12 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
cent examples : the writer saw detached pairs of Black Swifts in Kearsarge 
Pass at an altitude of about 9000 feet, on the 5th day of July, 1913 ; and a com- 
pany of forty birds very much at home in the basin of the Little Yosemite 
River below Nevada Falls, on the 16th of June, 1914. indeed it is probably 
only because this stretch of coast above Santa Cruz offers essentially the con- 
ditions of cold and moisture 
found elsewhere only at 
higher altitudes that the 
birds have descended to this 
station. Moreover, the birds, 
although regularly breeding, 
are very scarce at Santa 
Cruz. Mr. Vrooman has 
never seen the large flocks 
which are commonplaces to 
experienced mountain stu- 
dents. Ten or a dozen birds 
at most are as many as he 
ever saw at once, and these 
probably represented the en- 
tire population of Santa 
Cruz County. Otherwise he 
has never secured tangible 
evidence of the nesting of 
above three pairs in one sea- 
son. 
The egg taken on June 
22nd measures 1.18x.73 
inches, and is the eleventh 
of this Santa Cruz series. Nos. 1 to 7 inclusive were secured by Mr. John E. 
Thayer. The only other perfect egg extant is in the possession of Mr. II. F. 
Bailey, a close personal friend of Mr. Vrooman; while the discoverer himself 
retains two broken specimens. To A. G. Vrooman of Santa Cruz belongs the 
exclusive and distinguished honor of bringing this rare egg to box; and my 
hat, for one, is off to him for a pretty piece of work. 
Santa Barbara, California, July 5, 1914. 
Fig. 8. Eggs of Black Swift (the larger) and 
White-throated Swift; both natural size 
THE KERN REDWING — AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS ACICULATUS 
By JOSEPH MAILLIARD 
WITH SIX DRAWINGS 
S OMETHING over a year ago the sight of a couple of specimens of red- 
wings from east-central Kern County, California, created in my mind 
the desire to obtain sufficient material from that locality to compare crit- 
ically with other forms of Agelaius. Finally, last spring, unable to go myself, 
Mr. Adriaan van Rossem was commissioned to do the necessary field work. 
