94 
THE CONDOR 
I Vol. IV 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY. 
I/arge Set of Cactus Wren. — On April 22, 1902, I took a set of seven eggs of the cactus 
wren, [Heleodyics brnniieicapiUus'). This is the largest set I have ever taken. In my experience 
in this section I have found the usual complement of eggs to be four, sometimes five, and often 
onlv three. — Wii.son C. H.\nn.a., Colton, Cal. 
Vermilion Flycatcher at Escondido. — tin April 6, 1902, I secured a male vermilion fly- 
catcher {Pyrocephahis riihineus ntcxicanus) in full spring plumage, and upon dissection found it 
phvsicalh' in a breeding condition. When taken it was feeding with a flock of tricolored black- 
birds in a mar.shy piece of land near the San Luis Rey River, about ten miles inland. — N erson 
C.\RPENTRR, Hscondido, Cal. 
Arizona Goldfinch in I/OS Angeles County. — Mr. Howard Robertson has recently pre- 
.sented me with a specimen of the Arizona goldfinch (Spiuus psaltria arizoncs), a male bird, taken 
l)y himself at Los Angeles on Februaiw 6, 1897. This sub-species is not recorded in Grinnell’s 
“List of Birds of the Pacific Slope of Los Angeles Co.’’ and I have seen no record of its occurrence 
in this locality since that work was published, so that although its range is usually given as in- 
cluding southern California, it must be regarded as of very rare occurrence in Los Angeles County 
at least. — H. vS. S\v.\rth, Lo.^ Any^cles, Cal. 
Western Blue Grosbeak in Northern Colorado. — While on a visit to my place August 
15-20, 1901, Prof. A. H. Felger of Denver took a good specimen, a female, of (S'wmzra 
laziila, which was feeding in the orchard and the only specimen observed. There have been five 
or six pairs of the western blue grosbeak about the vicinity the past two weeks. I secured a few 
of them. Thev appeared to be on the move and have been observed as mated. This variety is 
not uncommon in some of the southeastern portions of the state, for which reason I desire to re- 
cord its occurrence at this northern point. — F red IM. Dii.le, AUona, Boulder Co. Colo., June 18, 
1902. 
Odd Gyrations of Hummingbirds. — I would like to ask if anyone has observed a sort of 
dance or gymnastic exercise of the hummingbird similar to that which I once witnessed? It was 
just after sun.set of a clear, bright day in San Mateo, Cab, when I noticed a male Anna humming- 
bird making great circles in the air at a very rapid rate. The plane of the circle was perpendicu- 
lar and I .should judge it was fifteen feet in diameter. He rose somewhat more slowly than he 
.swung down again, Init the whole movement reminded me of a stone whirled at the end of a verv 
long string. Was this to im]u-e,ss the female or merely for the joy of motion? — A nn.\ He.a.d, 
Berkeley, Cal. 
The Rose-breasted Grosbeak in Colorado. — The only record I can find for Zamelodia 
hidoviciana in the state is in Cooke’s list; where a pair are recorded breeding at Longmont, 
Boulder Co. I now have the pleasure of recording a specimen taken in my own county (Larimer) 
by mv cousin, L. E. Burnett, near Loveland on June i, 1902. A pair were seen but only the male 
secured; this is now mounted and in his collection. 
He abso secured on June 7 a pair of western blue grosbeaks [G'uiraca cccriilea lazula) which 
is the most northern record for the state. — W. L. Burnett, Fort Coll!i/,<;, Colo. 
Nesting of Pine Siskin in Santa Cruz Co., Cal. — June ii, 1902, A. G. Vrooman took a 
set of pine siskin {.Spinas piuus) six miles from .Santa Cruz. Eggs were four, slightly incubated. 
The nest was sixty feet up in a pine tree and eighteen feet out from the trunk on the end of a 
limb; composed of weed twigs, strips of soft bark, and moss and lined with the body hair of cattle 
or horses. The eggs were taken with a small dip net on the end of a fishing rod. Several other 
pairs of birds bred in the same grove. — H. F. B.\ii.ey, Santa Cruz, Cal. 
Nightingales in California; A Query — Spending a night in a Liverpool hotel in August 
1887, I was informed bv the landlady that a man had just sailed for America with a cage of 100 
nightingales, which were to be turned loose in “a gentleman’s park" in California. Does anyone 
of the members of the Club know where the “park" is, and what became of the nightingales? In 
driving through the famed vale of Tempe and listening to the nightingales, I could not but be 
struck bv the similaritv of the scene to our southern California canyons, and I almost fancied I 
was listening to our too little ap])reciated mockingbird. The rocks and stream looked as they 
