146 
THK CONDOR 
1 Vol. Ill 
female on Sept. 28 and a male on Oct. 
T4. Mr. (jrinnell writes me that he has 
a specimen, a male, taken at Pasadena 
Sept. 30, i8g6. Aside from this I be- 
lieve that I have about all the si)eci- 
mens heretofore taken in Dos Angeles 
County, but neverthele.ss I believe tliat 
I felmiiitlwphUa celata is a regular fall 
migrant in very limited numbers. I 
have taken it now in four different 
years (see Coxdor III, i), in fact in 
every j^ear in which I have looked for 
it. The grey head and duller colors of 
celata usually serve easily to distinguish 
it from //. c. lutesceiis, in whose com- 
pany 1 have generally found it. 
H. S. SWAKTH. 
Los Angeles, Cal. 
m % in 
The Status of the Cedar Waxwing in Cali 
fornia. 
N THE May Condor Mr. J. W. 
Mailliard makes an encpiiry in re- 
gard to the summer and winter 
ranges of the Cedar Waxwing (Am- 
pells ccdroruni). Since then 1 have 
jotted down whatever notes I could find 
on the subject, and these may be sum- 
marized somewhat as follows: 
The Cedar-bird is principally if not 
exclusively a winter visitant to the 
State. I have been unable to find any 
definite breeding record for California; 
but a distribution map is pretty well 
dotted with winter stations from Red 
bluff to San Diego, and from the Nevada 
line to the Coast, excepting the high 
mountain ranges. In the more northern 
and alpine sections it occurs chiefly as 
aspiingand fall migrant. Within its 
winter habitat as above indicated, the 
species is found abundantly each year, 
though its local distribution is very ir- 
regular, being governed largely by 
food-supply. In certain localities wax- 
wings may appear suddenly in large 
flocks, while points but a few miles dis- 
tant are avoided altogether. besides 
mulberries, mi.stle-toe berries and wild 
grapes, the berries of the pepper-tree. 
so abundantly planted for shade and 
beauty in Southern California, are es- 
pecially sought after. These latter ber- 
ries mature in largest quantities in the 
early spring months and it is then that 
the casual observer is most sure to 
notice the presence of the Cedar bird. 
The Cedar Waxwing arrives within 
the State during the tatter half of Sep- 
tember. My earliest fall record at Palo 
Alto is September 13, 1901, when six 
were seen in the heart of town. At 
Pasadena, I saw them first on Septem- 
ber 14, 1897, when three were noted, 
h'isher. in the “Ornithology of the Death 
Valley Expedition,” records finding a 
fleck of five at Three Rivers September 
15, 1891. The species is not, however, 
noted in numbers until well along into 
October. P'rom that month until the 
middle of May it is more or le.ss numer- 
ous according to local -food attractions. 
In the spring the species remains com- 
mon until even after many of our 
strictly summer visitants are rearing 
young. This fact has led to the sup- 
position that the waxwing itself should 
be found nesting, but according to my 
own observations, up to the time of their 
disappearance, the birds remain in 
flocks, without showing any intentions 
of pairing. 
My latest spring observation for the 
species at Pasadena was May 17, 1893. 
when a small flock was still feeding in 
the pepper-trees on my home ])lace. 
belding, in his “Land Birds of the Paci- 
fic District,” records the latest at San 
Diego, Ma3" 14, 1884; at Poway, May 18, 
a large flock; at .San Jose, May 10, large 
flecks; and at Chico, May 15, 1884, a 
small flock. vSo that the usual time of 
arrival and departure of the s])ecies 
throughout the State is remarkably con- 
stant. 
There are, however, four instances of 
the occurrence of waxwings long after 
the ordinary time of departure. As 
noted in “Birds of the Pacific Slope of 
I^os Angeles County,” two were seen 
at South Pasadena June 16, 1897; 
Eisher has recorded two at Lone Pine, 
