THE CONDOR 
Vol. XT 
138 
Pipilo maculatus subsp.? A Towhee was seen several times on South Island. 
Helminthophila celata. Lntescent Warbler. Rare; two seen on North Island 
April 8. 
Salpinctes obsoletus. Rock Wren. Common; noted on all the islands. By 
watching a pair of these birds I located their nest near camp on South Island April 
5. It was ten feet from the tent and about sixteen feet above the water. The nest- 
ing cavity was lined with sticks and pebbles, but contained no eggs. 
Polioptila caerulea obscura. Western Gnatcatcher. A few were seen on South 
Island flitting about in low bushes near the top of the ridge. About ten individuals 
were seen. 
Pasadena , California . 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
© 
The Northern Spotted Owl in California. — There is in the Univ. Calif. Mas. Vert. Xool. col- 
lection a specimen (no. 5941) of the Spotted Owl, $ adult, taken by F. W. Bancroft on Mt. Tanial- 
pais, Marin Co., California, May 23, 1896. This appears to make the first record of the species in 
California north or west of Big Trees, Calaveras County, where found by Belding (Land Bds. Pac. 
Dist., 1899, 49). Furthermore, a comparison of the Tamalpais owl with examples from the San 
Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles county, shows the former to belong to a separate race, very 
probably meriting the name Strix occidenlalis caunna. The name Syrinium occidental 
caurinum was applied by Dr. C. Mart Merriam to a race discovered in the Puget Sound Region. 
The characters pointed out by him ( Auk XY, January, 1S98, p. 39) seem to hold in every respect 
for the Tamalpais bird, tho evidently in a less degree. I have never seen an example of the 
Northern Spotted Owl from the Puget Sound region: but Merriam’s description leaves me in 
little doubt but that 1 am safe in using his name for the race in the extreme southern end 
of the same continuous humid coast region. Brief!}', the Tamalpais Owl, as compared with 
southern specimens, has the white-spotting everywhere, especially on top of the head, reduced; 
the dark areas, therefore, extended, and darker; the tippings of the wing and tail feathers not 
pure white, but dusky marbled; and the plumage of the feet more heavily dark markt. — J. 
Grinnkll, University of California, Berkeley , California. 
Sumichrast Blackbird in Tamaulipas, Mexico. — Mr. E. W. Nelson has identified as be- 
longing to this species ( Dives dives) a skin in my collection (no. 11219; 9 ad.; near Tampico, 
Tamaulipas; Dec. IS, 1908; A. P. S.) taken by one of my assistants on the open plain about half- 
way between Tampico and Altamira, Tamaulipas. It was the only individual of the species 
secured at the time. This somewhat extends the range of Dives dives as given by Ridgway in 
his Birds of North and Middle America, Part II, page 254. — Austin Paul Smith, Brownsville , 
Texas. 
Note on the Nesting of the Cliff Swallow. — On April 29, 1909, I found a set of seven 
eggs of the Cliff Swallow ( Petrochclidon lunifrons). The nest was of the usual type, one of a 
colony under the eaves of a barn. Is not a set of this number unusual?— D. I. Shepardson, Los 
Angeles , California. 
Some Unusual Records from Portland, Oregon. — Black-crowned Night Ileron [Xycli- 
corax n. naevius) : A young male secured on July 29, 1908, on Government Island in the Colum- 
bia, twelve miles east of the city. 
Mountain Chickadee {Penthestes gambeli) : An adult female taken December 10, 1908, along 
the Columbia; it was in company with a flock of P. atricipillus accidentalis. I believe this is 
the first record from this vicinity. 
Pileolated Warbler ( Wilsonia pusilla pileolata) : A juvenile male taken December 11, 1908, 
east of the city, was in company with a large flock of Oregon Chickadees, Winter Wrens and 
Gairdner Woodpeckers, feeding among the willows along the river. A very unusual time of 
year for this summer warbler considering the cold stormy weather we had had for the past two 
months. 
Arctic Horned Owl ( Bubo virginianus subarcticus) : A male taken during the blizzard in 
January, 1909. 
