142 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XI 
species of bird breeding on the island, wreck- 
ing hundreds of nests. 
Milton S. Ray, 
San Francisco , California. 
April 29, 1909 
[The above letter was sent to the State Game 
Commission, and the following is the substance 
of the reply.— Ed.] 
You will observe that in the new fish 
and game laws, there is a prohibition on the 
killing of Mountain quail and grouse up to 
Sept. 1st, 1911. The Mountain Quail have not 
recovered from the awful demands made upon 
them by the market hunters, when the quail 
were allowed to be sold in the market. Two 
years of close season should show a great 
improvement, but it is my opinion that the 
sheep have had much to do with destroying 
the nests of both the quail and grouse. My 
observation regarding Mountain Quail is that 
in the northern part of the stat£, especially in 
Siskiyou and Shasta Counties, they are well 
able to take care of themselves by .September 
1st; in fact, the people of that region tried to 
have the law open on August 15th. The 
Mountain Quail has a wider range than is 
generally supposed; I have seen them in 
Sonoma County, also in Mendocino at an 
elevation not to exceed 1500 feet. One reason 
why there is a difference in the seasons has 
been the influence brought about by the people 
living in the Sierras who claimed that unless 
they were allowed to shoot cpiail by the 1st of 
September, they got none at all, as their 
migrations commence shortly after; but these 
problems will work themselves out Our 
people are becoming more accustomed to the 
restrictions and there is a better sentiment all 
over the state. In fact, the improvement has 
been most markt in the last four years and 
thru the Legislature we can accomplish more 
now than we could five years ago. 
With regard to the Farallone Islands, that is 
territory over which we have no jurisdiction. 
It is a Federal Reservation, just the same as 
the Presidio. The Treasury Department at 
Washington exercises control over the Islands. 
Having been a witness to the damage done by 
dogs, a letter from you to the Treasury Depart- 
ment at Washington calling attention to the 
matter, or to the National Audubon Society at 
New York, might result in some order being 
issued that would tend to check this abuse. 
Yours respectfully, 
Chas A. Vogelsang 
Chief Deputy Fish and Game Commission, 
Thayer Muse inn, 
L a ncastei \ M as sack u setts. 
Editor The Condor: — 
My collector, Wilmot W. Brown, Jr., is still 
in the Cape region of Lower California. Ilis 
letters are so interesting, I thought the readers 
of the Condor might enjoy them, therefore I 
decided to publish them. The collecting of so 
many sets of such a rare bird as Craveri Mur- 
rellet and the description of their nesting 
habits is indeed interesting. 
John E. Thayer. 
(Letter no. 1): La Paz, Lower California, 
Mexico, January 20, 1909\ From La Paz I 
went by sea to Buena Vista and from there hy 
mules to Eureka which is on the coast and lies 
seven milessouth from Buena Vista. At Eureka 
I made a small collection while waiting for the 
mules from Miraflores to arrive. The most in- 
teresting species were a series of the Belding 
Maryland Yellowtliroat, an Elf Owl and a 
Burrowing Owl. On the way to Miraflores I 
made a short stay at Santiago and collected a 
fine series of the Belding Maryland Yellow- 
throat in the laguna there. Also took several 
Marsh Wrens and a Carolina Rail. At Mira- 
flores I spent over two weeks collecting while 
waiting for mules. 1 finally secured mules for 
the expedition to El Sauz a .Sierra, about two 
and one-half days’ trip with pack mules 
from Miraflores. El Sauz being the objective 
point of the expedition and an excellent region 
for the rare Laguna Sparrow, Aimophilia 
ruficeps sororia, we pitched camp near a small 
mountain stream. We found it very cold up 
there, our tent many nights being stiff and 
heavy with ice. To get water for cooking 
purposes we had to break the ice. The eleva- 
tion above the sea is about 4,000 feet. We 
camped there for about 16 days and secured a 
large series of Laguna Sparrows. It was some- 
times difficult work in collecting them as they 
were found in very steep places. The species 
is not common there, as six specimens a day 
was the best I could do. Also collected three 
specimens of the very rare Xantus Screech Owl, 
and other interesting species of the Sierras. 
All are in excellent plumage. From El Sauz 
we returned to Miraflores where a short stay 
was made and two more of the Xantus Screech 
Owls were collected and several specimens of 
the Elf Owl also. 
From Miraflores we took the pack mules to 
Santiago and camped at the Laguna within 
fifteen feet of the tides, and shot Belding 
Maryland Yellowtliroats out of the back door 
of the tent. Also secured two more rails and 
some Marsh Wrens. But the most interesting 
were two fine full-plumaged Megascops xantusi. 
My cook getting the malaria or fever we struck 
camp and returned to Eureka with pack mules 
and from there to Buena Vista; and two days 
later by sea to La Paz in the schooner 
“Laurita. ” The collection is packed in 5 cases 
and numbers over three hundred and seventy- 
five specimens. It contains every species of 
owl recorded from Lower California — that is 
from the Cape Region as covered by Mr. 
Brewster’s book. Of the Screech Owl there 
