40 THE CONDOR Vol. XXII 
Clarke Nutcracker on the Colorado Desert.—On October 17 and 18, 1919, I was 
hunting at Marchal’s Ranch, which is ten miles west of Indio and about fifteen miles 
east of Palm Springs, Riverside County, California. It seemed strange to find Clarke 
Crows (Nucifraga columbiana) there. The birds were very tame and walked about al- 
most in the camp. They seemed to be feeding on dates. I saw the crows flapping about 
the fruit clusters, and saw them flying overhead with what I took to be dates in their 
bills. There were probably a dozen birds about the ranch. A former student of mine, 
who is now teaching in the Coachella Union High School, told me of seeing the birds 
around the school buildings. The High School is probably twelve miles east of Mar- 
chal’s. Indio is 22 feet below sea level, according to the figures on the sign at the 
Southern Pacific depot there-—C. O. Esreriy, Occidental College, Los Angeles, Califor- 
nia, October 28, 1919. 
Saw-whet Owl from the San Bernardino Mountains, Californiaw—On May 10, 1919, 
I was fortunate enough to collect a juvenile female Saw-whet Owl (Cryptoglaux acadica 
acadica) at an altitude of 6950 feet, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino Mountains, Cali- 
fornia. This is the first recorded instance for this locality, I believe. To quote Mr. 
Swarth, to whom I sent the specimen for verification of identification: ‘‘The little owl 
you sent is the Acadian Owl, Cryptoglaux a. acadica. It is in the juvenile plumage and 
I should infer was hatched somewhere in the neighborhood of where it was killed. The 
species has not been recorded as breeding south of the central Sierra Nevada, so far as 
I know and your bird is well worth recording; it is an interesting take.’ This bird is 
now no. 1830, collection W. M. P.—Wricut M. Pierce, Claremont, California, October 
18, 1919. 
Bubo virginianus lagophonus in North Dakota.—That the Northwestern Horned 
Owl (Bubo virginianus lagophonus) is more or less inclined to wander during the au- 
tumn and winter is evidenced by the capture of specimens of this race in Colorado and 
Nebraska. Both of these states are well without the breeding range of this subspecies, 
as is also North Dakota. There is, so far as we are aware, no published record for the 
last-mentioned state, and we are, therefore, through the courtesy of Mr. J. D. Allen of 
Mandan, North Dakota, pleased to be able to add it to the list of North Dakota birds. 
A specimen of Bubo virginianus lagophonus was captured at Fort Clark, near Stanton, 
North Dakota, on March 14, 1918, by Mr. J. Danielson, and sent Mr. J. D. Allen to be 
mounted. It is an adult in perfect plumage and is practically typical of this subspe- 
cies.—Harry C. OBERHOLSER, Washington, D. C., October 1, 1919. 
Effects of a Storm on the Bird-life of the Sea.—Off the Golden Gate a southerly 
gale commenced on the night of December 3, 1919, raging through the early morning 
hours and throughout the day of December 4, subsiding somewhat in fury toward sun- 
set, but increasing again during the following night. It broke finally on the morning 
of December 5, and about 9 4. mM. of that day my assistant curator, Mr. Luther Little, 
was despatched, in spite of squalls and occasional drenchings, upon a tour of investiga- 
tion along the ocean beach from the sea end of Golden Gate Park (San Francisco, Cali- 
fornia) southward, to learn what he could of the effects of the storm upon the seabirds 
of this locality. The velocity of the wind had been variously reported from ships as 
high as 84 miles per hour, but the most reliable report was probably from the Pt. Reyes 
light station, which gave it as 75 miles, and the surf had been running very high. 
Little returned toward noon laden with a heavy burden of bedraggled and water- 
soaked bodies of seabirds. His load consisted of the following: 1 Horned Grebe (Colym- 
bus auritus), 1 Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata), 2 California Murres (Uria 
troille californica), 2 California Gulls (Larus californicus), 1 Western Gull (Larus occi- 
dentalis), 1 Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis), 1 Short-billed Gull (Larus brachy- 
rhynchus), and 3 Pacific Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis glupischa). All were more or less 
battered by wind and waves; seven were in a sufficiently good state of preservation to 
make fair specimens. The stomachs of all were empty, and the birds were in a more 
or less emaciated condition. 
