TOO 
rm-: condor 
I voi. II r 
their own characteristic building ma- 
terial. 
The orioles are very beneficial to the 
horticulturist, although they eat some 
early fruit such as berries, cherries etc., 
but no fruit man will begrudge them 
these if he thoroughly understands 
their habits. The chief food of the 
orioles consists of insects and injurious 
caterpillars, and I have often watched 
them while they were searching among 
the branches for this latter food. They 
are particularly fond of a small green 
caterpiller that destroyed the foliage of 
the prune trees a few years ago. The 
orioles are often seen in the berry 
patches but they are usually in search 
of insects as is proven by the examin- 
ation of a great number of stomachs. 
Notes on Some Little known Birds of Southern California. 
HV RDMCNI) Iim.I.liR. 
Colymbus auritus. Horned (Irebe. 
A few were seen on a small lake near Riverside in the winter of 1893. One 
of these was secured. None have been observed there since. 
Sterna forsteri. Forster Tern. 
Found common at Fllsinore Tmke, June 2, 1S96. Said to breed by a local 
collector. 
Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis. Black Tern. 
Observed at Elsinore Lake, June 2, 1896. Ee.ss common than the P'orster 
Tern, but also said to breed. 
Steganopus tricolor. Wilson Phalarojje. 
One specimen obtained at Riverside in the winter of T891. 
Totanus flavipes. Vellow-legs. 
Noted twice at Riverside during the fall migration. 
Totanus melanoleucus. Greater Vellow-legs. 
A common migrant at Riverside. 
Lophortyx gambeli. Gambel Partridge. 
Found fairly common in May, 1896, at Warren’s Wells, a small station on the 
Mojave Desert at the south-eastern base of the San Bernardino Mountains. 
Melopelia leucoptera. White-winged Dove. 
W hile at Warren’s Wells the miners told me of a white-winged dove which 
occured at Twenty-nine Palms, a station some thirty miles farther east. From 
their description I judged it to be this species. If correct future exploration 
should prove its presence, which would make an addition to the list of California 
birds. 
Haliaeetus leucocephalus. Bald Eagle. 
I was assured by a local collector, that a pair of Bald fiagles had nested for a 
number of years near Elsinore Lake. 
Dryobates scalaris bairdi. Texas Woodpecker. 
Several collected at Warren’s Wells on the Mojave Desert in May, 1896. 
Dryobates scalaris lucasanus. Saint Lucas Woodpecker. 
Found common at Whitewater at the head of the Colorado Desert in Ma5^ 
1896. One secured at Riverside in April, 1895. 
Harporhynchus bendirei. Bendire Thrasher. 
Found fairly common in May, 1896, at Warren’s Wells, where this species 
was more numerous than H. lecoiitei, which also occured. Specimens were se- 
cured. 
