Mar., 1901 I 
THE CONDOR 
37 
Rare and Inusual Occurrences at Stockton, 
Cal. 
T his year seems an unusual one in 
the way of bird migration in San 
Joaquin County, having added to 
the list thus far several new visitants 
and also causing an influx of a single 
species heretofore unknown in this 
locality, though common in the eastern 
foothills. I refer to the Blue-fronted 
j 2 Ly(Cya 7 iocitta stelleri frontalis^ 
This species has become so numerous 
in San Joaquin County, and especially 
within the limits of the city of Stockton, 
that it has for the time being, taken the 
place of the noisy California ]ay(Ap//el- 
ocoma califontica.') My record of its 
first appearance is dated November ii, 
1900, at which time I saw two of this 
species in the vicinity of Stockton. 
Two days later I saw several of the 
birds within the limits of the city and 
from that time on they became quite 
numerous, showing verj^ little fear in 
their new haunts and being seemingly 
at home in the white oaks with which 
the city abounds. Mr. Belding informs 
me that he has found them in the heart 
of the Sacramento Valley, but has no 
record of their occurrence in this locali- 
ty previous to this year. 
The abundance of the birds is shown 
by the result of a “blue- jay” shoot 
which five sportsmen from Stockton 
took part in on December 2, 1900. They 
confined themselves to a small area 
northeast of the city and as a result of 
their shoot brought home 220 birds, 100 
of which were California Jays while the 
remaining 120 were of the Blue-fronted 
species. The birds are still here in 
large numbers and show no signs of de- 
creasing. 
Another rare visitant which is quite 
common here at present is the California 
Purple VmchiCai'podacus piirptu'ens cal- 
ifor)iic 7 is.) These birds have been found 
at times in the timber about four miles 
south of Stockton, but this year they 
have become very abundant within the 
city, feeding on the new buds of the 
fruit trees and also on the seeds of a 
species of wire grass. My first record 
of their appearance is January 20, 1901 
at which time I saw a flock of .six in 
the fruit trees at the rear of my dwell- 
ing. They were noted in the yard each 
day and seemed to increase in numbers 
until at the present, flocks of 10 or 12 
may be seen at any time. 
Another straggler to this locality is 
the Western Evening GrosbeakCCfcci?- 
tJij'austes vespertimis 7 Jiontamis.') On Jan- 
uary 31, 1901 a flock of three males and 
six females flew from under a magnolia 
tree in one of the yards of the city, 
where they were feeding on the seeds 
that had fallen to the ground. On Feb- 
ruary 13, 1901 a flock of about a dozen 
birds were also seen in the city. This 
is my first record of the birds in this 
locality though I found them in the 
foot-hills east of Stockton in February 
1899. 
W. B. Sampson. 
Stockto 7 i, Cal., Feb. ly, igoi. 
W ‘W' w 
W. Lee Chambers of Santa Monica, Cal., 
writes of taking two sets of eggs of Anna’s 
Hummingbird on January 30 and February i 
respectively. 
John J. Williams of Applegate, Cal. reports 
that a Californian Jay { Apheloconia califoniica) 
was shot near that place last fall which was 
flourishing without the usual lower mandible. 
This had apparently been shot away at .some 
previous time, but the break had healed and 
the jay had evidently found little difficult}- 
in securing its usual food. 
H. II. Torrey formerly of Berkeley, a mem- 
ber of the Cooper Club, will receive his 
doctor’s degree at Columbia University, New 
York, this spring. Mr. Torrey engaged in 
post graduate work in zoology and has upon 
request, delivered several lectures on the work 
before various scientific societies ofNew York. 
A. W. Johnson of Upper Lake, Cal., 
who possesses one of the most extensive and 
choicest oological collections in California 
recently compiled the measurements of his 
large series of Golden Eagles’ eggs, and it is 
interesting to note his largest set is one from 
Spain, the two eggs measuring 3.26x2.34 and 
3.23x2.34 inches. 
