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Sept., 1915 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 203 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Southern Callfornia.--Dr. I.D. Nokes of this city has recently submitted to me for identification a specimen of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Muscivora ]orficata) collected by himself, with the added request that I place on record a statement regarding the capture of the bird. It was taken on June 25,' 1915, in the northern part of Los Angeles County, on the road to Elizabeth Lake, at a point a little to the north of Boquet Canyon. The bird, flitting from fence-post to fence-post along the road, was first observed by Mrs. Nokes as something out of the ordinary, and she pointed it out to her husband, who promptly secured it. The specimen, in the flesh, was turned over to Dr. $. Hornung, employed as taxidermist in this Museum, wh? made it into a study skin for Dr. Nokes, together with the rest of the birds collected by him on that day. The flycatcher on dissection proved to be a male, though in its small size, relatively short tail, and lack of concealed red crown spot, it has much the appearance of a female. Though adult it was evidently not a breeding bird. The plumage is rather worn, though not excessively so. On the top of the head, between the eyes, is a partly healed injury, such a wound as might be caused by flight against a telegraph wire or some such ob- structiota The capture of this individual adds a new species to the list of California birds, but in what sense this addition should be made is a matter in which opinions will probably differ. That it can be coniidered an extension of range, merely 'the wandering of an individual somewhat beyond the normal confines of the species as known at present, and consequently an occurrence the repetition of-which may be confidently expected in the future, seems to me a matter of some doubt. I do not regard the capture in California of this Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as comparable to the previously recorded instances of such rarities as the Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Phoebe, Oven-bird, Magnolia Warbler, and certain others. The occurrence of individuals of these several species, as regards season of capture, known range of the forms, usual migration route, etc., may be regarded, though certainly extraordinary, as explicable as the voluntary actions of nor- mal, unconfined individuals of the several species of birds. This Scissor-tailed Fly- catcher, it seems to me, belongs rather in the category of "accidentals" which are regarded with some suspicion as introductions directly due to human agency, fortuitous or intentional. I do not mean to suggest by this that it is necessarily an escaped caged bird, for the species is obviously not one to endure captivity. Mr. F. S. Daggett has suggested one possible means of introduction that certainly seems worthy of'congideration, namely, by accidental captivity within a box car used in transporting live stock. The swarms of flies in such a place would-afford attraction to a bird of this species, and the distance between the place of capture and the nearest point in the known habitat of the species is not so great but what the bird might easily survive the trip. This is not put forward as an absolute explanation of the happening, but merely as one way in which it might have been brought about. The partly healed injury on the head of the bird certainly suggests some abnormality in the occurrence.--H. S. SWARTH, Museum of History, Science and Art, Los Angeles, California. Supposed New Records for Santa Cruz Island.--Through the courtesy of our distin- guished fellow-member, Mr. Joseph Matlliard, and his friend, Mr. Arturo Caire, one of the present owners of Santa Cruz Island, I was permitted to spend nearly three weeks,.viz., April 3rd to 22nd, with my son William, on this enchanted spot. We made camp at Pris- oners Harbor and devoted ourselves chiefly to a study of the endemic Jay, Ap?elocoma insularis, of which sixteen nests were found. Besides this we found time to make sev- eral excursions into the interior of the island, and one to the west end. A horizon of eighty species resulted, and of these, fifteen appear not to have been previously re- ported, viz.: ?via iraruer. Loon. A full-plumaged adult was sighted at Prisoners Harbor on the 14th and appeared several times thereafter at near ranges. Four others were seen close inshore cn the south side of the island on April 19. There has been an unusual number of Loons, both senescent adults and non-breeding iramatures, in the Santa Bar- bara channel and its tributary lagoons during this past season. (?avia steliata. Red-throated Loon. A single individual in partial summer moult, first observed on the 9th, was repeatedly seen at Prisoners Harbor.