Sept., 1920 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 187 
exaggerated impression. In describing how fast mice can scoot I could, with a dishonest 
sort of truthfulness, state that I have seen them run down by automobiles going at sixty 
miles an hour. 
On July 21, 1919, H. G. White and I were travelling by Ford down the Arroyo Seco 
Canyon, Monterey County, California. Rounding a curve at very low speed we surprised 
a Valley Quail in the road. Like the Irishman on the track in front of the onrushing 
locomotive, who said his life would be saved if he reached the switch first, our quail 
seemed to figure that its only salvation lay in outsprinting the Ford down the road. We 
gradually increased our speed till the bird was pressed to its utmost and could no longer 
gain on us. At this stage of the race our speedometer registered 12 miles an hour. 
Next day, when en route from Soledad to the Gabilan Range via Stonewall Creek, 
we had exactly the same experience with a Roadrunner. At the top speed to which we 
provoked our victim, the famous runner was! moving at the tremendous rate of 10 miles 
an hour on a practically level piece of road. 
These two records would be more conclusive if backed up by others of the same 
kind. Both birds, however, seemed to be able-bodied adults with nothing the matter 
with their legs, and their speed, it seems fair to believe, must have been not far from 
average. It would nevertheless be of interest if other ornithological motorists could 
make similar tests. Considering the propensity of both the Roadrunner and the Valley 
Quail for getting in the road ahead of machines and trying to beat them to the next 
turning-off place, it ought to be possible for observers to gather some data on the sub- 
ject. Is the Quail really swifter than the Roadrunner? Have we any bird swifter—or 
less slow—than either? For example, how about the Ring-necked Pheasant § (Phasianus 
torquatus), or even the barnyard rooster, when urged? 
It might be in good order here to urge again the opportunity offered motorists 
for testing the speed of birds in flight, as already discussed by Alexander Wetmore (Con- 
dor, xvii, May, 1916, pp. 112-113). It is of common occurrence for birds, scared up at the 
roadside, to fly long distances just ahead or abreast of the machine. Some seem to ima- 
gine they are thereby escaping from danger. Others act as if they considered the thing 
a sort of game. That suggests another idea: do birds have a game-playing instinct or 
capacity ?—RicHarp Hunt, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, June 11, 
1920. 
Notes on Some Birds of Santa Cruz Island, California.~—Through the courtesy of 
Mr. F. Caire of San Francisco, the writer was enabled to spend from January 22 to Jan- 
uary 26, 1920, on Santa Cruz Island. The following additions to Mr. A. B. Howell’s ex- 
cellent paper on the Birds of the Channel Islands may be of interest. 
Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli. Specimens of this subspecies, put by Mr. Howell 
in the hypothetical list, were taken and identified by Mr. L. E. Wyman. The subspecies 
seemed about equally numerous with Z. l. gambeli. 
Hylocichla guttata guttata. A small dark Hermit Thrush was taken and sent to 
Mr. Swarth. The skin reached him in poor condition, but he writes that he believes it to 
be the Dwarf Hermit Thrush. This subspecies was also placed by Mr. Howell on the 
hypothetical list. 
Telmatodytes palustris plesius. A single Marsh Wren taken at Prisoner's Harbor 
in the only patch of cat-tails seen on the island, was identified by Mr. Wyman as of this 
subspecies. It has not before been recorded from Santa Cruz Island. 
Geothlypis trichas scirpicola. A female of this subspecies of Yellowthroat was 
taken in the same patch of cat-tails at Prisoner’s Harbor. It has not before been re- 
corded from the island. 
Sialia currucoides. Mountain Bluebirds, not before recorded from any of the Chan- 
nel Islands, were observed in three different localities. A scattered flock of over twenty 
were hovering and feeding on the mesa near Black Point at the west end of the island. 
Another small flock was seen near the ranch house at the west end, and two birds were 
seen in the pines in the central part of the main valley. 
Nucifraga columbiana. Clark Nutcrackers were reported in the winter of 1919- 
1920 from many points near the coast, but it is nevertheless surprising that they crossed 
the twenty-six miles of channel and reached Santa Cruz Island. The birds, called Jack- 
