78 THE CONDOR Vol. XXII 
the fact worth telling about if he has encountered more than a half dozen birds together, 
and during ten years of field work, I have never seen more than ten at one time. Hence, 
it was with considerable excitement that I found a flock of a hundred and fifty-one of 
these birds and a lone goose (presumably Branta canadensis canadensis) making them- 
selves at home in Crane Lake, which is situated at the upper end of Antelope Valley 
in Los Angeles County. I examined them for some time through ten power glasses while 
most of them were within a hundred and fifty yards of me and the public road. Al- 
though automobiles were passing continually, the swans were unconcerned, and while a 
small company was sleeping on the shore, the head and one foot of each tucked out of 
sight, others were standing on their heads in the shallow water, or indulging in violent 
altercations, craning their necks to the fullest extent, rushing at each other and making 
a great racket. Still others were swimming about with necks curved into the character- 
istic posture. The scene called to mind accounts of the abundance of game in the old 
days and was a sight that I never expected to witness.—A. B. HowEtu, Berkeley, Califor- 
nia, January 4, 1920. 
Unusual Conditions for Southern California.—The closing months of the year 1919 
have proven of especial interest to bird students in southern California because of the 
greater or less displacement of a number of species of birds from their average fall and 
winter ranges. It is to be hoped that all who have noted such unusual conditions will 
record their observations so that some more comprehensive view of the situation as a 
whole may be attained. The following notes are offered as a contribution toward this 
larger view. 
On August 29, a male Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra rubra) in summer plum- 
age came to the fig tree in my yard in the city of Los Angeles. The bird was twice 
seen and later secured. It uttered the typical call note of the species and seemed not at 
all shy. The specimen was submitted to the editors of THrE Connor and was referred by 
them to the subspecies ruwbra. The only other record of the subspecies for the state was 
from the same locality in March of the same year (Condor, xxi, 1919, p. 129). 
The Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) was noted on August 29 and on 
Jater dates among the sycamores in the Arroyo Seco within the city limits. The Golden- 
crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa olivaceus) again spends the winter in the city. Cali- 
fornia Purple Finches (Carpodacus purpureus californicus) were early in arrival and 
were unusually abundant in numbers. Sierra Red Crossbills were seen but will be 
recorded by others who took specimens. There have moved down from the Transition 
Zone, probably of the adjacent mountains, a number of Mountain Chickadees (Penthestes 
gambeli baileyae), and a colony of Blue-fronted Jays (Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis) both 
of which species have been in the vicinity for some months. Two specimens of the lat- 
ter species were taken from a group of five seen at one time. 
Finally, on December 22, an adult male Evening Grosbeak (Hesperiphona vesper- 
tina montana) was taken just outside the city limits near my place. The specimen is the 
darkest I have ever seen. It was feeding on an open hillside where some scrubby cascara 
and elder bushes chanced to be growing. It was very fat and the crop was filled with 
the shelled kernels of cascara seeds.—Loyr Miter, Southern Branch, University of Oali- 
fornia, Los Angeles, January 20, 1920. 
Notes From the Region of Lake Tahoe.—At Grass Lake in Glen Alpine Canyon, 
this summer, I took a specimen of the Sierra Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra bendirei) 
which had in its crop two pupae of some lepidopterous species. The pupae were more 
than ten millimeters in length so could not well have been taken as a mere accompani- 
ment of other food. I had supposed the crossbill limited in its diet to the seeds of conif- 
erous trees. 
The distribution of Leucosticte is so consistently given as above timber line, that 
I felt some Surprise at finding a family of the Dawson Leucosticte (L. tephrocotis daw- 
soni) at an elevation of only 7800 feet, just below Lake Lucile (see Pyramid Peak quad- 
rangle). Abundant timber is found above that point in the immediate vicinity, and two 
Juvenals were taken from a small tamarack pine within fifty yards of where an adult 
