i8 
THE CONDOR 
I Vol. HI 
tree. The ground was covered with leaves and the bird would hop up to one of 
them, nervously jerking his tail and occasionally “flirting” his wings, and select- 
ing a leaf he would suddenly grasp it in his beak and throw it quickly out of his 
way, and at once make a grab for the angle-worms underneath, sometimes almost 
falling over backward in his efforts to draw them out of the ground. I watched 
him for .sometime and saw him throw some of the leaves at least fifteen inches. 
He was very successful, .securing one or more worms from beneath every leaf he 
turned over, and I should like to know by what faculty he could determine be- 
neath which leaves the worms were hidden? 
On the 6th of October, 1900 I shot three specimens of the Willow Goldfinch 
from a flock of perhaps 100 birds. One of them, a young male, shows a rather 
odd coloration on the crown, where occurs a patch of pure white as large as a 
dime. Otherwise the plumage is normal. 
August 25, 1900 I noticed a Roadrunner on one of the principal residence 
streets of Santa Clara. After “pacing” down the street a short distance it took a 
short cut through a fence into a flower garden where it was lost sight of. This 
was rather an unexpected visitor, but imagine my surprise one morning in No- 
vember to see an American Coot calmly walking down the street in front of me. I 
followed closely for over 100 yards and although the bird did not seem to be in- 
jured, it acted as though thoroughly “lo.st”. The nearest water where the birds 
are found is three miles awa}'. Wm. L. Atkin.son, Santa Clara, Cal. 
Western Evening Grosbeak at Hayward. Gal. The early morning of December 29, 1900. 
brought in a new record for this part of Alameda County (Haywards), if not for 
the county at large, no other records as yet having been made of the Western 
Evening Grosbeak, {Coccothraiistes v. montamis). 
The birds’ loud, whistling notes first attracted my attention, as they flew into 
an almond tree, seeming to rest from a long flight. Some twenty birds were in the 
flock and only one was shot before they were off, calling as they flew. The one 
collected proyed to be a female in the winter plumage, of grayish color, showing 
a few yellowish-green feathers in one side of the neck. The crop was full of 
willow buds, showing that they had lately fed, no doubt among the creek willows 
below the orchard. 
This form of the Evening Grosbeak is found commonly every winter through 
the Santa Cruz Mountains of the coast range, across the bay west of Haywards. 
I found them common among the pines at Monterey, Cal., in the latter part of 
November, 1896, particularly in the early morning, or at day-break. 
W. Oi'TO Emerson, Haywards, Cal., Jan. r, 1901. 
w w w w w 
Anent an Innovation. 
On another page will be found a 
‘snap-shot’ of Dr. C. Hart Merriam. Be- 
lieving that even the more staid mem- 
bers of our ornithological circle may 
enjoy seeing some of our prominent or- 
nithologists in moments of relaxation, 
Squib has ventured to inaugurate this 
series. So many persons are on their 
good behavior at the photographer’s, 
that we ordinarily see the ‘exception’ 
rather than the ‘rule’. The original 
snajj-shots being too valuable to trust 
with the engraver, this .series will ap- 
pear redrawn with slight modifications. 
And lest some poor man should take us 
too .seriomsly we beg to a.ssure the world 
that we “josh only our friends”. 
“Squib.” 
“Pied Pipers of Santa Barbara” by Martin- 
etta Kinsell, in October Land of Siins/iine, is a 
good example of an extreme type of popular 
ornithology. It is a well written article, but of 
a gelatinous consistency that affords little 
mental pabulum. The germ of truth is about 
as elusive as a cork inside of a bottle. Perhaps 
it is not a serious attempt; we sincerely hope 
not. W. K. P'. 
The Wesieni Ornithologist, whose promising 
career confined itself to three issues, has we re- 
gret to say, sought a resting-place in the journ- 
alistic graveyard. Thus many creditable and 
deserving journals are proving steadily the 
futility of the 50-cent “bird magazine.’’ 
The leading feature of December Bird-Lore 
is a popular article on photographing White- 
tailed Ptarmigan {Lagopus Icucnrns) in their 
native haunts, illustrated by six superb photo- 
graphs of the ])tarmigan in summer and win- 
ter plumage by the author, Mr. PI. R. Warren. 
The photographs are certaiidy among the most 
notable published in ornithological magazines 
during the year. 
