26 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVIII 
none from the Northeast. Of regular occurrence at Goose Lake and manifestly breed- 
ing (or trying to do so; the weather was very bad) in June, 1912. 
Podasocys montanus. Mountain Plover. Two coastwise appearances of single 
birds on the Santa Barbara beach must also be reckoned as casual: October 19, 1912, 
and August 25, 1915. 
Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi. Harris Hawk. “Summer visitant to the valley of the 
lower Colorado River; two records for the California side”. Also winter “visitant” and 
probable resident in the same region. Mr. Brooks and I encountered these birds repeat- 
edly during our stay at Potholes in February, 1913 (records February 9, 10, 11, and 12). 
On the 12th I saw three at one time seated. They kept to the taller timber of the Laguna 
backwater, and we were unable to secure specimens, though on another occasion I did 
study one with binoculars from the foot of the tree in which he stood. 
Buteo swainsoni. Swainson Hawk. “Recorded north to Shasta Valley . . . east to 
Independence Lake”. A nest found June 11, 1912, in a yellow pine near Goose Lake was 
not yet occupied, although in recent repair, with the birds in watchful attention. Suc- 
ceeding bad weather seemed to discourage the birds utterly, and no eggs had been laid 
at the time of our departure, June 29, although we frequently saw the hawks in the 
neighborhood. Birds also seen near the crest of Sugar Hill. 
Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle. “Rare or wanting east of the Sierran divide”. 
Encountered in the Pit River Valley, in southern Alturas County, June 5, 1912; and 
sparingly in July along the crest of the southern Warners (July 2, 1912, near Eagle 
Peak; July 12). 
Falco mexicanus. Prairie Falcon. Dr. Grinnell correctly states the breeding range 
of this species as Sonoran, but it is perhaps worth while to note its habitual invasion of 
Boreal zones in summer. Dr. Fisher records the Prairie Falcon from Big Cottonwood 
Meadows (alt. c. 9800), and Whitney Meadows (alt. c. 9800) in August (Birds of the Death 
Valley Expedition, May, 1893, p. 40). We saw it repeatedly in late June and in early 
July in the Warner Mountains, and on the 5th of July, 1912, as we stood on the summit 
of Warren Peak, a Prairie Falcon passed slowly within fifty feet of us, then circled 
above us at an altitude of 10,000 feet (zonally equivalent to an altitude of 13,000 in the 
southern Sierras). 
As an extreme of the opposing tendency I would instance the regular nesting of a 
pair of these birds on the southern or seaward slope of the Santa Ynez Range, near 
Santa Barbara. This pair hunts over the coastal lowlands, and I have caught them on 
three occasions on the crest of the sea cliff, and once over the ocean. 
Falco peregrinus anatum. Duck Hawk. This species is also a rare but regular 
breeder on the innermost coast ranges separating Kern and San Luis Obispo counties. 
On the 6th of April, 1914, I took a set of four eggs of the Duck Hawk in western Kern 
County, at least sixty miles distant from the ocean, in a bee line. 
Pandion haliaetus carolinensis. American Osprey. “Two definite nesting localities 
in the interior, Eagle Lake . . . Kaweah River”. Is pretty certain also to nest on Goose 
Lake, where we saw a bird at close range, June 17, 1912. 
Glaucidium gnoma grinnelli. Coast Pygmy Owl. Either this form or one having 
plumage a thousandth part of a shade lighter occurs commonly enough in the Santa 
Ynez Range near Santa Barbara. I have a specimen, a male, taken by Mr. Allan Brooks 
in Los Canoes Canyon, January 2, 1913. Other record dates are December 27, 1910, 
January 11, 1913, and September 18, 1915. Yet of G. g. grinnelli Grinnell says, “occurs 
possibly south as far as Santa Margarita” (northern San Luis Obispo County) ; while of 
G. g. californicum the nearest record station appears to be in the San Gabriel foothills 
of Los Angeles County. 
Chordeiles acutipennis texensis. Texas Nighthawk. “Common summer visitant”. 
On the 31st of January, 1911, near Long Beach, I descried a Nighthawk which Mr. C. B. 
Linton promptly identified as the Texan. It was early dusk and the bird was under 
observation for several moments as it quartered the sky. It certainly was not a Poor- 
will. 
Chaetura vauxi. Vaux Swift. “Common summer visitant locally to the northwest 
humid coast Transition”. The occurrence of Vaux Swifts at Kenawyers on the middle 
fork of the Kings River, July 9, 1913, would argue that there are also isolated breeding 
colonies of these lesser swifts in the Sierras; and this the knowledge of their breeding 
habits in the Cascade Mountains would lead us to expect. 
