Mar., 1922 FOX SPARROWS IN CALIFORNIA 49 
period of early autumn. Hence it seemed advisable to get some idea of what 
was taking place there at this season of the year. While the other, and main, 
object of the fall work would interfere with our settling down in any one 
spot to keep daily watch, the combination of the two schemes seemed most 
advisable and worked out fairly well. 
For this work Mr. Chester C. Lamb, an old member of the Cooper Ornitho- 
logical Club, desired to accompany me, and he was taken on as temporary as- 
sistant, his car of an exceedingly well-known, if often caricatured, make being 
our means of transportation. Sometimes it transported and sometimes it 
didn’t. 
The most northerly objective point was Requa, Del Norte County, Cali- 
fornia, which was reached on September 15. A stay was made here until Sep- 
tember 21, but, much to my surprise, no fox sparrows were seen. I had con- 
fidently expected to find the Townsend and Sooty Fox Sparrow scratching 
away at the edge of the woods or under thiek brush, but, although our camp 
was on the verge of a magnificent redwood forest and near some very good 
brush cover for this genus, none was discovered. 
When we left Requa on the latter date, a sharp watch was kept along the 
road for sparrows, with the idea that we might camp at any spot where some 
were met with; but not one was identified as we slowly drove along, although 
we passed through miles of very good cover. especially near what is known as 
Big Lagoon, between Trinidad and Orick, Humboldt County. 
Having no encouragement to stop on the way, we went on to Eureka to 
consult with Mr. C. J. Clay, another Cooper Club member, who has been travel- 
ling over the roads of Humboldt County for enough years to know every foot 
of the country where any roads exist. My intention had been to make for the 
ridges in the vicinity of Bridgeville, on the road from Fortuna to the Saera- 
mento Valley, but Clay thought that this would take us too far inland for our 
purpose before striking good fox sparrow country; so, instead of following 
the van Duzen River to Bridgeville, I decided to go to Kneeland Prairie. about 
fifteen miles southeasterly from Eureka, actual distance, but some twenty- 
four miles by winding road. On September 22. we went into camp at the ex- 
treme easterly end of this ‘“‘prairie’’ (all open rolling land, whether at sea. 
level or on top of a mountain is called a ‘‘prairie’’ on the northwest coast), at 
an elevation of about two thousand feet on the edge of timber and brush land. 
some four miles south of the Kneeland post office and facing Taqua Butte. 
The narrow mountain ranges all through this part of the country have a north- 
westerly-southeasterly trend, with small rivers lying between them. Hence 
any birds migrating directly north or south must necessarily cross diagonally 
over these ranges; or else those following the ranges or vallevs between would 
be diverted into the interior of the state if moving south, or out into the ocean 
if moving north. 
Our camping place was chosen on account of its being where three ravines 
headed, one running up from the Mad River Valley and two from a small ereek 
flowing into the Kel River system. as well as on account of its being near the 
lowest saddle in the range for a lone distance, consequently the most likely 
place for birds to cross over from ene valley to the other. There was 200d 
cover for fox sparrows in this vicinity, although possibly not the most attract- 
ive food, 
