56 
THE CONDOR 
| Vo i.. VII 
Notes on the Eewis Woodpecker. — 
While on a surveying trip in July of last year, 
I was very much struck with the great number 
of Lewis woodpeckers (Asyndesmus torquatus ) 
breeding in the vicinity of Sardine Valley in 
Nevada County, California. This valley is a 
couple of square miles in extent, fairly flat, 
and usually affords good feeding ground to a 
large herd of dairy stock. Last year and the 
year before, this feeding range has had to be 
abandoned by the dairy people early in the 
season, owing to a plague of grasshoppers of a 
wingless variety. Lewis woodpeckers evidently 
knew of this, for last year they were to be 
seen all day long, flying from the valley with 
grasshoppers to feed their young, and almost 
every old dead pine or blasted stump had a 
voracious family of these youngsters in it, yell- 
ing all day long. This species was the only 
one that showed any appreciable increase in 
numbers in consequence of the increase in 
insect food. I noted western robins ( Merida 
m. propinqua), Brewer blackbirds ( Euphcigus 
cyanocephalus ) and a few dull colored sparrows 
feeding on the grasshoppers but not in any 
great numbers. — John J. Williams, Apple- 
gate , Cal. 
News Notes 
The First International Forestry, Fish and 
Game Exhibition, under the auspices of the 
Pacific Coast Forest, Fish and Game Associa- 
tion, will be held at Mechanics’ Pavilion, San 
Francisco, April i to 15 inclusive. Group C. — 
Animals and Birds, is under the direction of 
I)r. F. W. D'Fvelyn (37-39 Phelan Building) 
who desires for exhibition purposes live birds 
(any variety, water fowl, game, shore, or in- 
sectivorous); stuffed and mounted specimens of 
birds; skins prepared for scientific demonstra- 
tions, nests and eggs, eggs in collections. 
Diplomas of Merit or Certificates of Participa- 
tion will be awarded on the recommendation of 
a Special Jury. In writing to Dr. D’Evelyn, as 
all members who can aid are urged to do, 
state whether specimens can be supplied as a 
loan, purchase, or donation to the Association. 
Mr. John W. Mailliard has recently returned 
from an extended trip to the eastern states. 
Mr. H. H. Bailey has gone to San Bias, Mex- 
ico. 
Mr. W. O Emerson writes that the first Allen 
hummer arrived at Haywards on the morning 
of February 5. 
Mr. Edmund Heller, under date of February 
8, writes from New Orleans:” We have ‘finished’ 
Mexico and are now about to leave this port 
for Puerto Barrios, Guatemala where a year 
will be spent collecting the larger mammals 
and birds of the republic. During the fall we 
succeeded in securing a good series of ante- 
lope, mule deer, white-tailed deer, peccaries, 
beaver, and turkeys in Coahuila, Mexico. A 
great many birds were secured at Sabinas, Coa- 
huila, which is on one of the tributary rivers of 
the lower Rio Grande, and is near the junc- 
tion of the western and eastern faunas. A 
great variet} 7 of bird life occurs there and I do 
not suppose it would be difficult to get 600 
species in a year’s work. For winter residents 
tliey have such typical eastern and western 
birds as the pheebe and Sa}' pheebe, eastern 
bluebird, Audubon warbler, brown and curve- 
billed thrashers, black vulture, Harris hawk, 
bob-white, scaled partridge, boat-tailed grackle, 
and Brewer blackbird. Turkeys were not rare 
and in one night’s hunt I got three ‘whales.’ ” 
In the Proceedings of the Biological Society 
of Washington, Feb. 21, 1905, p. 95, Dr. C. W. 
Richmond calls attention to the fact that 
Symp/icmia Rafin., founded upon Tringa sewi- 
palmata Wils. [ Ercunctes pusillus (L)] can 
not stand as the genus of the willet, being a 
synonym of Ereunetes. Catoptrophorus Bona- 
parte is the next available name. Ossifraga 
is untenable so that Macronedes Richmond 
becomes the generic name of the giant fulmar, 
Mr. Robert Ridgwav is spending the winter 
in Costa Rica. 
Dr. Edgar A. Mearns has recently published 
two papers on new species of Philippine birds. 
Notes on the California Vulture Wanted 
F'or a vear or more I have been very success- 
ful in gathering notes for my monograph on 
the California vulture. Many of you have 
received letters from me and I wish to thank 
you again for the many valuable notes the 
answers contained. I am going to push the 
work now and wish that all who can would 
give me information in regard to the width of 
the extended wings and weight of the speci- 
mens in the meat with the sex and age of same, 
also any other notes that are of interest. I 
will say here in regard to the eggs of the Cali- 
fornia vulture, that they are not nearly so 
rare as supposed. I have found in actual ex- 
istence thirty-five specimens of which twenty- 
four are perfect. The first authentic date I 
have of a specimen being taken is April 1859, 
in the mountains back of Santa Monica near 
the place called Canejo. This egg is second 
class and owned by Mr. J. H. Gurney of 
England. The most taken any year was in 
1900 when eight were secured, and the last that 
I have record of was taken February 11, 1903. 
The breeding season runs from February 11, 
[1903] incubation well advanced to June 11 
[1899] incubation fresh. I will be glad to cor- 
respond with anyone on this subject, so do not 
hesitate to write me as 1 wish to make the 
monograph as complete as possible. 
w. L. Chambers, Santa Monica, Calif. 
Just as this page is being ‘locked up’ we learn 
that the bird bill has become a law. In order 
to collect legally a permit must now be secured 
from the State Board of Fish Commissioners , 
San Francisco. 
