Sept, 1915 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
203 
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Southern California. — Dr. I. D. Nokes of this city has 
recently submitted to me for identification a specimen of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 
(Muscivora forficata) collected by himself, with the added request that I place on record 
a statement regarding the capture of the bird. It was taken on June 26, 1915, in the 
northern part of Los Angeles County, on the road to Elizabeth Lake, at a point a little 
to the north of Boquet Canyon. The bird, flitting from fence-post to fence-post along 
the road, was first observed by Mrs. Nokes as something out of the ordinary, and she 
pointed it out to her husband, who promptly secured it. The specimen, in the flesh, was 
turned over to Dr. J. Hornung, employed as taxidermist in this Museum, who' made it 
into a study skin for Dr. Nokes, together with the rest of the birds collected by him on 
that day. 
The flycatcher on dissection proved to be a male, though in its small size, relatively 
short tail, and lack of concealed red crown spot, it has much the appearance of a female. 
Though adult it was evidently not a breeding bird. The plumage is rather worn, though 
not excessively so. On the top of the head, between the eyes, is a partly healed injury, 
such a wound as might be caused by flight against a telegraph wire or some such ob- 
struction. 
The capture of this individual adds a new species to the list of California birds, but 
in what sense this addition should be made is a matter in which opinions will probably 
differ. That it can be considered an extension of range, merely the wandering of an 
individual somewhat beyond the normal confines of the species as known at present, and 
consequently an occurrence the repetition of which may be confidently expected in the 
future, seems to me a matter of some doubt. I do not regard the capture in California 
of this Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as comparable to the previously recorded instances of 
such rarities as the Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Phoebe, Oven-bird, Magnolia Warbler, 
and certain others. The occurrence of individuals of these several species, as regards 
season of capture, known range of the forms, usual migration route, etc., may be 
regarded, though certainly extraordinary, as explicable as the voluntary actions of nor- 
mal, unconfined individuals of the several species of birds. This Scissor-tailed Fly- 
catcher, it seems to me, belongs rather in the category of “accidentals” which are 
regarded with some suspicion as introductions directly due to human agency, fortuitous 
or intentional. 
I do not mean to suggest by this that it is necessarily an escaped caged bird, for the 
species is obviously not one to endure captivity. Mr. F. S. Daggett has suggested one 
possible means of introduction that certainly seems worthy of consideration, namely, by 
accidental captivity within a box car used in transporting live stock. The swarms of 
flies in such a place would afford attraction to a bird of this species, and the distance 
between the place of capture and the nearest point in the known habitat of the species 
is not so great but what the bird might easily survive the trip. This is not put forward 
as an absolute explanation of the happening, but merely as one way in which it might 
have been brought about. The partly healed injury on the head of the bird certainly 
suggests some abnormality in the occurrence. — H. S. Swarth, Museum of History, 
Science and Art, Los Angeles, California. 
Supposed New Records for Santa Cruz Island. — Through the courtesy of our distin- 
guished fellow-member, Mr. Joseph Mailliard, and his friend, Mr. Arturo Caire, one of the 
present owners of Santa Cruz Island, I was permitted to spend nearly three weeks, viz., 
April 3rd to 22nd, with my son William, on this enchanted spot. We made camp at Pris- 
oners Harbor and devoted ourselves chiefly to a study of the endemic Jay, Aphelocoma 
insularis, of which sixteen nests were found. Besides this we found time to make sev- 
eral excursions into the interior of the island, and one to the west end. A horizon of 
eighty species resulted, and of these, fifteen appear not to have been previously re- 
ported, viz.: 
Gavia immer. Loon. A full-plumaged adult was sighted at Prisoners Harbor on 
the 14th and appeared several times thereafter at near ranges. Four others were seen 
close inshore cn the south side of the island on April 19. There has been an unusual 
number of Loons, both senescent adults and non-breeding immatures, in the Santa Bar- 
bara channel and its tributary lagoons during this past season. 
Gavia stellata. Red-throated Loon. A single individual in partial summer moult, 
first observed on the 9th, was repeatedly seen at Prisoners Harbor. 
