July, 1915 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
167 
ber 8, 1914, while hunting doves near Chino, California, I shot a female Prairie Falcon 
that was trying to get a dove that I had flushed from the sunflowers. Later on the same 
day another of these beautiful falcons flew over me a little too far to shoot. On Decem- 
ber 9, 1914, I shot a female Prairie Falcon from a telephone pole near the beach not far 
from Oceanside, California. On January 9, 1915, I collected another female Prairie Fal- 
con near Chino, California. My attention was drawn to this bird, which was sitting- 
in a large branching willow, by the actions of some Red-winged Blackbirds ( Agelaius 
phoeniceus neutralis ) that were sitting about in the same tree with the falcon. Several 
of their number kept persistently flying at the falcon, who apparently cared little for 
their actions, as he sat quietly until I approached the tree. 
Western Flycatcher ( Empidonax difficilis difficilis). On July 5, 1914, in the upper 
part of Bear Canyon, a branch of the West Fork of the San Gabriel, I found a nest con- 
taining three eggs, incubation begun, of the Western Flycatcher. Then on July 17, 1914, 
at Cold Brook Camp, elevation 3500 feet, in the North Fork, another branch of the West 
Fork of the San Gabriel, I found another nest of the Western Flycatcher containing 
three fresh eggs. This last nest was placed on a beam of the dance hall, where there 
were many people going in and out all the time. The bird did not seem to be bothered 
at all by the continual noise and disturbance. The late nesting dates are noteworthy. 
Vermilion Flycatcher ( PyrocepJialus rubinus mexicarius ) . While hunting on the 
ponds of the Pomona Recreation Club, near Corona, on December 13, 1914, I shot a 
female Vermilion Flycatcher. The bird was feeding in a willow tree that grew well out 
in a pond. As the species is of rather rare occurrence in this locality I thought the 
record worthy of note. 
Phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens). On January 10, 1915, I shot a male Phainopepla, 
and saw another, on the Pomona Recreation Club, near Corona, California. These 
grounds are located in the willow bottom near the Santa Ana River. The bird was feed- 
ing on mistletoe berries. Several times during December I had heard the note of the 
Phainopepla in this same locality, but it was not until the above date that I actually 
saw one. Since then I have heard their call several times. Then on January 23, 1915, 
H. White obtained another specimen in the same place. This goes further to prove that 
the Phainopepla winters in small numbers in favorable localities in southern California. 
However, I have not met with them in the foothill and mesa regions until well along iti 
March. 
Western Winter Wren ( Nannus hiemalis pacificus). I collected a female of this 
species on January 21, 1915, at the mouth of San Dimas Canyon, Los Angeles County, 
California. It is interesting to note that this is the only one that I have seen during 
about twenty collecting trips to the locality during this winter. Nor have I met with 
the bird on several other trips during this period, from the base of the foothills to 5000 
feet elevation in the mountains of this locality. — Wright M. Pierce, Claremont, Califor- 
nia. 
California Screech Owl in the Humboldt Bay Region. — The lack of published state- 
ments regarding the occurrence of any form of Otus asio in the vicinity of Humboldt 
Bay, California, makes it desirable that record be made of certain specimens recently 
taken in that region. Mr. Franklin J. Smith has donated two of several screech owls he 
has secured, one to the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, and one to the Los Angeles Muse- 
um of History, Science and Art. These are both breeding females, from the vicinity of 
Eureka, and are essentially alike in appearance. Detailed comparison has been made 
between one of these birds (Mus. Vert. Zool. no. 25378) and series from other parts of 
the Pacific coast. As compared with Otus asio bendirei from the San Francisco Bay 
region it is strikingly dark colored, and of large size (length of wing, 176 mm.). As 
compared with a topotype of brewsteri it is darker and less reddish. Size comparisons 
with the latter are not possible, as the two are of different sex. Compared with an 
example of Jcennicotti from Tacoma, it is slightly larger and much less reddish. The 
striking feature of the two Humboldt Bay birds id that while they are of intensely dark 
color, there is little of reddish or rich brown in their appearance. They depart appre- 
ciably from the normal of bendirei of the San Francisco Bay region, but do not ap- 
proach the more reddish hue of brewsteri and kennicotti. For the present it seems 
best to class them with bendirei, representing an extreme of difference from quercinus 
of southern California, and await the acquisition of additional material from the north- 
ern coast region to more definitely settle their status. — H. S. Swarth, Museum of His- 
tory, Science and Art, Los Angeles, California. 
