THE CONDOR 
Vol. XIII 
16,S 
bird was reported to be fluttering- about a large front room, recentlj- vacated, in one of the light- 
keeper’s houses. A party of us repaired to the spot, and one of the ladies, by a cpiick motion, 
seized the frightened bird in midair, and gracionsl}- presented it to me, — an adult male Ovenbird 
in prime feather. Another bird was seen outside the house half an hour later, and it haunted 
the general vicinity of the keepers' cpiarters during the remainder of our sta}-, five days. The 
specimen taken was prepared by l\Ir. j. Rowle\’, and is now in the .\cademy collection. 
Hlack-throated (Ireen \Varl)ler. Deudroica virens. ( )n the evening of Maj- 29th I secured, 
at all too close range, a female of this species. It had settled momentarily upon the ground in 
front of the head keeper's house. Dnfortunately, most of its head was shot off by a Imnched 
charge, l)ut "the remains" are now iti the Academy collection to attest the validity of the record. 
Another specimen, akso a female, was seen in compaiiy with such other migrants as Redstart, 
Magnolia Warbler, etc., on the afternoon of June 1st: but no attempt was made to secure it. — W. 
Leon Dawson. 
Swallow Notes from Fresno County, California. — Mr. (IrinnelTs record in The Con- 
dor for Maj'-June of a pair of Barn Swallows observed near I'resno on March I.t last, has caused 
me to put the following notes on record. 
On the morning of March 19, 19 ().t the writer obser\ ed a single Barn Swallow (//iriindo ery- 
Uiroyastey) in company with several Tree Swallows circling about a pond some six miles north 
of Fresno. As it was the first one seen that spring it seemed probable that the bird had reached 
this place from some point to the north of xis. My suspicions were parti}' confirmed during the 
fall of the same year when the Barn Swallows apparently departed toward the north. September 
2.T large numbers of them passed over at fretpient intervals all day. They certainly appeared to 
be migrating but were travelling in a course directly opposite to that which they would be ex- 
pected to pur.sue at that time of year. The following spring 1 had an excellent opportunity to 
watch for the first migrant, and was not greatly surprised on the morning of March 19, upon hear- 
ing a cheerful twittering overhead, to see a Barn Swallow travelling .southward at a considerable 
height. 
Is it possible that this swallow has two routes by which it enters this part of the .San Joaquin 
\’alley ? Possibly in certain seasons the usual .southern way is undesirable from some cause, and 
the birds enter the valley by a northern route. It would be interesting to learn from observers 
living north of Fresno, the dates upon which this swallow was first observed for the spring of 
1900. 
In Fresno County the Barn .Swallows nest, almost without exception, under bridges, fasten- 
ing their nests to the stringers over the water. The smaller bridges over all the irrigation 
ditches shelter from one to three or four pairs, while the species swarms by hundreds under the 
large ones that span some of the sloughs. 
The Tree .Swallow Uridopt acne bicolor) is pre.sent in small numbers throughout the winter, 
but each year during January and I'-ebruary, I have observed a .southward movemexit on the part 
of this species. .Sometimes a single bird passes over but often two or three are seen together. 
The Tree Swallow has been fouml nesting in sycamores along the .San Joacpiin river and in 
pine stubs at .Shaver Lake. 
On March 28, 190, S the writer found a pair of Violet-green Swallows (Tachycineta thalassifia 
Irpida) busily engaged in carrying nesting material into a cavity in a sycamore stub near the 
river about nine miles north of I'resno. .Several other pairs were discussing the fitness of other 
cavities. This, I think, is rather early nesting. 
My earliest record for the arrival of the Cliff .Swallow il’c/roc/ic/idoft lit/iifroHS) is March 14 
(190,1 and 1904). A nesting colony was examined April 29, 1910 in which a number of nests held 
good sized young birds. — ^^(oiiN (L Tveer. 
Man-o’-War Birds in Southern California. — On June 1.1, 1911, two immature Man-o’-War 
Birds [Fregata aqnila), were caught with hook and line, by a fisherman, at the ocean end of the 
pleasure pier. Long Beach, California. The birds have the white heads, which, according to 
Cones Key, is the plumage of two year old birtls of this species. 
They are now, (June 14, 1911), on exhibition in B. A. Orant’s "Animal Flxhibit", under the 
Long Beach pleasure pier, and are doing well on a diet of fish. — C. B. Linton. 
