152 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XV 
clothe the summit of the Palomar Mountains, near the northern boundary of San 
Diego County and about eighty miles from the coast, a Band-tailed Pigeon was 
flushed from a tree directly over the main road. On examination it was seen to 
have flown from the nest, and the single egg was plainly visible through the frail 
structure. The nest was saddled on a small fork of a horizontal limb of a black 
oak, thirty feet from the ground. 
The bird did not fly directly away, but hesitated a moment over a near by 
tree, and then, as if by a sudden change of mind, made off like a bullet and was 
seen no more, although I remained there for some time. The egg was taken, but 
on trying to remove the nest it was reduced to a mere handful of twigs, being 
composed of not more than sixteen or eighteen sticks in all. 
July 3, 1910, found me at Wynola, four miles east of Julian in the Cuyamaca 
Range. Some boys there told me that for the past two weeks a bunch of about 
one hundred Pigeons had been feeding on green manzanita berries in a near by 
thicket, and I was much pleased when they offered to take me to the place. It 
proved to be about one and one half miles north of their ranch, due south of Vol- 
can Mountain, and was the only thicket thereabout having a large crop of berries. 
In the morning the birds would begin to arrive a little after sunrise, leaving be- 
tween eight and nine o’clock ; in the evening they returned about four and stayed 
until dark. They seemed always to come from, and return to, the same place, at 
the top of Volcan Mountain among the pine trees. 
fl'he Pigeons seen were apparently always the same bunch, as one bird noted 
with a few secondaries missing on the left wing was seen on three out of four 
occasions when the flock was encountered. It was interesting to watch them try- 
ing to alight on the clusters of berries, far too weak to support them, making- 
many futile attempts, and finally succeeding in reaching the berries only by 
settling on a stronger perch and then walking out to the cluster. But how they 
did gorge and stuff when they finally got at them ! 
On two occasions birds alighted very near me, close enough to be beard and 
seen eating. Their table manners were extremely poor, reminding one very 
much of a chicken eating corn, accompanied by gulping noises when swallowing 
a berry. These ranged from the size of an average pea to that of a large hazel 
nut. 
A few days later the boys brought me a fractured egg which they had taken 
from a Pigeon shot by them that evening. The shell, though not very thick, was 
rough to the touch, and the egg would probably have been laid the next morning. 
July 6 found me camping near the foot of North Peak in the Cuyamaca 
Mountains, at a place called Talley's Ranch, and early on the morning of the 
7th I was travelling via mule back to the summit. About two-thirds of the way 
up is located a small saw-mill, the owner living near by. I was talking to one of 
his children when my attention was called to a pair of captive Pigeons which 
proved to be the Band-tailed. On ciuestioning the lad I learned that they had 
been taken about a week or ten days before, farther up the mountain, from a 
nest in an oak tree. One bird was much larger than the other, having gained 
the ju venal plumage, while the smaller one was still rather downy about the 
neck and head. Both did justice to any food stuffs offered them, and ate freely 
even of food offered by strangers, swallowing whole grains of corn and large 
pieces of bread. 
I made my way to the summit but was unsuccessful in locating any more 
Pigeons, nor could I hear one coo, although I listened assiduously. Being much 
interested in the captive young ones I returned three days later with hopes of 
