July, 1905 | 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
113 
Date of Arrival of Purple Martin at Stockton, Cal. — I have several records of the 
arrival of Prague subis hesperia in the spring at Stockton, that are earlier than at any locality 
on the Pacific Coast, from Cape San Lucas northward. The first male arrived on the following 
dates: March 1, 1879; March 6, 1885; March 5, 1886; March 9, 1900; March 7, 1903; March 2, 1905. 
On the last date a male and female were seen on their favorite perch near a nesting site which this 
pair had probably used several summers and are nesting in this summer. I first saw the species 
at San Jose del Cabo, April 29, 1882, and according to Mr. Brewster it did not arrive in the Cape 
Region of Lower California until April 29, 1887. The Cape Region is about 1200 miles south of 
Stockton. Progne probabl}’ arrives at .Stockton by Teliachapi Pass or by some other interior 
route. — L. Bedding Stockton , Cal. 
Curious Situation for Nest of Ash-throated Flycatcher. — In June, 1903, I found a 
pair of Myiarchus c. cinerascens which had taken up quarters in the stub of an old willow, some 
sixteen inches in diameter and three feet high, which stood at the end of a watering-trough for 
cattle. I would not have taken any notice of it if the bird had not flown from the nest, which was 
situated in the hollow stum}) about eighteen inches deep and was made wholly of cows' hair. The 
eggs were within about two days of hatching. The top of the stub was about twenty inches 
above the trough and the end of it had been polished to a glossy smoothness where cattle had 
used it as a scratching post. This did not apparently alarm the flycatchers, as I spent sometime 
watching them fly in and out. I pulled the stump off and it now acts as a wren’s home in one of 
our garden pepper trees. — W. Otto Emerson, Hay-wards , Cat. 
A Bird’s Roost. — A tall eucalyptus tree which had grown beside my barn for the past 
twenty-five years had to be removed. It was cut down while I was away during the day, but on 
my return at dusk I was attracted by a lot of Junco hyemalis pinosus, Dendroica auduboni, and 
Zonotrichia I. nuttal/i flying about the barn in great bewilderment. They were coming in 
from all directions and would fly to where they had been used to roosting, but their lodging house 
was gone. They came by fours and more, hovering in mid-air, and fluttered about in circles, 
then alighted on the barn which stood within three feet 'of the fallen tree. Many dodged down 
into the cvpress hedge in front of the barn, keeping up short flights to the fallen tree as it lay in 
the road. Many were perched on the electric wires for some minutes as if meditating on being 
turned out of their roosting place. 
This tree measured 135 feet in height and had been a land-mark to the locality, being very 
symmetrical in body and beautifully crowned with foliage. Every year, both summer and 
winter it was a great congregating place for birds. Orioles, hummers, house finches and gold- 
finches nested among its slender leaves; while during the winter months blue jays screamed at 
English sparrows, and the meadow lark sought its branches for his morning song. Even hawks 
and owls sought it for a vantage point. What numbers of nests this tree could name had it but 
words to do so! — W. OTTo Emerson, Hay-wards, Cal. 
Dendroica sestiva rubiginosa at Haywards, Cal. — The following is a list of Den- 
droica ce. rubiginosa in my collection. Measurements are in millimeters. 
No. 
Sex 
Locality 
Date 
Length 
Wing 
Tail Culmen 
IO30 
? 
Monterey, 
Cal. 
Sept. 28, 
1896 
I 12 
59 
44 
IO 
1453 
6 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Sept. 8, 
1897 
Il8 
60 
47 
IO 
2442 
? 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Sept. 29, 
1900 
I l 6 
60 
48 
1 1 
2431 
6 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Sept. 20, 
I9OO 
1 15 
59 
46 
IO 
3IIO 
? 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Oct. 8, 
1901 
II 2 
59 
46 
I I 
3I°7 
<5 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Oct. 5, 
1901 
I l 6 
60 
44 
IO 
3386 
6 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Sept. 30, 
1902 
112 
58 
41 
II 
1913 
$ 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Oct. 4, 
1898 
58 
46 
I923 
? 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Oct. 7, 
1898 
59 
50 
2425 
? 
Haywards, 
Cal. 
Sept. 14, 
1898 
58 
52 
last three 
skins were 
sent to 
Mr. Grinnell (See 
Coni 
)OR, Jan. 
1901, j). 
15) as 
H. celata lutescens , the back easily misleading one as to their identity. So far I have been un- 
able to note or take the Alaska yellow warbler in the spring migration. It is only a fall migrant 
in this locality, and then one must be on the alert, before sunrise, to note them as they silentlv 
move through the trees, feeding. Only three of the specimens were taken among the willows 
along the creek side; the others were found feeding in pepper trees. This warbler seems to re- 
turn from the north following the first fall rains of September and October. By the latter part 
of July the young and adults of cestiva have all left this vicinity. Wilsonia p. chryseola lingers 
a month or so longer, and then one will find moving through the live oaks D. townsendi, D. 
nigrescens, D. auduboni , and perhaps the rare D. occidentalis. — W. OTTo Emerson, Hay- 
wards, Cal. 
