Jan., 19K) FOSSIL BIRDS FROM QUATERNARY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 13 
regards mammals of today. In the asphalt of Rancho La Brea there have been 
found the gigantic ground sloth, the saber-tootht tiger, camel-like forms, the great 
mastodon and the extinct Pacific horse. If such changes have been wrought in the 
mammalian fauna of the region, what may we not look for among birds ? The 
antiquity of the group precludes the likelihood of discovering in the Quaternary, 
any form which might be. considered as ancestral. The interest of expectancy then 
centers in the main in questions of distribution and in the occurrence of unusual 
extinct forms. The following is a list of species thus far identified, with the num- 
ber of individuals of each found in a certain un-assorted part of the University col- 
lection. 
Gymnogyps calif ornianus. California Condor, 11 
Cfflharista occidentalis. Western Black Vulture, 21 
Cathartes aura. Turkey Vulture, 20 
Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle, 33 
Buteo borealis. Red-tailed Hawk, 8 
Indeterminate buteonid, 3 
Indeterminate falconid, 4 
Circus hudsonius . Marsh Hawk, 3 
Aluco pratincole. Barn Owl, 2 
Asio. Tong-eared Owl, 2 
Asio accipitrinus . Short-eared Owl, 2 
Speotyto. Burrowing Owl (?), 2 
Bubo virginianus. Great Horned Owl, 1 
Anser. sp. ? Brant, 1 
Brant a. Canada Goose ?, 1 
Ardca herodias. Great Blue Heron, 1 
Indeterminate Stork, 4 
Grus. Indeterminate Crane, 2 
Indeterminate Pheasant, 5 
Pavo calif ornicus . California Peacock, 6 
Corvus cor ax. Raven, 2 
Teratornis merriami , 6 
Owing to the conditions under which the specimens were entombed, this list 
does not represent the balanced avifauna that probably existed in the region at the 
time. Three classes will be notist to predominate — predaceous or scavenging 
forms, water birds, and ground dwellers. Of these three, the first shows the 
greatest number of species as well as individuals. An explanation of this anomal- 
ous condition was offered in the second of the papers referred to above (vol. 5, no. 
20). I transcribe as follows: 
“The large preponderance of raptorial species will at once be noted in this 
list. * * * A similar relation between predaceous and non-predaceous species 
is noted by Professor Merriam 3 among mammals from this formation. Numerous 
writers on the Golden Eagle as it exists today have commented on the carrion 
habit of the species. Its abundant occurrence in the asphalt trap of Rancho 
La Brea bears evidence of the long standing of the habit of preying upon either dead 
or disabled animals. The specimens average large and possibly represent birds in 
old age. The left tarsus of one individual shows an abundant exostosis due to 
some diseased condition which caused the loss of the entire foot. Merriam noted 
among mammals a preponderance of young individuals accompanied in the case of 
a Merriam. J. C., Science, N. S., vol. 24, p. 248; 1906. 
