Mar., 1922 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 63 
be inseparable from Toxostoma redivivum sonomae. This is a more northern coast 
record than has so far been published, according to my recollection. 
Another specimen of this species was secured near Cummings P. O., Mendocino 
County (California), and more were heard, but this locality is farther south and much 
more inland than Thorn, but not much farther north than Covelo, from which a record 
has been published.—JosepH MAILLTArD, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, 
California, January 12, 1922. 
Breeding of the San Diego Titmouse on the Mohave Desert.—April 12 of the pres- 
ent year, the iunior writer collected a pair of San Diego Titmouses (Baeolophus inor- 
natus murinus), five miles east of Palmdale, in the' yucca-juniper association. The fe- 
male had apparently laid but a short time previously, and there was undoubtedly a nest 
near at hand. Another pair was heard (but not taken) a few hundred yards away. 
These two birds are most like murinus, but are not typical of that form. They are 
grayer dorsally, and the wing of the male measures longer than that of any coast slope 
bird we have. These differences possibly indicate a tendency toward griseus.—D. R. 
DickEY AND A. J. vAN RossEM, Pasadena, California, December 5, 1921. 
A December Record for the Sage Thrasher in Colorado.—On December 8, 1921, we 
collected a female Oreoscoptes montanus on the College campus at Fort Collins. The 
bird was in good flesh, and its stomach contained two small pebbles and remains of 
twenty-one flies (Anocompta latiuscula).—W. L. BURNETT, Colorado State Agricultural 
College, Fort Collins, January 1, 1922. 
The Bathing of Hummingbirds.—From the scarcity of published references to the 
bathing of hummingbirds, one is led to believe that these birds are not generally aware 
of the benefits to be derived from an occasional bath. I have seen hummingbirds bathe 
so many times that I have considered it a rather commonplace occurrence, though none 
the less interesting, and while reading a recent paper by John Burroughs (Harper’s 
Magazine, May, 1921, p. 789), I was somewhat startled by the statement that “This 
morning I saw a hummingbird taking its bath in the big dewdrops on a small ash tree. 
I have seen other birds bathe in the dew or raindrops on tree foliage, but did not before 
know that the hummer bathed at all.” This refers of course to the Ruby-throated 
Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) and it may be that that bird seldom bathes, else 
so careful and experienced an observer would have seen it long ago. Mr. H. W. Bates 
in “A Naturalist on the Amazon” described hummingbirds as bathing by dipping into 
a pool of water while on the wing. This also probably refers to birds unknown in Cali- 
fornia. 
During the past five or six years, I have, several times each spring, visited a 
little glen in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, in which at one place the water flows 
about a quarter of an inch deep over the flat surface of a rock. This rock has been 
appropriated by the Allen Hummingbirds (Selasphorus alleni) for a bathing place. The 
place at times was fairly swarming with the birds and the constant hum might lead 
cne to believe that a nest of huge bumble bees had been disturbed. Suddenly with a 
buzz a bird would appear, hover over the rock for an instant, and then sprawl headlong 
into the water, stretching the wings and neck and lying prone on the rock, squirming 
the body and fluttering the wings until seemingly it became quite ‘‘water-logged”. Then, 
just as suddenly, it would dart to a perch overhead, leaving a streak of mist in its 
wake like the tail of a miniature comet. Here it would preen its plumage. The surface 
of the rock was not over a foot across and I noted as many as four birds bathing sim- 
ultaneously. Occasionally, after preening, one would return for a second dip. 
Again on August 18, 1921, in Alameda, the Anna Hummingbird (Calypte anna) 
treated me to a rare performance somewhat similar to that mentioned by Mr. Burroughs. 
I had been sprinkling the garden when a male bird came to the rose bushes and liter- 
ally sprawled on the wet foliage. For several minutes he crawled among the leaves, 
wiping the sides of his head, spreading the wings and tail, and mopping up as much 
water as possible, appearing ridiculously like a tiny parrot climbing about its cage. 
Following this he flew to a clothes line and preened his plumage. The garden sprink- 
