94 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XV 
in his “History of the Birds of Colorado”, in speaking of tliis record says that it would 
carry the species well over into New Mexico, which it probably would as Fort Lewis is 
only about twenty miles north of the New Mexico line. 
That being true, this may possiblj^ be the first record of its having been actually taken in 
the state. In the latter part of September, 1912, in company with Prof. Figgins I took a 
collecting trip through the southwestern quarter of Colorado. Our first work was done in 
the Lhicompahgre Valley after the California Quail {Lophortyx calif oniica) . Up to this 
time L. califoniica was supposed to be the quail of this section of the state. This valley, or 
the part of it that we worked, is between 100 and 120 miles north of the New Mexico line, 
and between 54 and 60 miles east of the Utah line. 
We took ten birds and all were L. gambcli. Not a specimen of califoniica did we find 
in our two days’ drive up and down the vallejc Gambcli was everywhere and so abundant in 
places that I could have taken them by the hundred if I had so wished to do. Later, in 
correspondence, a resident there said he thought there were two species of quail in the 
valley, and that he would be glad to send us some of the other kind. He sent us two lots 
of them, but they all proved to be gambeli. 
I might add that our trip took us through Montezuma and La Plata counties, the two 
southwestern counties of the state, but that we failed to learn of Gambel Quail in either of 
these counties. Of course this does not necessarilj' mean they are not there. This does, 
however, settle the fact that they are residents of the state and that they are locally abun- 
dant, — L. J. Hersey, Curator of Ornithology and Mammalogy, Colorado Museum of Natural 
History. 
Some Winter Notes From the Bitter Root Valley, Montana — On December 26, 
1912, I saw a Townsend Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi) eating the berries from a red 
cedar. It was very tame, allowing me to approach within twenty feet before leaving, then 
only Hying a little way. A few minutes later on the same day, I flushed a Long-billed Marsh 
Wren from a cattail swamp. Within a hundred yards of the wren were six Red-winged 
Blackbirds. 
This is the warmest valley in Montana, so we have here birds which usually 
winter farther south. Western Meadowlarks winter here abundantly. Mallards and Kill- 
deer are always fairly common, Wilson Snipe are regular winter visitants, and Golden-eyes 
are rare winter visitors, arriving in the valley about January 1, and leaving about March 1. 
A Alourning Dove was seen two miles southwest of Corvallis during December, 1912. — 
Bekx.'.rd Baii.ey. 
A Northern Winter Station for the Band-tailed Pigeon — On the south side of 
the Pit River, about two miles from its junction with the Sacramento is a certain hillside 
to which Band-tailed Pigeons {Colitmba fasciata) regularly resort during the winter season. 
I am accustomed to pass that point several times each year, on my way from Pitt, the 
Southern Pacific jimction, to Wyndam, on the line of the Sacramento Valley and Eastern. 
The motormen and conductors told me that they had frequently seen flocks of pigeons there, 
and on one occasion I was fortunate enough to see a small flock myself, as we passed bjc 
On February 22, 1913, the motorman stated that he had the previous week seen a flock of 
two or three hundred. It has seemed to me remarkable that these flocks should come yearly 
to the same hillside, where they sometimes linger for many days, and further remarkabre 
tliat they arc not observed elsewhere in the run of twelve or fifteen miles from Pitt to Bully 
Hill. — C. H. Giebert. 
Early Arrival of the Back-headed Grosbeak. — On the morning of February 15, 
1913, about ten o’clock, there appeared at my window-shelf bird-table a gorgeous male 
Black-headed Grosbeak (Zamelodia mclanoccphala) . He helped himself to the bread on 
the board and when frightened flew into a nearby elderberry tree. He came back to^ the 
table several times and was about for most of the forenoon. 1 have not seen him since. 
My earliest record for these birds last year is March 25, when a male came to this same 
bird-table. Not only is this early appearance of the Black-headed Grosbeak of interest, but 
the fact that he was in full summer plumage seems worthy of note. He was one of the 
bright-plumaged males, not having the dull coloring that some of these males have even in 
the summer time. — FIarriet Wileiams Myers. 
