i86 
THE CONDOR 
I Vui. nr 
September ist and on September 15 
heard a nestful making a racket at i a. m. 
i:)ONALD A. Cohen, 
Alamediiy Cal. 
® ® ® 
Getting a Late Supper. 
R eturning from work on my 
wheel during the latter part of 
August, I picked up a tack 
in my front tire and after many 
stops to pump up the tire, 
reached home in a bad frame of mind to 
find a cold supper. After supper I 
concluded to repair the puncture which 
I did, commencing at eight o’clock and 
finishing half an hour later. 
The first thing I did was to turn on 
the electric light on the front porch, 
and look for the puncture. While so 
engaged a shadow kept falling across 
the wheel and looking up, imagine my 
surprise to see a Black Phoebe sitting 
on a branch of a rose-bush about four 
feet over my head, biting the wings 
from off a large moth it had captured 
and eyeing the other insects which 
were darting about the light. After 
whetting his bill on the branch he se- 
lected another moth which was cap- 
tured on the second attempt. 
The electric light in (juestion is eight 
candle-power and throws just enough 
light on the porch to attract a few in- 
sects. The phoebe did not seem the 
least bit alarmed at my presence and 
continued to catch bugs within two feet 
of my head, while I watched operations 
directly under the lamp. Soon 1 called 
my mother and brother but the bird 
paid no attention to the thiee of us 
standing near the lamp. 1 turned the 
light off for a few minutes and when 1 
turned it on again he immediately 
started after the bugs. After watching 
him lor half an hour 1 came to the con- 
clusion that it was bad for birds to eat 
between meals, so put out the light and 
retired. 
W. B. JUD.SON. 
Los Angeles, Cal. 
Notes on Say’s Phoebe. 
On April 28 I took a set of two Say’s 
Phoebe {Sayornis sayd) on the mesa 
northwest of Elsinore. This nest was 
40 feet down an old mine shaft and was 
completed before work was resumed. 
But in spite of frequent passage up and 
down and occasional blasts, the bird had 
the eggs half incubated when taken. A 
report a few days ago is that she has 
carried the old nest piece by piece up 
twenty feet and is now setting on two 
more eggs. I observed this pewee in 
Pomona May ii and am satisfied the 
species breeds on the hills south. 
J. Eugene 
Pomona, Cal., May 30, igoi. 
® ® (iaii 
QUERY COLUMN. 
7, We have a dark white-rum ped 
shrike in California in winter that comes 
from Nevada and north of us. How far 
.south does it go? It is common in the 
Sacramento Valley in winter, but I do 
not think I have seen it as far south as 
Stockton. L. Belding, Stockton, Cal. 
8, Has any variation been found in 
the plumage of Dryobates nnttalli, in- 
dicating a cro.ss between it and any of 
the ea.stern “ladder-backs,” and if so 
have any specimens been secured in 
this state? J. J. W. 
9. What is the range of Merula m. 
propinqna in this state in the months of 
August, September and October? Owing 
to their complete absence from this lo- 
cali''y and also at Independence Lake 
during this period, annually, I am led 
to believe that they are found in num- 
bers in .some other locality during this 
tim.-. J. J. W. 
10. Has any detailed study been 
made of the song and habits of Harpor- 
hynclins redivivns? If so, by whom and 
can their observations be purchased? 
Jno. j. Williams, Applegate, Placer 
Co., Cal. 
