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214 THE CONDOR Vol. XXI 
Telmatodytes palustris plesius. This wren as well as Thryomanes bewicki eremo- 
philus apparently are residents in the vicinity of Lone Pine, both being fairly common 
during my stay. 
A considerable number of perennial springs exist within a radius of three miles of 
the village, their advent, it is said, dating from an earthquake in the early seventies. 
These give rise to many boggy places or “vagys”, usually invaded by Johnson grass, or 
briers. This affords excellent covert for the Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus torqua- 
tus), and within the area delineated, it is abundant, although, I believe, introduced with- 
in comparatively recent years.—AUSTIN PauL SmiItTH, Rich Mountain, Arkansas, July 
12, 1919. 
The California Jay as a Bird Killer—The literature of western ornithology con- 
tains numerous references to the damage done by the California Jay in destroying the 
eggs and young of small birds, but most of these accounts are unsatisfactory inasmuch 
as the authors fail to discriminate between what they have actually seen the Jay do and 
what they have inferred to be the work of the species. Without doubt this Jay is an 
enemy and an important one of the smaller species during the nesting season; but cor- 
rect appraisal of the damage done can only be made after assembling numerous records 
of depredations definitely observed. The instance recited below, while not pertaining to 
a species of good repute, is offered as an example of the type of record needed with regard 
to all birds affected by the Jays operations. 
While walking down a street in Berkeley, California, on the afternoon of May 2, 
1919, my attention was attracted to a commotion among birds in a shade tree. One or 
more California Linnets were flying excitedly back and forth within the foliage of the 
tree and calling loudly and some English Sparrows also present were chirping in re- 
monstrant tones. The object of their attention was a California Jay (Aphelocoma cali- 
fornica) which at my close approach flew out of the tree and made off carrying a young 
bird as he went. The Jay alighted on a large horizontal limb of a Monterey 
cypress and there, literally standing on ‘his prey, began to peck vigorously 
at the latter’s neck. The Jay’s head moved up and down with the _ swift 
strong strokes that these birds use when any food is ‘“‘at hand’. All this time the fledg- 
ling had emitted an almost continuous series of cries but with the progress of the Jay’s 
attack these suddenly ceased. The Jay continued to peck at his prey and soon stray 
feathers and bits of flesh began to come down from the tree. Wishing to learn the vic- 
tim’s identity, which was not evident from the strident notes it had uttered, I threw 
stones at the Jay until the bird was frightened enough to drop its prey and hop up into 
the tree. The dead bird was a young English Sparrow (Passer domesticus) presumably 
not yet out of the nest, as the flight feathers were not fully grown. It had been killed by 
the Jay pecking at its neck until the vertebrae were fractured and the spinal cord laid 
open and injured. The young bird is preserved as alcoholic specimen number 30833 at 
the California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, exactly as it was found when released by 
the Jay.—Tracy I. Storer, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, July 
31, 1919. 
EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 
Members of the Cooper Ornithological 
We are glad to be able to present at this 
time the portrait of Major E. A. Goldman, 
recently returned to Washington from over- 
seas service in the United States Army. 
Word now comes that he has been placed in 
charge of the Division of Biological Investi- 
gation, Bureau of Biological Survey, United 
States Department of Agriculture, a post 
which he is eminently qualified to fill. Gold- 
man is favorably known in the west partic- 
ularly for the field work he has done in 
many of the states as well as in Lower Cali- 
fornia and Mexico. His important scientific 
contributions have been chiefly in the field 
of mammalogy. 
Club will find interest in looking over a re- 
cent paper bearing the title: “Notes on 
Mammals Collected Principally in Washing- 
ion and California between the Years 1853 
and 1874 by Dr. James Graham Cooper” 
(Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 4th ser., 1x, 1919, pp. 
69-121). The author, our fellow member Dr. — 
Walter P. Taylor, has gathered into the — 
pages of this contribution a large amount of ~ 
biographical matter relating to the all-round — 
and gifted naturalist for whom our orgal 
zation was named. ; 
: 
= 
— 
Ornithology has seldom had to bear with 
so serious a loss as that suffered in 
