154 THE CONDOR Vol. XXII 
ters. The same remarks apply with reference to the feature of coloration set 
forth in the diagnosis. The steely blue rather than brassy tone of the metallic 
sheen is easy enough to see in the coast-district birds ; but it begins to fail in the 
birds from the Sierran foothills. To express the situation in another way, Hupha- 
gus cyanocephalus cyanocephalus intergrades with EH. c. minusculus over a rather 
wide belt of country adjacent to and including the Sierra Nevada. 
Berkeley, California, May 81, 1920. 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
A Feeding Habit of the Cedar Waxwing.—The following observations, disclosing 
a habit of the Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) which was unfamiliar to the 
writer, may perhaps be of interest to others. The note-book entry was made in the 
™“lathead Forest, near Belton, Montana. 
August 17, 1915, at Ouzel Creek, on the Middle Fork trail: I watched a Cedar Wax- 
wing feeding berries to her full-grown young. After descending to a service-berry bush 
and remaining there a few seconds, the bird flew up to a dead tree, followed by the young 
birds, which sat in expectant attitudes near her. The parent had a red (unripe) berry 
in her bill and she fed this at once to one of her family. She then poked her head to- 
ward the young again, gave a little gulp, and behold! another berry was in her bill. 
This she gave to a youngster near her and at once produced anothen berry in like man- 
ner; then another and still another, until she had fed them five whole berries in suc- 
cession. Although each berry was brought forth with a distinctly visible gulp it appar- 
ently did not involve much effort.—ALrExANDER D. Du Bots, Chicago, February 8, 1920. 
A Plague of Rufous-crowned Sparrows.—From about the middle of November, 
1919, to the middle of March, 1920, there was a flock of Rufous-crowned Sparrows (Aimo- 
phila ruficeps) around my home in Hagle Rock. The birds were exceedingly troubie- 
some because of the damage they did to plants. A small area of lawn close to some 
shrubbery was picked almost bare around the edges, the clover being eaten first and 
then the grass. It was necessary to cover young seedlings with wire netting to prevent 
complete loss; older plants were badly injured. Buds on bamboos were eaten during 
the colder part of the year, and for a few days later in the season, the birds were to be 
seen eating the buds of fruit trees, but they left before much harm had been done. The 
flock of ruficeps numbered about twenty. The sparrows kept together much as quails 
do and would fly or run from one place to another at the same time. 
It may be of interest that “white-crowns” were really uncommon about the place 
this year until the rufous-crowns had disappeared, when both the Intermediate and 
Golden-crowned Sparrows became fairly abundant. This is the first year that sparrows 
have been troublesome in any way, though I have often wondered why we escaped the 
depredations so commonly committed. I have never seen a ruficeps about the grounds 
until this winter, but have heard them singing on the brush-covered hillsides. Perhaps 
the visitation of rufous-crowns should be looked upon as an honor, but from one point 
of view it was certainly a nuisance.—C. O. Esterty, Eagle Rock, California, March 29, 
1920. : 
Winter Nesting of the Ground Dove.—The Mexican Ground Dove (Chaemepelia — 
passerina pallescens) has been noted as a rare spring visitor in this vicinity (Brawley, 
Imperial County, California) since 1912, in which year it was first seen on February 
1. A pair was seen on March 30 of that year, and one of the birds shot for identifica- 
tion. It has been seen on several occasions since, but no nests have been found until 
this year. 
