough hereabouts in recent years. 



On September 14, 1907, while passing Church's Lake a few miles north of Denver, I noted 

 several White-winged Scoters {Oideuiia deglandi) within a few feet of the train, with some other 

 ducks and coots. After allowing time to make sure of their identity, but before I had counted 

 them, the birds all took flight, but there were not less than half a dozen of the Scoters. I find 

 but nine previous records for the State, all October and November records. 



The Wood Duck [Aix sponsa) is a rare duck in Colorado nowadays. I have heard of none re- 

 cently except three killed near Boulder by Hon. James Cowie and Mr. Bert Werley about three 

 years ago, no record having been made of the date. I have seen two of the specimens. 



There seems to be but one record of Syr-nium varium in the literature of Colorado ornithol- 

 ogy; so I have hesitated about mentioning a note which I find in the note-books of Denis Gale. 

 He mentions having seen a pair in the valley near Boulder in 1886, but gives no particulars and 

 no exact date. The note was made three years afterwards, in 1889, when he says he looked again 

 for the pair which he had seen there three years before but failed to find them. Upon careful 

 consideration I have concluded that his identification was probably correct, as he was quite 

 familiar with the owls of the region, and there is no other that he would be apt to mistake for 

 this. The Spotted Owl {Syrniuin occideyitale) which might be easily mistaken in the field for the 

 Barred Owl, is a species of the southwest, coming only into southern Colorado, so that the eastern 

 species is much more likely to be found east of the Front Range and in the northern part of the 

 State. However, with these rare records, one never feels safe unless the circumstances under 

 which the birds are seen, the opportunity for careful inspection, the condition of the light, etc., 

 are known. — Junius Henderson, Museum, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. 



Notes From Colton, California.— On May 19, 1907, I found a Phainopepla's {Phamopep- 

 la nitens) nest containing one egg. Two days later there were no additional eggs. May 24 I 

 noticed the female bird on the nest but did not climb the tree to see if there were any more eggs. 

 May 30, or six days later, I noticed a Mourning Dove {Zenaidura inacroura) on the nest, and 

 upon investigation found two dove eggs resting upon a slight platform placed on the Phainopep- 

 la's nest. I thought that this was rather rapid home changing. 



A nest of the Valley Partridge {Lophortyx calif ornicus vallicola) containing fifteen eggs was 

 found June i, in an unusual location. The bird selected a place under a small pile of eucalyptus 

 twigs 25 feet from Pennsylvania Avenue and four feet from OliveStreet, both being well-traveled 

 village streets. A concrete flume was within sixteen inches of the nest and workmen walked 

 along the flume many times daily while irrigating an orange orchard. A calf was tied to a tree at 

 the edge of Olive Street, and it had also selected a resting place in the brush pile three feet from 

 the bird. The calf could have put its hind feet in the nest if it had desired to do so. The calf 

 was fed regularly by a man, woman or child. Across the street, ninety feet from the nest was a 

 house. Several small children and a dog played around the yard and often came over to visit 

 the calf. (They did not know about the nest, as the bird would not flush unless in danger of 

 being stepped on.) June 10, I visited the nest and found that the bird had departed. Two 

 pipped eggs were in the nest and one little dead bird in the flume. Probably the others got 

 away all right. 



During August I had the pleasure of seeing an albino Brewer Blackbird {Scolecophagus cyan- 

 ocephalus). I would say that about two-thirds of its feathers were white. About a week after I 

 first saw the bird, I learned that it spent considerable time in company with other blackbirds on 

 certain lawns here in Colton. The other blackbirds did not seem to treat it differently because 

 of its white coat. A friend of mine informs me that he saw a white blackbird at San Jacinto 

 Lake eighteen or twenty years ago. Talking about white blackbirds sounds like discussing 

 white lamp-black! — W. C. Hanna, Colton, California. 



Concerning a Few Abnormally Marked FggS. — During the last few years the writer 

 has collected several sets of eggs which are of special interest owing to the fact that they are 

 thickly spotted with fine brown spots, where nature's usual prescription calls for unmarked eggs. 



