May, 1913 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
129 
Early Nesting of the Band-tailed Pigeon. — As supplementing the nesting notes on 
the Band-tailed Pigeon in The Condor for January, 1913, the following notes from one of 
my old note-books may be of interest. 
March 6, 1877, Laguna Mountains, twenty miles north of Campo, San Diego County, 
California: Cohimba fasciata; one egg; parent flew from nest, and from tree to tree, flut- 
tering its wings while perched, evidently to lead me away. Bird shot and preserved ; on 
dissection, proved to be a male. Egg near hatching. Nest very slight and flat, composed 
of oak twigs, placed on a small branch against a larger branch of a deciduous oak, then 
bare of leaves, about eight feet from the ground, in a forest of mixed oak and pine, at 
about 5,500 feet altitude. No other pigeon seen. 
This is the nest alluded to on page 124 of Bendire’s Life Histories of North American 
Birds. The context implies that this nest was found in Arizona but this was a mistake. 
I have seen no Band-tailed Pigeons in San Diego County now for two or three years. — 
Frank Stephens. 
Some Rare Transients of the Corral de Quati Ranch. — The Corral de Quati Ranch 
is in Santa Barbara County, California. It lies in the southern foothills of the San Rafael 
Mountains, and is a mile or so north of Los Olivos. These observations were taken with 
an opera glass, along the Alamo Pintado Creek. 
On March 1, 1907, I discovered in a sycamore on the creek’s edge a company of nine 
Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) sitting in a row on a bare twig. They were 
fluffed up like birds in a picture of winter — soft grey birds, soft grey twig, soft grey sk'y. 
At times they flew into the mistletoe, eating the berries, and clinging gracefully like tit- 
mice. Their note was a soft “see-see.” 
On April 27, 1909, a flock of Pine Siskins (Spinits pinus) had been with us in the same 
white oak tree for a week, busily investigating moss and bark and leaves. Their notes 
were a wheezy “scree-ee-ee”, and much low twittering somewhat after the manner of the 
Arkansas Goldfinch, which they resembled. 
About May 11, 1912, I found a small number of Western Blue Grosbeaks (Gniraca 
caerulea laznla), male and female, about the pigpens. These birds remained several days 
and appeared to be picking up the grain where the pigs were fed. The males’ coats were 
particularly striking, the chestnut bars of the wings being in sharp relief against the prev- 
alent blue of the body. The males were more timid than the females, this cautiousness be- 
ing made necessary, no doubt, because of their more noticeable coloring. — Virginia Faunt- 
eEroy Fox. 
American Egret in San Diego County. — Noticing some reports regarding the Egret 
(Herodias egretta) still surviving I might say that 1 saw on October 13, 1912, at least 
twelve at one time, and on October 15 there were nine. Again on November 28, 1912, I 
saw five, and on December 25 I saw over twenty all in a bunch. 
All these birds were on the south end of San Diego Bay near the salt works. On 
previous years I never saw more than four at any one time on the Bay in that district ; and 
but a single individual was to be seen once in a while at the north end of the Bay or on 
Mission Bay. — Henry Grey. 
Anna Hummer in Ferndale, Humboldt County, California. — From October 15 to 
about the middle of November I was interested to note the almost daily appearance in my 
garden of an adult male Anna Hummingbird (Calyptc anna). He came many times to a 
fuchsia within four feet of my post of observation, and hovered fearlessly over the bright 
flowers. 
Late in October, a neighbor living in the next block asked me to name a green and 
gray hummingbird larger than the “red one” (Rufous), with throat of magenta, which was 
then visiting her garden frequently. Her description would seem to confirm my observa- 
tion. 
I have known Calypte anna intimately for twenty-five years, in southern California, so 
there was no possibility of mistaken identification. — Charlotte M. Wilder. 
Western Goshawk in California. — ] see very little or no mention of the Goshawk 
{Asttir atricapillus striatnlus) in published lists appearing in The Condor from time to 
time. I might say that I got a fine specimen, a female in full plumage, on January 6, 1907, 
at North Palo Alto, San Mateo County. 
In October, 1900, at West Rialto, in San Bernardino County, I saw another but could 
not get a shot at it. It was trying to catch doves feeding on the weed seeds, but failed, 
on the two trips it made to the place while I was there. It was very wild, and I could not 
get within a hundred yards of it. — Henry Grey. 
