
THE NATURALIST IN CALIFORNIA. 185 
distance only, surrounding San Gabriel and San Bernardino, 
would no doubt yield many birds and other animals not 
observed along the route traversed. 
Cajon Pass. — The pass is entered quite abruptly from the 
plains by a picturesque cañon, usually narrow and rocky, 
through which flows a dashing mountain stream, clear and 
cold, but not observed to contain fish. Along its bauks 
grow Live Oaks, Buttonwoods (Platanus Mexicanus), and 
various Willows, while a few Pines (Pinus Sabiniana?), Firs 
(Abies Douglassii) and Nut Pines (P. monophyllus) strag- 
gle down from the neighboring mountains. The slopes of 
the nearest mountains are, however, covered chiefly with 
low shrubs. Among these the loud ringing trill of the Wren 
Titmouse (Chamæa fasciata) was the chief bird-music at 
this season. Other birds observed were a flock of Pigeons 
(Columba Jasciata?), Lawrence’s Goldfinch ( Chrysomitris 
Lawrencii) , and the Western Bluebird (Sialia Mexicana), 
none of which frequent the bare plains below. Just below 
the summit, where we camped December 7th, I shot the first 
seen of the Shining Flycatcher (Phainopepla nitens), a spe- 
ĉies rare west of these mountains, and peculiar enough to 
attract. attention from its habit of flying upward from a bush 
to a great height, in a zigzag manner, in pursuit of insects, 
somewhat like Pewees, which it much resembles otherwise. 
I have heard of the Mountain Quail ( Oreortyx pictus) as oc- 
curring in this spot. The Pass being only about 4000 feet 
above the sea, and the mountains around it low and nearly 
treeless, does not offer so good a field for a collector as 
Would be the San Bernardino range, which rises over 8600 
feet forty miles south-east of here, and is covered high up 
With heavy coniferous and oak timber. The light coating 
of’ snow which greeted our eyes on the summit the morning 
of December 8th, is an index of the greatest cold ever ex- 
Perienced here, though the summits of the highest moun- 
tains in sight are often white in patches the entire summer. 
As we are now about to enter on a new natural region, 
_ AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. III. 24 



