58 THE CONDOR Vol. XX 



' ' The second time I was in the Cape region I took only seventy or eighty 

 bird skins, for I did not wish to get many. I consumed about a week of this 

 time in getting two specimens of the new rail, Rallus beldingi. I only heard of 

 one man at La Paz who had ever seen one and several hunters were surprised 

 when I showed them one of the birds. These birds can best be observed at low 

 tide ; when they move about in the mangrove thickets in search of food. I got 

 my specimens by patiently waiting for them to pass comparatively open spots 

 in the mangle. I rode sixteen consecutive days without skinning a bird, though 

 I occasionally shot them when in doubt of the species. * * * I have trav- 

 elled considerably in the northern part of the peninsula, having, on one trip, 

 been absent from San Diego sixteen days. I was at Laguna, which is about 

 sixty miles south of Campo, in May, 1885. I secured three specimens of Sitia 

 pygmaea leuconucha at this Laguna. 



"The pleasantest days I have spent since 1876 have been in the moun- 

 tains of central California. Since that time I have been in these mountains the 

 most of each summer. I couple deer, grouse and quail hunting with bird study. 

 At first I tried to connect botany with ornithology, but I could not look on the 

 ground for plants and in the trees for birds at the same time. The ornitholo- 

 gist should, however, know the prominent plants at least. During my rambles 

 I have noticed the hardiness of some of our mountain annual plants. I have 

 seen the mercury down to twenty-two degrees on two successive mornings and 

 no trace of frost afterward, except that a few of the tenderest ferns were killed. 

 I suppose this may be owing to dry air and cool nights, the latter preventing 

 the rapid growth and consequent tenderness of kindred plants grown where 

 both days and nights are warm. 



"My most interesting observations have been those of evenings and moon- 

 light nights in some secluded part of the forest where large game was abundant. 

 I have often heard the Pigmy Owl, which Mr. Ridgway correctly says is diur- 

 nal and crepuscular, and have quite as often heard the Flammulated Owl, 

 which is strictly nocturnal and hard to get. I have only taken one specimen. 

 The Western Barred Owl has never ceased to interest me, for it is quite familiar 

 and seems to have a fondness for talking back! By imitating its shrieks and 

 dog-like barkings, I seldom fail to get a response. 



"The high Sierras have been explored but little in winter. I have been in 

 the lower edge of the fir and pine belt the most of ten or eleven winters and 

 have several times gone as high as 5,000 feet, but these higher ascents were 

 only when there was but little snow. About the middle of November some 

 years ago I was at the summit of the Central Pacific Railroad, altitude 7,000 

 feet. The ground was mostly bare and I saw only a few birds and fewer ani- 

 mals, the Little Chief Hare being one of the latter. The reptiles and batra- 

 chians were sleeping their long annual sleep which covers fully two-thirds of 

 the year at this height, and the sleep of the marmot and some of the small ani- 

 mals is nearly as long. A few asters and Sidalcea were in flower in protected 

 situations. 



"Summit is a good locality for making winter observations, but when the 

 snow is from ten to twenty feet deep, as it usually is in winter, snow-shoes 

 would be a necessary part of the observer's outfit and snow-blindness must be 

 guarded against." 1 



1THE CONDOR, vol. II, pp. 3-5. 



