108 THE CONDOR Vol. XIX 



er female was encountered the same day under precisely the same conditions, but I had 

 no time for an extended search and a superficial examination of the nearby territory 

 failed to reveal her mate or the nest. 



The finding of this nest, together with the fact that mated pairs of birds in breed- 

 ing condition and plumage are present throughout the summer, fully warrants the asser- 

 tion that the Wilson Phalarope nests regularly, in small numbers, in the grassy tracts sur- 

 rounding certain shallow overflowed areas in Fresno and Madera counties and probably 

 in Merced County also. — John G. Tylek, Fresno, California, June 20, 1911. 



Stomach Contents of an Oregon Ruffed Grouse. — The Oregon Ruffed Grouse 

 {Bonasa umbellus sabini) is a rare game bird in California. So little is known of its 

 habits in this state, or of its food, that an enumeration of the results of the .stomach ex- 

 amination of a specimen obtained by H. S. Prescott at Requa, Del Norte County, Califor- 

 nia, January 14, 1916, seems worth while. Identification of the seeds and leaves was 

 made by Miss Anna M. Lute of the United States Department of Agriculture. The crop 

 and stomach contained: Berries and seeds of madrofia (Arbutus menziesii) ; leaves of 

 thimble berry {Rubus parviflorus) ; stems and leaves of dogwood (Cornus) ; unidentified 

 pieces of stem. — Harold C. Bryant, Berkeley, California, June 20, 1911. 



An Early Experiment in Keeping Hummingbirds in Captivity. — It is not generally 

 known that one of the first experiments in keeping hummingbirds in captivity and ship- 

 ping them to Europe was made in San Francisco, in pioneer days, by Adolphe Boucard, 

 the well known French ornithologist and authority on the Trochilidae. Boucard reached 

 San Francisco August 16, 1851, and remained until August 18, 1852, when he returned to 

 France via Nicaragua and New York. In his "Travels of a Naturalist" 1 (p. 49) he de- 

 scribes his experiment as follows: 



"From March to August [1852], I collected specimens of Natural History. Many 

 were the species of beetles and butterflies that I collected in the suburbs of San Fran- 

 cisco. ... I also collected many species of birds, and more particularly Humming- 

 birds. Two species were abundant, Calypte annae and Selasphorus rufus. I found many 

 nests of these two species during the months of March and April, and at one time I had 

 as many as sixty of them alive, all taken from the nests. I fed them with fresh flowers 

 and small insects. Some of them lived four months. At first I had them all together in 

 a large cage, made on purpose, but as soon as they were grown up, they began to fight so 

 much that I was obliged to put them in separate cages. I put one pair in each, and I 

 succeeded in keeping them alive and well for a long time. My intention was to send 

 them alive to Europe, but even the most robust died at sea, and it was a complete failure. 



"Nevertheless, I think if the same experiment was repeated in Florida, New Or- 

 leans, or New York, with Trochilus colubris there are many probabilities that they would 

 arrive alive in Europe; but of course they could not live long there. Since 1852, I think 

 one experiment of that sort has been made with the Columbian species, and many of them 

 arrived safely in Paris; but they died soon after their arrival. There is more chance with 

 the northern species." 



Half a century later five species of hummingbirds were successfully carried from 

 Venezuela to England 2 . These birds were received by the Zoological Society of London, 

 May 27, 1907. About 50 birds were captured of which 35 were shipped and 20 reached 

 their destination alive. But there is a great difference between shipping hummingbirds 

 to Europe from California via the Isthmus in 1852 and shipping them direct from Vene- 

 zuela in 1907 with all the conveniences on modern, fast steamers, and it is not surprising 

 that the first attempt resulted in failure. — T. S. Palmer, Washington, D. C, July 7, 1917. 



Notes From the Southern Sierras. — In company with Mr. A. W. Hanaford I spent 

 from June 16 to June 26, 1917, at various points in the San Bernardino and Sierra Madre 

 mountains. The following notes do not cover all the species of birds noted, but only some 

 of the more interesting ones. 



Porzana Carolina. Sora Rail. One bird flushed from the pasture at the east end of 

 Bear Lake, altitude 6760 feet, on June 18. Possibly breeding, although we did not locate 

 a nest. 



Published in London in 1894; originally appeared in parts in the numbers of "The 

 Humming-bird", III and IV, 1893-1894. 

 SBird Notes, vi, 1907, p. 102. 



