66 
THE CONDOR 
I Vol. in 
modravius sandwichensis bryanti and Geothlypis trichas simiosa; while from the 
southern marshes come the larger Melospiza melodia cooperi, Ammodramns sandwkh- 
eiisis beldtngi and Geothlypis trichas scirpicola. It is also notable that the races of 
Geothlypis trichas occurring on the Pacific Coast are to a remarkable degree paral- 
lelled by those of the Atlantic Coast (See Palmer, Auk XVII, July 1900, pp. 216- 
242.) 
In bringing together the material on which this paper is based, I am indebted 
for the loan of specimens to Messrs. F. S. Daggett, H. vS. Swarth, W. O. Emerson 
and T. J. Hoover. 
Some Rare Birds in Los Angeles Co., Cal. 
P HOEBP" {Sayoruis phade). On 
b'eb. 14, 1901, I secured a male 
of this species near vSan Fernan- 
do. Not feeling certain as to its iden- 
tity and having no specimens of my 
own with which to compare it, I sent it 
to Washington, where it was identified 
as S. plurbe by Dr. Chas. W. Richmond. 
Slate-colored Sparrow. { Passer clla i. 
schistacea). A female sparrow taken by 
myself at Millard’s Canyon on Feb. ii, 
1901 is identified, also b}^ Dr. Richmond, 
as belonging to this subspecies. One 
other, also a female, taken b}^ myself at 
Eos Angeles and recorded by Grinnell 
in his ‘List of Birds of the Pacific Slope 
of Los Angeles Co.,’ is I believe, the 
only one heretofore recorded from this 
part of the state. Another sparrow, a 
male, taken at Los xVngeles Nov. 24,1900 
is described bj’ the same authority as 
the last, as intermediate between 
Passer ella iliaca and P. i. schistacea. 
This bird is rather sparsely spotted un- 
derneath, the throat and abdomen being 
immaculate, and the spot.s are of a 
brighter fox red than in the case of P. 
i. schistacea or P. i. iinalaschcensis. 
Flicker. (Colaptes aiiratas). I secur- 
ed an adult female of this species at 
Los Angeles on Feb, 20, 1901. It was 
feeding in a pepper tree in company 
with several Red-shafted Flickers and 
w'as rather wild, in fact I had consider- 
able difficulty in getting close enough 
to it to get a .shot. 
Besides these .stragglers from the 
north and east, I have seen all through 
the past winter birds more or le.ss com- 
mon in the higher mountains, but rare 
or unknown at an altitude as low as the 
cit}' of Los Angeles. On Nov. 14, 1900 
I shot a female Williamson’s Sapsucker 
(Sphyrapici/s thvroideiis) ; on Feb. 2, 
1901 a female Townsend’s .Solitaire 
(hfvadestes toiousendi) and on Feb. 18 a 
male Red-na])ed Sapsucker (Sphyrapicas 
varii/s )iuchalis). All these birds were 
feeding in pepper trees and within 50 
yards of the same place. For the last 
two months Cassin’s Purple Finch 
{Carpodacas cassiiii) has been quite 
abundant, feeding in pepper and willow 
trees. Nearly all that I have seen have 
had the plumage of the lower parts 
badh' stained and gummed together, 
being often nearly black on the throat 
and breast. 
Last week, April 15, I saw a flock of 
about two dozen Pine Siskins {Spi 7 ius 
pii2as) feeding in some tall mustard, 
clinging to the top of the stems. I shot 
three and when I passed the spot sev- 
eral hours later the flock was.still busily 
feeding. The three that I shot had 
their crops filled with plant lice, with 
which the wild mustard seed is covered. 
It struck me as rather an unusual diet 
for these birds. H. S. Swarth. 
Los A?igeles, Cal., April 22, ’01. 
® ® ® 
Harry R. Taylor made an interesting 
take on April 14 of White-tailed Kite 
We say “interesting,” inasmuch as 
Mr. Taylor mentions that his pulse 
registered 140 beats per minute when 
he reached terra finnal Verily the 
spirit of olden days has not forsaken H. 
R. T! 
