Mar., 1904 I 
THE CONDOR 
45 
from the eastward, for the skin seems identical in every respect with others from 
the Huachuca mountains, Arizona. 
Psaltriparus minimus. California Bush-tit. Small scattering flocks were fre- 
quently seen in the pepper trees and cottonwoods close around the Springs. 
Auriparus flaviceps. Verdin. A common bird, from a desert standpoint. Mr. 
Gilman has described its nesting in this vicinity elsewhere (Condor IV, 88). 
Regulus c. cineraceus. Ashy Kinglet. Fairly common in the trees about the 
Springs, and also in brush along the ditches to the eastward. 
Polioptila c. obscura. Western Gnatcatcher. Several were seen, and one shot 
for identification, close about the Springs. They were generally in the company 
of bush-tits. 
Polioptila plumbea. Plumbeous Gnatcatcher. A common species, being found 
in pairs, or sometimes half-a-dozen within a few yards’ radius, in mesquites, or 
any other sort of desert brush for that matter. The call-notes of this species are 
quite different from those of either of the others, but defy intelligible description. 
Mr. Gilman told me this species occurs to the westward about fifteen miles, be- 
yond which he has not seen it. The black-tailed gnatcatcher is common at Ban- 
ning and a few miles to the eastward. But he has never found the two species 
intermingling. There is apparently a hiatus of several miles left between their 
ranges where neither have been seen except for the single straggler recorded beyond. 
Polioptila californica. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. I secured a lone specimen, 
a female, on January first, two miles east of Palm Springs. I heard and recognized 
its call, and singled it out from among a scattered band of the plumbeous. The 
black-tail was being set upon and vindictively harried by a pair of plumbeous, 
which very plainly indeed resented its intrusion upon their domain. This bird 
was doubtless a straggler from the direction of Banning. 
Hylocichla g. nana. Dwarf Hermit Thrush. Several observed in canyons 
along streams which make down from San Jacinto Peak. 
Merula m. propinqua. Western Robin. A few, perhaps a dozen in all, were 
constantly present in the pepper trees about the Springs. 
Sialia m. occidentalis. Western Bluebird. Found in flocks frequenting mes- 
quite tracts where they were feeding on mistletoe berries. In Palm Canyon great 
numbers were in evidence among the giant palms. A dozen or more would be 
seen clinging to each pendant cluster of dates obviously attracted by the fruity 
outside pulp. While thus feeding upon the fruit of the palms, the noise made by 
by the seeds dropping into the dry brush at the bases of the lofty trees was so 
great as to give the impression, before the true cause was discovered, that some 
large animal was trampling through the undergrowth. 
Sialia arctica. Mountain Bluebird. Mr. Mailliard saw four near Palm Springs 
and secured two. 
The Elf Owl in California 
BY HERBERT BROWN 
W ITH the possible exception of rare stragglers I am of the belief that the 
Colorado river marks the western boundary line of the habitat of the elf 
owl {Hficropallas whitneyi.) I have reasons to think that this statement 
will hold good. In Arizona, during the nesting season, the natural home of the 
