130 THE CONDOR Vol.. X 



company with a large flock of Oregon Juncos {J unco hyenialis oreganus) . I shot one of the 

 sparrows which proved to be a male of the year, thus making certain of the record. On January 

 15, the remaining bird, also a young of the year, was still in the same weed patch, from which 

 we can confidently assume that it will remain there all the remainder of the winter. 



On the same date I took an adult female Northern Red-breasted Sapsucker {Sphyrapicus 

 rti-ber nootkensis) that had the upper mandible two and a half inches long and curving far over 

 to the right. She was very fat and experienced no difficulty whatever in securing her food as I 

 watched her for some time. This she did by using her long upper mandible much as we do a 

 nut pick, digging the insect life to the surface out of deep crevices in the bark, and then picking 

 it up by turning her head completely over on one side. 



January 22: Collected a fine adult male Nuttall Sparrow {Zonotrichia leticophrys nuUaUi), 

 which is my only record for this sparrow in winter. — J. H. Bowles, Tacoina, Washington. 



Some Birds of Ana Capa Island. — On the 4th of September, 190.3, I was landed from a 

 yacht onto Ana Capa Island, which lies east of Santa Cruz Island, California, and separated from 

 it by about five miles of open ocean. Ana Capa is rapidly decreasing in size and one can easily 

 foresee its complete dissolution at no very distant time. The action of the waves has already 

 cut thru it at several points. My stay on the Island was limited to less than an hour; but be- 

 sides that I was permitted to coast along nearly the whole length of the island in a small boat. 

 There is but scanty vegetation on this Island. I saw a few insects, signs of mice {Peroniyscus) , 

 and one species of lizard {Uta) . 



Besides the usual seabirds of the region I saw the following: One Bald Eagle [Haliaetiis 

 leticocephaliis) flying; one pair of Mexican Ravens {Corvits cor ax sinuaius) ; several Rock Wrens 

 {Salpinctes obsoletns) , these being noted on the highest declivities of the Island; several spotted 

 Sandpipers {Aciitis inacnlaria) along the surf; several Wandering Tattlers {Heteractitis incanus) 

 on partly submerged rocks; one flock of five or six Black Turnstones {Arenaria melanocephala) ; 

 one pair, with three two-thirds grown young, of the Black Oystercatcher {Hcciuatopiis bachinani) 

 on a point of rocks jutting into the surf; and one Belted Kingfisher {Ceryle alcyon) "flying along 

 the surf. — ^J. GRiNNEti,, Pasadena, California. 



The Condor in the San Joaquin Valley.— In Part II of the Life History of the California 

 Condor, published in the January-February, 1908, number of your magazine, the range of the 

 California Condor {Gyinnogyps calif ornianus) is given as being confined mainly to the southern 

 California coast region. They were formerly not uncommon in the southern part of the San Joa- 

 quin Valley. During the years 1872 to 1879 I saw condors, or vultures, as they were usually 

 called, soaring over the valley, then a vast range for cattle and sheep. Generally there were not 

 more than two to be seen, but on one occasion I saw three or four. They were seen occasionally 

 during all of the years mentioned. I never observed one with anything in its talons. In the 

 summer of 1879 I saw three condors and about a dozen buzzards about the carcass of a dead sheep 

 between Tule River and Deer Creek, in Tulare County. I drove by slowly at a distance of about 

 fifty yards. The three condors and one buzzard were eating the carcass when I drew near and the 

 other buzzards were a few paces back, as if waiting their turn. I have heard of the condor since 

 in the southwestern part of the San Joaquin Valley, which is still a cattle and sheep range, and 

 do not doubt that they are occasionally to be seen there, where carrion is abundant at certain 

 seasons of the year. 



In conversation with Orlando Barton, who has lived for several years in the northwestern 

 part of Kern County, on the eastern slope of the Coast Range, he informed me that he has often 

 seen the condor there. One large bird in particular he saw many times during a period of two 

 years. He often saw it sitting on a large rock within sight of his house and on an abandoned oil 

 derrick in Sunflower Valley. On one occasion he passed within about seventy yards of it when 

 sitting on a boulder. It rose to its full length, and he estimated it to be four and a half feet high. 

 He picked up a feather twenty -one and a fourth inches in length which fell from one of its wings. 

 He saw it several times feeding on dead lambs. He has not seen this or any other condor since 1906. 



In conversation recently with W. F. Dean, of Three Rivers, this (Tulare) county, he stated 

 that several years ago, during a dry season, when there were many sheep dying, he saw eight or 

 ten condors in one day in Vokol Valley, 15 to 20 miles east of Visalia. He did not see more than 

 four together. He mentioned the killing of two condors by parties living in the foothills (Sierra 

 Nevada) of Tulare county. He observed two or three of the large birds eating a dead sheep, and 

 surrounded by buzzards at a respectful distance. Mr. Dean has seen no condors in the Sierra 

 foothills for four or five years. — George W. StewarT, Visalia, California. 



