Nov., 1911 
FROM FIERI) AND STUDY 
211 
lire from all previously recorded nest situations being placed 8 feet up in a Monterey cypress 
where it was well hidden in a thick clump of foliage. The nest, a well built structure consisting 
almost entirely of pine needles, contained four eggs in which incubation had begun. A second 
nest of the junco was found 16 feet up in the Monterey cypress in an open situation well out on 
the limb, and contained fresh eggs. This nest is even a better built structure than the first one 
found. It is a very compact affair of pine needles, roots, grasses and weed stems and well lined 
with various animal hair. (This nest was revisited on March 31 at which date the number of 
eggs had increased to four. ) It might be inferred that on account of the extreme dampness of 
an unusually rainy spring the juncos had selected these elevated nesting sites in preference to 
the customary ground-locations. Whether this theory is correct or not it is interesting to note 
that we found a ground-nest on April 16 with young fully a week old. This nest was placed 
near the foot of a tree which, however, offered but little protection. There has been some ques- 
tion raised as to the identity of the juncos breeding in the region bordering the foothills in 
San Mateo County; but Mr. J. R. Pemberton who collected examples in this locality pronounced 
them typical pinosus. 
Of more than passing interest were two nests found of the Santa Cruz Chickadee (Penlhesies 
ritfescens barlowi) both in natural cavities in Australian eucalyptus trees. The first, found by 
Carriger, held two eggs apparently deserted. The second, found by the writer, held seven fresh 
eggs which were placed in a cavity four feet above the ground and warmly lined with a great 
quantity of fur, red cow-liair and soft dry green moss. In this instance the sitting bird was 
flushed, althorigh with Chickadees this is a circumstance of considerable rarity. 
Other nests noted on the afternoon’s outing were one of the California Shrike {Lanius 
ludovicianus gambeli) freshly built, one of the Green-backed Goldfinch (Astragalinus psaltria 
hesperophiliis) nearly completed, and one of the Allen Hummingbird (Selasphorus alleni) with 
two fresh eggs. All three nests were placed in Monterey cypress trees. — Mii,Ton S. Ray. 
Bobolink in San Mateo County, California. — Mr. Vernon Shephard, taxidermist, of 28 
North Stanyan Street, San Francisco, California, has recently donated to the Museum of Verte- 
brate Zoology of the University of California a specimen (no. 19731) of Bobolink (Dolichonyx 
oryzivorus) . The bird was taken by Mr. Shephard between June 5 and 10 near San Bruno Rake 
in San Mateo County. The bird is a male in “nuptial” plumage. — W. P. Taylor. 
Notes from Alaska. — The University of California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology has re- 
cently received as gifts from Mr. Allen Hasselborg of Juneau, Alaska, specimens of birds taken 
by him in southern Alaska, some of which are of sufficient interest to justify the recording of 
their capture. A letter accompanying the last skins received contains brief notes on these and 
additional species, and extracts from it are appended below. The compiler of these notes can 
vouch for Mr. Hasselborg’s thorough acqiiaintance with the species referred to, and there need 
be no hesitation in accepting the records in the two cases where specimens were not taken. The 
numbers pertain to the bird collection of the Museum. 
Gavia adamsi. Yellow-billed Roon. Adult, not sexed, head only saved. Mole Harbor, 
Admiralty Island, May 25, 1911 (no. 19119). 
Adult male; “off Dixon Harbor” (on the mainland, a little north of Cross Sound) ; August 
17, 1911 (no. 19728). He further remarks “I have seen three others this year [1911] one about 
the first of June, off Point Hugh [southernmost point of Glass Peninsula, Adiiiiralty Island], 
one in the P'avorite Channel [at south end of Rynn Canal], June 5, and one in Berner’s Bay 
[east shore of Rynn Canal], June 17. Rast year I saw one off Ritiiya Bay about June 20, and one 
in Gastineau Channel [between Douglas Island and the mainland] ui November.” 
These records of the Yellow-billed Roon are of interest, as the various expeditions sent to 
the region by the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology failed to secure any specimens. In 1907 a 
single bird was seen at Windfall Harbor, Admiralty Island (see Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Publ. ZooL, 
vol. 5, 1909, p. 182); on the 1909 expedition, which traversed the length of the Alexander Archi- 
pelago, the species was not encountered at all. 
Picoides americanus. American Three-toed Woodpecker. Three specimens, all from Ad- 
miralty Island; adult female, Oliver Inlet, January 1, 1910 (no. 16716); adult male, Kanalku 
Bay, June 18, 1910 (no. 16717); adiilt male Seymour Canal, November 15, 1910 (no. 19729). 
lie also found two nests at Berner’s Bay, in June, 1911, but was unable to examine them. 
Chaetiira vauxi. Vaux Swift. “I saw Vaux Swifts repeatedly in June and Jul)’ in the big 
valleys running back from Berner’s Bay, and on August 24 saw four in the valley at the head of 
Excursion Inlet.” Excursion Inlet is on the northern shore of Icy Strait, between Rynn Canal 
and Glacier Bay. 
Zonotrichia coronata. Golden-crowned Sparrow. “On June 21 I saw a Golden-crowned 
Sparrow at 2500 feet elevation at Berner’s Bay, and believe it was nesting.” — H. S. SwarTh. 
Correction. In “Some Birds of the San Quentin Bay Region, Baja California”, on page 
152 of the last issue of The Condor, Rong-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) slioiild read 
Hudsonian Curlew {Numenius hudsonicus) the writer having made this blunder in writing up 
the article from his notes. — Alfred B. Howell. 
