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THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVIII 
fine male of this species three miles southeast of Ferndale, Humboldt County. It was 
sitting in a fir tree, and was discovered while I was looking for a wild cat that the 
hounds had treed. This, with another specimen taken near Eureka, is in a private col- 
lection in that city. In July, 1899, while fishing for trout in Shackleford Creek, near 
Quartz Valley, Siskiyou County, I saw a Spotted Owl sitting in a maple tree but a few 
feet above my head. It showed no fear, and could have been secured had I so wished. 
Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea. Burrowing Owl. Though according to Grinnell this 
little owl has not heretofore been recorded from the northwestern ccast belt, nor from 
the interior north of Lake County, it nevertheless is found in suitable localities in Hum- 
boldt County. It is occasionally seen in the Mattole and Eel River valleys, and a hunter 
of my acquaintance shot one in December, 1915, in the sand hills along the ocean below 
Ferndale. For a year or two we used to see one sitting beside his burrow close to the 
road, as we drove from Carlotta to Alton. 
Sphyrapicus varius daggetti. Sierra Red-breasted Sapsucker. On December 1, 
1902, I collected a male sapsucker in the lowlands along the Colorado River near Palo 
Verde, that is doubtless referable to this species, though not exactly typical. It seems 
to be the only record from that section. 
Calypte anna. Anna Hummingbird. It is rather a surprise to find that this hum- 
mer (first reported from Humboldt County by Mrs. C. M. Wilder in 1913) is a regular 
winter resident in limited numbers. We see them every winter, and this season had a 
handsome male about our flowers almost daily till a killing frost occurred during the 
holidays, when it disappeared. A friend living at Ferndale, near the coast, reports see- 
ing one up to this time (February 1). 
Tyrannus vociferans. Cassin Kingbird. A kingbird that I take to be vociferans is 
seen occasionally in the Humboldt region in summer, and from the fact that it breeds 
here is worthy of notice. 
Euphagus cyanocephalus. Brewer Blackbird. So far from being “rare in the 
northwest coast belt”, this species is abundant in Humboldt County, being found by the 
hundred throughout the dairy region. A large flock is almost constantly in sight from 
my home at Carlotta, and I have seen the birds in numbers as far in the interior as 
Kuntz, in Trinity County. A few Red-wing Blackbirds, possibly referable to Agelaius 
phoeniceus caurinus, are at times seen with the Brewer Blackbirds. 
Carlotta, Humboldt County, California, February 1, 1916. 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
The House Finch in the State of Washington.— The A. 0. IJ. Check-list of North 
American Birds makes no mention of the House Finch ( Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis) 
as occurring in the state of Washington, neither can I find any record elsewhere to that 
effect. While gathering materials for our book, The Birds of Washington, neither Mr. 
Dawson nor myself encountered this species, although it seems probable that it was 
present in the state to some extent at the time. It is of interest, therefore, to report 
that this f.'nch is a moderately common resident in certain portions of both Yakima and 
Benton counties. The only two stations from which I have had the birds recorded are 
North Yakima, in Yakima County, and Kiona, in Benton County. Both localities are 
situated on the Yakima River, in what may be considered the Upper Sonoran Zone. 
My attention was first called to the subject by Mrs. G. Ross Pike, of North Yakima, 
who assured me early this year that the House Finches were common residents of that 
city, nesting in bird boxes and in vines growing against houses. Skins collected by F. R. 
Decker, of Kiona, and sent to D. E. Brown, of Seattle, were then forwarded for compari- 
son to H. S. Swarth at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California. Mr. 
Swarth writes me, “The two House Finches are exactly like others from various parts of 
the range of the species.” No specimens were taken at North Yakima, but the nesting- 
habits, song, and description of the birds seem adequate identification, together with 
the skins from Kiona, which is only about sixty miles distant. — J. H. Bowles, Tacoma, 
Washington. 
