UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 



BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 



GEOLOGY 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO AVIAN PALAEONTOL- 

 OGY FROM THE PACIFIC COAST 

 OF NORTH AMERICA 



EY 



LOYE HOLMES MILLER 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Introduction 62 



Acknowledgments 62 



Significance of Osteological Characters in Ornithology 63 



Review of the Literature 64 



Material available 66 



Oligocene Fauna 66 



Miocene Fauna 67 



Pleistocene Fauna 68 



Potter Creek Cave 68 



Samwel Cave 71 



Hawver Cave — 73 



Rancho La Brea 75 



Fossil Lake 78 



Rodeo Pleistocene 82 



Present Physiographic and Geographic Relations of the West-American 



Regions in which Fossil Avian Remains are known 82 



Relation of Pleistocene Faunas to those of the Present Day 84 



Distribution of the Cathartidae 85 



Distribution of the Falconidae 92 



Anomalies in Distribution 96 



Possible Influences Conditioning Present Distribution of Certain 



Groups .' 102 



Bird Remains as Indicators of Climatic Conditions 103 



Time Relations as Suggested by a Study of Bird Remains 105 



Causes of Extinction of Birds 108 



Tabular Arrangement of AVest- American Pleistocene Avifaunas 112 



Bibliography of Pacific Coast Fossil Avifaunas 115 



