1914] Miller: Bird Remains from the Pleistocene of San Pedro 37 



CATHAETES AUEA (Linnaeus) 

 A complete ulna in the collection is assigned to this species. The 

 specimen probably represents a young bird of the first or second year, 

 as it is noticeably slender as compared with an adult specimen. The 

 total length of the bone and also the number and distribution of the 

 tubercles for feather attachment are identical in the fossil and the 

 Recent specimens. The turkey vulture is a common beachcomber 

 of the San Pedro region today, hence the discovery of its remains in 

 the Pleistocene beds affords no great surprise. 



STUENELLA NEGLECTA Audubon 



Like the last species recorded, the meadowlark is found commonly 

 among the sand dunes and salt grasses of the beach today. The 

 species is represented by one perfect humerus and the distal end of an- 

 other of the opposite side. 



There remain in the collection unidentified fragments representing 

 many parts of the skeleton. Their assignment to species would 

 necessarily be most uncertain and might lead to deplorable results 

 if such tentative record were given too much weight by others who 

 had not the material in hand and failed to realize the indeterminate 

 nature of the specimens. It is considered wiser to leave unassigned 

 such material as is not positively recognizable. 



CONCLUSIONS 



Of the birds recorded from the Upper San Pedro Gavia and 

 Diomedea represent two families heretofore unrecorded in American 

 palaeontology. Anas, Erismatura, Nettion, Querquedula, Anser, and 

 Brant a are recorded from Fossil Lake, Oregon. Nettion occurs also in 

 Hawver Cave, Branta in Potter Creek Cave and in Rancho La Brea. 

 Lophortyx is known from Hawver Cave and from Rancho La Brea. 

 Cathartes is now known from five Pleistocene horizons on the Pacific 

 Coast, as follows : Rancho La Brea, Potter Creek Cave, Samwel Cave, 

 Hawver Cave, and Upper San Pedro. Sturnella is further known 

 from Rancho La Brea. 



