Mar., 1915 
PROM FIELD AND STUDY 
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the Black Phoebe ( Sayornis nigricans) was found under a bridge near San Pedro, Cali- 
fornia, containing five eggs of the Black Phoebe and one egg of the House Finch. All 
were heavily incubated, the egg of the House Finch not quite so much as the others. As 
the female Phoebe was brooding when the nest was found, it was apparent that she had 
no objection to the intruder, or else was not aware of its presence. 
The same year I had occasion to examine a nesting colony of Cliff Swallows (Petro- 
chelidon lunifrons) near Los Angeles. Two nests examined had been appropriated by 
House Finches before the builders had laid. The Finches added a few straws and feath- 
ers, and were in sole possession when found. A third nest in this same colony held three 
eggs of the Cliff Swallow and two of the House Finch. The Swallows were as com- 
plaisant to the added burden thrust upon them as were the Phoebes, and were incubat- 
ing contentedly. Had the young Finches hatched, I wonder if they would have survived 
the “bed-bugs” with which the nest was infested, such conditions not being natural to 
the species. 
A pair of Arizona Hooded Orioles ( Icterus cucullatus nelsoni) started a nest of palm- 
leaf fibers in a eucalyptus tree across the street from my home in the city the same 
year. Before it was quite completed the builders were ousted by the ever-present 
House Finches, which made a few changes and reared their young in the cosy basket. 
The Orioles selected another site in the same tree, and raised a brood without further 
molestation. The following year a pair of Orioles, probably the same pair of the previ- 
ous year, appeared in the neighborhood, and soon built a nest near the old one. Wish- 
ing to ascertain the contents, I got within sight after a strenuous climb, and beheld two 
eggs of the owners and one of the House Finch. The Orioles seemed to have submitted 
to the inevitable; and here, I thought, was a good opportunity to see what would hap- 
pen to the mixed brood when hatched. But I was doomed to disappointment, for the 
tree was trimmed before further investigation could be made, and a like chance has not 
yet presented itself. — D. I. Shepardson, Los Angeles, California. 
Pink-footed Shearwater on the Coast of Washington.— An extensive movement of 
Shearwaters observed at Point Grenville on the coast of Washington August 27, 1910, 
yielded the customary toll of weaklings cast ashore. Among many stranded specimens 
of Puffinus griseus and some of P. tenuirostris I noted carefully (but, unfortunately, had 
no facilities for preserving) a Shearwater which appears to be Puffinus creatopus. My 
notes say, “Underparts white, changing to sooty on sides of throat, edges of wings and 
(conspicuously) under tail-coverts”; and make mention of bill notably stouter than that 
of P. griseus. Also “feet very pale, might have been pink in life.” I was not at that 
time acquainted with P. opistliomelas, which proves to be a smaller, slender-billed form, 
— and so buried my notes under a misleading caption. — William Leon Dawson, Santa 
Barbara, California. 
Another Record of the White-throated Sparrow for California.— With the finding of 
the White-throated Sparrow ( Zonotrichia albicollis) on January 28, 1915, by the bridge 
near the new Agricultural building, a new name has been added to the list of birds of 
the Berkeley campus. The bird was feeding in a patch of chickweed in company with a 
number of Nuttall White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, at a distance of about 
ten feet from where I was standing. I was first attracted by its brighter brown back 
and its crown stripes which were noticeably different from those of the White- and 
Golden-crowns. It then turned and I discovered the distinct white throat patch which 
settled its identification as the White-throated Sparrow. On three subsequent occasions, 
January 29, February 9 and 15, I have watched a White-throated Sparrow, presumably 
the same bird, in the same spot. On February 9 I discovered the bird just after it her' 
taken a bath and for a few minutes was in doubt as to its identity because of the ruffled 
condition of its feathers; but I watched it until it was dry again and the white throat 
patch was unmistakable. On the other two dates the White-throated Sparrow was feed- 
ing in the company of both Nuttall White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows. 
Margaret W. Wythe, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Berkeley, California. 
