160 THE CONDOR Vol. XIX 



la Calif ornie Septentrionale ' and the quail or 'Perdrix de la Calif ornie' had 

 been reported by the French expedition under La Perouse which visited Mon- 

 terey in 1786, and specimens of the quail and condor collected by Archibald 

 Menzies, botanist of the English expedition in command of Capt. Vancouver, 

 had been taken to England where they were described in 1797. 



With the exception of the botanist Menzies, Collie and Botta were the first 

 naturalists who collected in California. Botta 's collections were small and no 

 special report on them was published, but several of the species named in his 

 honor serve to recall his visit. His name is borne by the pocket gopher (Tho- 

 momys bottae) which is common in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, by an 

 unidentified squirrel (Sciurus botfae), by the peculiar rubber snake (Charina 

 bottae), and by Saurothera bottae now regarded as one of the synonyms of the 

 Roadrunner. Botta collected the type specimens of the Roadrunner (Geococcyx 

 calif or nianus), and Anna Hummingbird (Calypte anna), and also a young 

 male of the latter species, all of which were described by Lesson. A record of 

 his work may be found in his paper on the Roadrunner 1 and an account of his 

 trip in Duhaut-Cilly 's narrative of the voyage and a brief statement in H. H. 

 Bancroft's 'History of California' 2 . 



Botta was born in Turin, Italy, December 6, 1802, and died in his 68th year 

 at Acheres, near Paris, March 29, 1870. He is well known from his archaeological 

 explorations in Arabia, Mesopotamia, and especially in the vicinity of Nineveh. 

 When a young man, not yet 24 years of age, he sailed from Havre, France, in 

 April, 1826, as surgeon on the sailing vessel ' Le Heros' in command of Capt. 

 Au gust e Duhaut-Cilly bound on a three years trading voyage around the world. 

 After touching at several South American ports the 'Heros' anchored at San 

 Francisco, on January 27, 1827, where she remained six weeks and where dur- 

 ing the month of February a number of birds were obtained. During Botta 's 

 sta} r on the coast he spent most of his time at the various Spanish Missions and 

 visited all of the more important ones from Solano to San Diego, some of them 

 two or three times. With the exception of the trips to points in the vicinity of 

 San Francisco and to San Gabriel and San Luis Rey, the journeys were made 

 chiefly in the vessel as it went from port to port. Following is a rough outline 

 of his itinerary as shown by the route of the vessel: 



1827 Oct. — Monterey, and departure Oct. 20 for 



Jan. 27-Mar. 7 — San Francisco. Callao, Peru. 



Mar. — Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Barbara. 1828 



April — San Pedro, San Diego. May 3 — Arrival at Monterey on return 



May-June 10 — Trip to Mazatlan, Mexico. from Peru. 



June — San Diego, San Luis Rey, Santa Bar* June — Bodega, Ross, Monterey, Santa Bar- 

 bara, bara, San Pedro, Los Angeles, San Ga- 



July — San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Jose. briel. 



Aug. — Solano, Santa Cruz, Monterey. July — San Diego. 



Sept. — Santa Barbara, San Pedro, Los An- Aug. 27 — Departure for Sandwich Islands, 

 geles, San Gabriel. 



In both of these visits Botta missed meeting Capt. F. W. Beechey and the 

 naturalists on H. M. S. 'Blossom'. Beechey on his first voyage to Bering Strait 

 to meet Sir John Franklin had been obliged to turn south on the approach of 

 winter and sailed for San Francisco to obtain supplies. Here the 'Blossom' 

 remained from Nov. 8 to Dec. 25, 1826, while Collie and a party went overland 



description du Saurothera californiana, Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat., IV, pp. 121-124. 

 pi. 9, 1835. 



Bancroft's Works, XX, pp. 128-130, 1S85. 



