Jan. ,1917 FURTHER NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF FORRESTER ISLAND 17 



Dryobates villosus picoideus. Queen Charlotte Woodpecker. Though I referred 

 the hairy woodpecker of the island to Dryobates villosus sitkensis, I find upon examina- 

 tion of a specimen taken in August, 1915, that the white underparts characteristic of sit- 

 kensis are entirely lacking, and that it is less extensively white on the back. As it was 

 in the molt and the outer tail feathers not yet grown out, comparison in this regard could 

 not be made. As it is clearly not sitkensis, but possesses the characters ascribed to 

 picoideus, I now refer it to the latter form, a course that is further justified by the geo- 

 graphical position of Forrester Island. 



Corvus corax principalis. Northern Raven. Although I had spent three previous 

 seasons in southeastern Alaska and had found the raven common at all points visited, 

 until the summer of 1915 I had never succeeded is locating the nest. I was rather at a 

 loss to account for this fact as quite a little time had been spent in the search. The so- 

 lution of the problem was arrived at in 1915. The raven proves to be the earliest nesting 

 bird of the region, the young being almost large enough to leave the nest by early May, 

 at which date the bald eagles and falcons are commencing incubation. A nest contain- 

 ing two nearly full grown young ravens was found on Forrester Island May 14, 1915. It 

 was compactly built of sticks, and well lined with moss, and was about forty feet up in 

 a spruce tree in dense woods. The parent birds were very bold and noisy, flying within 

 a few feet of my head while I was near the nest. Several other similar nests were seen 

 later, from all of which the young had departed. After the young leave the nest in early 

 May they remain in the woods until the middle or latter part of June, when they come to 

 the beach with their parents. 



Loxia curvirostra sitkensis. Sitka Crossbill. Specimens of this bird taken in vari- 

 ous parts of southeastern Alaska during the summer months showed no signs of nesting, 

 a fact which always seemed puzzling to me. Consequently I was much interested to find 

 that birds shot by Mr. W. D. McLeod at Howkan in early September, 1916, showed from 

 the condition of their reproductive organs that they would have bred in about two or 

 three weeks. I had noted a similar condition in two specimens taken at Sitka in Septem- 

 ber, 1913, but had supposed them to be exceptional cases. It would seem, however, from 

 the above facts that the nesting season of the Crossbill in southeastern Alaska is in late 

 September or early October. This seems the more extraordinary when we consider that 

 at this time the bad weather has generally commenced and that it must be well along 

 into early winter before the young leave the nest. 



Elephant Butte, New Mexico, November 24, 1916. 



THE SUBSPECIES OF HESPERIPHONA VESrERTINA 



By JOSEPH GRINNELL 



(Contribution from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California) 



THE WRITER'S attention was first called to the systematic status of the 

 Evening Grosbeaks of western North America by Mr. Allan Brooks who 

 stated in a letter that he had found certain peculiarities in his series gath- 

 ered in British Columbia. Subsequently Mr. Brooks sent his material to the Cali- 

 fornia Museum of Vertebrate Zoology with full permission for me to make use of 

 it in any revision I might care to undertake. Attempts to secure additional ma- 

 terial from certain critical localities have not proven very successful. However, 

 a total of 113 skins of Evening Grosbeaks has been brought together, from the 

 following sources : Private collections of Messrs. J. Eugene Law, Allan Brooks, 

 H. S. Swarth, G. F. Morcom, and J. Grinnell ; the United States National Muse- 

 um, through Dr. Chas. W. Richmond; the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory; and the California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. 



Study of the assembled specimens has been under way for over two years, 



