Sept> 1918 FROM FIELD AND STUDY I 93 



On the morning of July 20 I was suddenly struck by the absence of song, and from 

 that moment nothing further was heard from the Monterey Hermit Thrush save for an 

 occasional call note, the softly whistled "kooit". One or two were later seen on he 

 ground near my camp and were approached, as they were feeding about, to within ten 

 feet making identification certain beyond a doubt. Being fairly sure that their song was 

 heard on July t9, and absolutely so as regards the 18th, I can state positively that the 

 singing stopped abruptly on the evening of either the 18th or 19th of July in this locality, 

 and this in spite of the fact that a few birds must have been nesting very late in the sea- 

 son as evidenced by a female taken on July 7 with the yolk of an egg in the oviduct. 



The song of the Russet-backed Thrush did not cease as abruptly as that of the 

 other but was continued in a desultory manner for a few days and gradually died away, 

 becoming less and less pronounced until it ceased altogether.— Joseph Mailliard, San 

 Francisco, California, August 9, 1918. 



A New Bird for Santa Catalina Island.— Howell in his "Birds of the Islands off the 

 Coast of Southern California" (Pacific Coast Avifauna, no. 12, 1917), suggests thai there 

 has been relatively so little ornithological work done on these islands that a visit of sev- 

 eral weeks to any one of them is almost sure to add one or two new migrants or winter 

 visitants to the list. Proof of the statement is found in the fact that a stay of two days 

 at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, disclosed the presence of a bird hitherto unrecorded for 

 any of the islands in the Santa Barbara Channel. The bird discovered, the Phainopepla 

 (Pliainopepla nitens), happens to be a summer visitant instead of a migrant or winter 

 visitant. On June 12, 1918, I was on the south side of Descanso Canyon, just back of the 

 new St. Catherine Hotel, getting better acquainted with a Dusky Warbler, when my at- 

 tention was directed to a bird with conspicuous white patches on the wings, flying about 

 some elderberry trees in the bottom of the canyon. Closer inspection disclosed a "Silky 

 Flycatcher," and a moment later a second bird of the same species was seen. The grace- 

 ful flight and the flycatcher habits left no possibility of mistaking the identity of the 

 birds. The only other striking observations were regarding the tameness of Mourning 

 Doves which fed within a few feet of the passersby; the common presence of the Mock- 

 ingbird, heard everywhere; and the abundance of the Raven, five being seen in flight 

 at one time. — Harold C. Bryaxt, Berkeley, California, July 1, 1918. 



Late Snowy Owl Dates.— In regard to the migrations of the Snowy Owl (Nyctea 

 nyctea) last winter (1917-18) it may be of interest to report some late dates on which the 

 species was observed by the writer and Mr. D. E. Brown of Seattle. These owls were 

 seen daily at Westport, Grays Harbor, Washington, during the week of April 8 to 14, 1918. 



The first owl seen at this time was shown to us by Mr. H. A. Dusenbery, who stated 

 that they had been in that vicinity all winter. The first owl collected was taken by Mr. 

 Brown on April 9. It was a large female, quite fat and with a full stomach. The con- 

 tents of the stomach consisted of duck feathers, but it was impossible to tell of which 

 variety. Another Snowy Owl was collected by Mr. Wilmer Dusenbery on April 11. This 

 bird, again a large female, had the entire foot, tarsus, and upper leg bone of an American 

 Coot (Fulica americana) in its stomach. 



Just previous to collecting this bird, Mr. Dusenbery had shot a few sandpipers, and' 

 the owl on seeing this had come over to get some. Its foot was within eighteen inches 

 of one of the specimens when it was shot. Mr. Dusenbery said that this was of common 

 occurrence when the owls were plentiful during the winter. — Stanton Wabburton, Jr., 

 Tacoma, Washington, May 17, 1918. 



The Virginia Warbler in California. — On August 1, 1917, Mr. Halsted G. White, 

 while carryiug on field collecting for the California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, se- 

 cured a specimen of the Virginia Warbler (Vermivora virginiae) at 9200 feet altitude 

 near McCloud Camp, on Cottonwood Creek, east flank of White Mountains, Mono Coun- 

 ty, California. The bird is in process of molt from juvenal to first annual plumage. 

 There are many of the juvenal feathers still remaining about the head and on the belly, 

 and, of course, the flight feathers belong to the juvenal plumage. The annual plumage 

 is so nearly complete elsewhere as to exhibit plainly the characteristic markings of the 

 species — yellow crissum, yellow rump, and yellow patch on chest. The specimen is no. 

 28593, Mus. Vert. Zool. The age of this bird, and general "geographic reasoning", makes 

 it seem not' unlikely to my mind that this warbler, now for the first time recorded from 

 California, occurs regularly as a breeding species on the White Mountains. — J. Grix- 

 xell, Berkeley. California. August 25. 1918. 



