~ 
28 oT) THE Canyon Vol. XX1V 
in the days of Vigors.—J. GRINNELL, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, 
December 5, 1921. 
The White Gyrfalcon in Montana.—A bird as rare in the United States as the 
White Gyrfalcon (Falco islandus) seems worthy of recording whenever found and cor- 
rectly identified. The specimen under consideration I believe has not been put on record 
up to the present date. It was sent to Mr. Oscar Gard, of Seattle, Washington, by Mr. 
Geo. B. Daniels, of Fort Benton, Montana. Mr. Benton writes that he shot the bird on 
November 18, 1917, on Shonkin Creek, just east of the town of Shonkin and about twenty 
miles from Fort Benton, Montana. When shot it was sitting on a post of a wire fence 
in very open country. The bird was in an advanced condition of decay by the time it 
reached Mr. Gard, who nevertheless made it into a very handsome specimen and it is now 
in my collection. Unfortunately the sex was not taken, but the extremely large size 
leaves practically no doubt that it is a female. It is very white and must have been 
fully adult, and is unquestionably one of the most beautiful birds that I have ever seen.— 
J. Hooper Bow tes, Tacoma, Washington, November 7, 1921. 
A Specimen of the Markham Petrel.—Mr. Chas. Fagan, chief wireless operator on 
the SS. “Santa Elisa,’ W. R. Grace and Co., has forwarded to the Biological Survey a 
petrel that proves to be the Markham Petrel, Oceanodroma markhami (Salvin). The 
bird was captured July 6, 1921, at sea off the coast of Peru at a point approximately thir- 
ty-five miles north of the port of Callao. Oceanodroma markhami, very close allied to 
tristrami, is distinguished from that bird by shorter tarsus, smaller foot, and somewhat 
more ashy tinge of the back and head. it differs from O. melania in more slender bill 
and in the grayish cast of the dorsal surface. Measurements of the present specimen 
are as follows: wing 175.5 mm.; tail 95 mm.; chord of exposed culmen 18 mm.; tarsus 
23.3 mm.; middle toe with claw 23.5 mm.; outer toe with claw 22.5 mm. 
The Markham Petrel was described by Salvin (Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1883, p. 
430) from a female specimen taken by Captain Markham in December, 1881, near the 
coast of Peru at lat. 19° 40’ S., long. 75° W. (given incorrectly in the Cat. Birds Brit. 
Mus., xxv, 1896, p. 354, as lat. 10° 40’ S.). A second specimen, also a female, was se- 
cured in the same region at lat. 23° §S., long. 73° W. Loomis (Proc. California Acad. 
Sci., 4th ser., 11, pt. 11, p. 174) records two taken by R. H. Beck, one on August 1, 1905, 
in lat. 13° 28’ N., long. 108° 52’ W., and another September 1, 1905, near lat. 5° N., long. 
87° W., about thirty miles south of Cocos Island. Captain R. Paefsler (Journ. Ornith., 
1913, p. 49; 1914, p. 277) has published notes on the occurrence of this species on the 
west coast of South America but apparently merely from sight cbservation (no mention 
is made of specimens) so that his notes must be considered as open to doubt. The spe- 
cimen secured by Mr. Fagan is of great interest as it is the first Markham Petrel that 
has come to the United States National Museum, and seems to constitute the fifth ex- 
ample of the species that has been recorded.—ALEXANDER WETMORE, Biological Survey, U. 
S. Dept. Agriculture, November 21, 1921. 
Possible Occurrence of the Blue-footed Booby in Southern California.—A Sula of 
this type was seen by Mr. Edward J. Brown and the writer, between Anaheim Landing 
and Sunset Beach, Orange County, California, on October 25, 1921. It came from the 
ocean and made a complete circle around us at a distance of about a hundred yards. 
While ordinarily opposed to the publication of sight records, it seems to me permissible 
in this case; for a bird exhibiting such striking coloration and flight could hardly be 
mistaken for anything else. No claim is made for admission to the state list of the 
above species as we, of course, cannot say further than that it was a black and white 
Sula. As 8. nebouxi, according to the A. O. U. Check-list, breeds in the Gulf of Lower 
California, the bird probably belonged to that form.—A. J. van Rossem, Los Angeles, 
California, November 5, 1921. 
Summer Record of Blue-winged Teal in California, and Notes on Other Birds.— 
On May 21, 1921, at Buena Vista Lake, Kern County, California, I saw a pair of Blue- 
winged Teal (Querquedula discors) the male of which I secured. On sexing it I found 
