Sept, 1915 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
207 
identification, and he pronounced it Bubo virginianus pallescens. To quote: “The Owl I 
consider to be Bubo virginianus pallescens, as it is very similar to specimens we have 
here from the Colorado Desert.” To make more certain Mr. Grinnell advised that I 
send the bird to Mr. H. C. Oberholser at Washington. Mr. Oberholser writes: “It seems 
to be undoubtedly Bubo virginianus pallescens, though certainly from an unexpected 
locality.” The bird is now no. 692 coll. W. M. P.; unsexed, though probably a female, 
because of its large size. — Wright M. Pierce, Claremont, California. 
Limicoline Laggards at Santa Barbara. — The old declaration, the exception proves 
the rule, will not, of course, bear the test of a rigid logic; but unseasonable records have 
a fascination for most of us quite out of proportion to their real value. The following 
records, taken chiefly by Commander and Mrs. H. E. Parmenter at Santa Barbara this 
past June, prove no rules, but they do serve to establish a presumption that laggards of 
almost any species of shorebirds may be found stumbling along in the wake of the main 
host. Non-breeding birds do not refuse altogether to obey the migration impulse, but 
they may yield only a partial obedience to its behests, and they exhibit every degree 
of failure in the realization of the high goal. Only two of the species given below, the 
Sanderling and the Black-bellied Plover, rest solely on my own observation. For the 
rest we are indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Parmenter, both for painstaking research and for 
permission to publish. 
Recurvirostra americana. Avocet. One at La Patera, June 1, 1915. 
Himantopus mexicanus. Black-necked Stilt. One at the Estero, Santa Barbara, 
June 12. 
Ereunetes mauri. Western Sandpiper. One at La Patera, June 1; one at Sandy- 
land, June 9. 
Calidris leucophaea. Sanderling. Twelve at Sandyland, June 5. 
Limosa fedoa. Marbled Godwit. Two at Sandyland, June 4; five on June 9. 
Totanus melanoleucus. Greater Yellowlegs. One at Estero, S. B., June 7. 
Catoptrophorus semipalmatus inornatus. Western Willet. One at La Patera, June 
1; one at Sandyland, June 9; one, June 25. 
Numenius americanus. Long-billed Curlew. Six at Sandyland, June 4. 
Numenius hudsonicus. Jack Curlew. Thirty at Sandyland, June 4; thirteen on 
June 9; eleven, June 25; one at Goleta, June 30. 
Squatarola squatarola. Black-bellied Plover. Two birds in winter plumage at the 
mouth of Romero Creek, June 5. 
Oxyechus vociferus vociferus. Killdeer. Sparingly resident. 
Aegialitis nivosa. Snowy Plover. Resident at La Patera and Sandyland. 
Aphriza virgata. Surf-bird. Two at mouth of Romero Creek, June 4. 
Arenaria melanocepliala. Black Turnstone. One at Romero, June 7. — William 
Leon Dawson, Santa Barbara , California, July 30, 1915. 
Another Mexican Ground Dove for California, and Other Notes. — In a small but 
select and excellently prepared collection of mounted birds belonging to my friend, Mr. 
Ashley Walker of Salinas, the following seem worthy of record. 
A Mexican Ground Dove ( Chaemepelia passerina pallescens), picked up dead from 
the lawn in front of a farm house in the Blanco district near here. This was in the mid- 
dle of June, 1913. 
A Fulvous Tree-Duck ( Dendrocygna bicolor), taken in November, 1910, from a salt 
pond near Graves, a small siding on the railroad just north of Salinas. This makes the 
third record for Monterey County so far as I am aware. 
A Black Tern (Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis) , taken from a nesting colony at 
Merritt Lake near Castroville. 
A Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), taken October 20, 1908, from the Tembledero Slough 
near Castroville. This bird is becoming so rare that this occurrence seems to merit re- 
cording. — O. P. Silliman, Castroville, California. 
