<^'- 



Nov., 1907 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 19c, 



The first case is a set of Green-backed Goldanch [Astragalinus pmllria hesperophiliis) taken 

 near Escondido, San Diego County, California. There are three eggs in the set. Two are nor- 

 mal but the third is larger and thickly spotted about the broader end with many fine peppery 

 spots. I found another set of three eggs of this species in 1905 in which every egg of the set was 

 marked; but owing to the very advanced stage of incubation they were not collected. 



In 1906 I found a nest of I^azuli Bunting {Cyanospiza anicena) in the midst of a patch of iron 

 weed. It was only about a foot high from the ground and fastened to very slender stems. I 

 flushed the bird but could not identify her as she darted thru the weeds. Upon looking into'the 

 nest I found four well-marked eggs. Altho I had collected for a number of years in this same 

 locality I had never met with anything of this style before. I thought it must be something new, 

 so quietly hid in some nearby willows to await the return of my bird. In about half an hour I 

 saw her slipping thru the weeds and onto her nest, while her mate lit in a bush near by. To 

 make sure of my own eyes I collected both birds, for I could hardly believe that they were 

 Bunting eggs altho the birds were before me. The eggs were normal in every way except for the 

 spots. 



Last spring I discovered a Plain Titmouse's nest on the University campus. There were eight 

 eggs in the cavity and all were more or less speckled with these same brown spots. They resem- 

 ble very much the markings on a Black Phcebe egg. 



Whether this subspecies of Titmouse, namely Bceolophus inornatus inornatus is in the habit 

 of laying -spotted eggs I cannot tell, for I have collected but one other set, and this was -plain 

 white. I doubt that the majority are anything but plain white. However, I shall watch with in- 

 terest to see if this pair of birds return to last year's nesting site and lay spotted eggs. 



It seems to me that here is a question for students of evolution: Are some of our birds which 

 lay in the open going to lay spotted eggs in the distant future, or are these spots a remnant of 

 the distant past. It would seem that spots on the eggs of birds which lay in cavities were of lit- 

 tle benefit, hence the spotted Titmouse eggs may be remnants of the past; but who can tell? 



Nelson K. Qh.'s.vn^t'EVi^Stmiford University, California. 



Gray-headed Junco in the Cuyamaca Mountains, California.— On November 18, 

 1906, following a heavy snow-storm, at Julian, San Diego County, California, altitude 4100 feet,' 

 great numbers of Juncos appeared, altho one species, Junco h. thurberi was found in small 

 numbers, since the early, part of September. These flocks were made up of the species just 

 named, and/unco caniceps, the last in the minority, but still in sufficient numbers to be noted in 

 every flock. I left the mountains on December 3, and up to that time observed Junco caniceps 

 almost daily. — Austin Paui, Smith, Benson, Arizona. 



Passer domesticus. — In going thru a colony of Cliff Swallows two years ago, I found two 

 sets of eggs of the English Sparrow. The sparrows had taken possession of the nests of the 



swallows when the outside walls were finished and furnished the interior to suit their own taste ■ 



a lining of a few straws, on which were laid, in one, a set of five eggs, in the other a set 

 of six eggs. 



A half block from my house in Santa Rosa, on Lincoln street, is a row of small maples at the 

 edge of the sidewalk. On the third tree from the corner of Morgan street, there is a rotten stub 

 two feet long with a woodpecker hole at the top end. In passing by on my way to work, last 

 month, I several times flushed a bird from this stub, and was about ready to make a night attack 

 on same, when one morning in passing by, I again flushed the bird. It stopped this time and 

 perched in the tree close to the nest so that I got a good look at her. My desire to make the 

 climb up the tree and cut off the stub for something rar^ was chilled. It was a female Passer 

 domesticus. — H. F. Duprey, Santa Rosa, California. 



Correction.— In The Condor for July, 1907, page no, I recorded the "Mew Gull" as 

 having been taken by me at Alamitos Bay, Los Angeles County, California, April 14, 1907. After 

 careful comparison with examples in the collection of Mr. Grinnell, the specimen in question is 

 now determined to be the Pacific Kittiwake {Rissa tridactyla pollicaris). In making the original 

 erroneous record 1 was too hasty in forming an opinion. — C. B. Linton, Los Angeles, California. 



