Jan., 1916 
SUPPLEMENT TO THE DISTRIBUTIONAL LIST 
23 
in the last analysis, a most comfortable assurance to the humbler student of 
Californian birds that his own efforts need not be considered wasted, and that 
he, too, may hope to make some important contribution to knowledge-. For 
not even yet is our knowledge of the birds of California perfected. Indeed, our 
greatest obligation to Dr. Grinnell is for his willingness to report progress in a 
realm whose mastery is confessedly incomplete. We have now a basis of attack 
upon our problems, a standard by which to test our own knowledge, a central 
depot signalized, to which we may bring our own plunder. 
We predict, as a direct outcome of this publication, a flood of additional 
offerings from other workers. For one of the most real restraints operating 
upon any would-be contributor, as to the columns of The Condor, is his uncer- 
tainty as to the value or pertinency of his offerings. No one wishes to burden 
the pages of a magazine with information which other people already possess. 
Therefore a silence, prolonged and painful, on the part of most observers. 
For my own part (though not one of the silent kind) I have been both 
surprised and pleased to see in how many cases my scattered gleanings in Cali- 
fornia are able to hear out or modify, or even possibly contradict, the conclu- 
sions set forth in Avifauna No. 11. I deem it fitting, therefore, to offer a few 
of these records below, as a modest supplement to the standard of authority 
now set up. In doing so, it is needless to add, the writer is not moved by any 
captious spirit of criticism, nor by any thought of discrediting the importance 
of what has been done. My contribution is but a trifle in comparison with the 
whole ; and it is, moreover, just such a contribution as forty others should 
make. I hope that many others may speedily be moved by this pleasant chal- 
lenge to formulate their own conclusions in this fascinating and important 
field. Only by reaction is life manifested. A worker is never better pleased 
with his own efforts than when they have proved provocative of effort in 
others ; and the sincerest compliment which we can pay Dr. G-rinnell is to make 
an early revision of his Distributional List possible and necessary. 
In the following pages I offer only such considerations as would serve 
to strengthen the evidence for the inclusion of certain rarer birds in the Cali- 
fornia list, or else to extend or re-define the ranges of certain species, or such 
as for any reason lead me to differ in a material way from Dr. Grinnell’s con- 
clusions. In most cases, therefore, I find it necessary to quote directly from 
the new Distributional List, in order to bring out clearly the point of differ- 
ence or change. 
Aechmophorus occidentalis. Western Grebe. Confirmatory and extending. A pair 
seen on Diaz Lake near Lone Pine, Inyo County, on June 18, 1911; Horse Lake, Lassen 
County, June 5, 1912 (2); Goose Lake, Modoc County, June 11, 1912 (3); San Joaquin 
Swamps, Merced County, June 6, 1914 (chain creaking chorus of birds, probably breed- 
ing) ; El Pizmo, June 25, 1914. 
Gavia immer. Common Loon. “Common winter visitant”. Should also be noted 
as a summer straggler along the coast. Farallon Islands, June 2, 1911; El Pizmo, May 
11, 1912 (eleven birds seen); June 25, 1914: Goleta, May 29, 1915; June 15, 1915 (speci- 
men, adult 2, taken). (See also Willett: “Birds of Pac. Slope of So. Calif.”) 
Larus hyperboreus. Glaucous Gull. One speaks with diffidence of sight records of 
the Glaucous Gull, because hoary adults of some other species, usually L. glaucescens, 
are at least as common as indubitable hyperboreus. Yet I should say that juvenals of 
this species are almost certain to be seen on the Santa Barbara beach at some time dur- 
ing the course of any season. These are transient members of a great company which 
submits to closest scrutiny. April 27, 1912; Aug. 4, 1912; May 1, 5, 14, 1913; and April 
1, 1914, are typical Santa Barbara appearances. 
