Sept., 1917 BOTTA'S VISIT TO CALIFORNIA 161 



to Monterey. Beechey then sailed for Monterey and spent five days (Jan. 1-5, 

 1827) at that port. On his second visit late in the same year, 1827, he remained 

 three weeks (Oct. 29-Nov. 17) at Monterey, and two weeks (Nov. 19-Dec. 3) 

 at San Francisco. It was during these two visits that the surgeon Dr. Collii* 

 collected the California birds which were brought back by the expedition. 

 Thus Botta arrived at San Francisco just a month after Beechey had left that 

 port the first time, and he was absent on his trip to Peru during Beechey 's sec- 

 ond visit. 



The material obtained by Botta was important and formed the basis of the 

 descriptions of several new species. Immediately upon his return to France in 

 the summer of 1829 some of his birds evidently passed into the possession of the 

 Duke of Rivoli as Lesson mentions that the specimens of the hummingbird and 

 the roadrunner which he described that year were contained in the Rivoli col- 

 lection and were brought back by Botta. These specimens were not labeled with 

 the exact localities where they were obtained and consequently it is important 

 to ascertain as accurately as possible where they were collected. The type 

 localities of the Roadrunner and Anna Hummingbird are given simply as 

 California in the A. 0. U. 'Check-List' of 1910, but it is now possible to de- 

 termine them more accurately. It is probable that the Roadrunner was col- 

 lected in southern California, and, from the places mentioned above, the type 

 locality may reasonably be assumed as the vicinity of Los Angeles or San 

 Diego. Similarly, San Francisco may be accepted as the type locality of 

 Calypte coma since Botta collected here longer than at other places and in the 

 narrative of the voyage hummingbirds are especially mentioned among the 

 birds obtained there in February, 1827. 



The narrative of the voyage of the 'Heros' by Capt. Duhaut-Cilly was pub- 

 lished in Paris in 1834-35 under the title 'Voyage autour du Monde'. In 1837 

 an Italian translation in which were incorporated some notes by Botta was 

 made by his father. Carlo Botta, the eminent Italian historian, and appeared 

 under the title ' Viaggio intorno al Globo' in at least two editions, one published 

 in Turin in 1841, and the other in Naples in 1842. A copy of the Turin edition 

 of the 'Viaggio' is in the Library of Congress in Washington and a copy of the 

 Naples edition is in the collection of Californiana in the Los Angeles Public 

 Library. These works should be carefully examined to see whether they throw 

 any further light on the California collections made by Botta. 



Washington, D. C, July 8, 1917. 



SOME BIRDS OF THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS, TEXAS 

 By AUSTIN PAUL SMITH 



THIS article deals with the more interesting of the hundred or more species 

 of birds met with during a six weeks' trip (September 2 to October 16, 

 1916) to the Davis Mountains. This is the most accessible of the several 

 small ranges which lie between the Pecos River and the Rio Grande, in western 

 Texas. Leaving the Southern Pacific Railway at Marfa. Texas, one goes by 

 auto-stage twenty-two miles to Fort Davis. This little town, charmingly situ- 

 ated at the very base of the mountains, at an altitude of slightly over 5000 

 feet, is distant about a mile from the opening of Limpia canyon, the principal 



