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Sept., 1909 173 FlkO1?f FIELD AND STUDY The Wilson Phalarope at Santa Barbara.--On the morning of the 30th of April, 1909, while scanning a flock of small sandpipers in the muddy flats near the railway track at Santa Barbara, my glass fell upon a bird which at the second or third glance I saw to be a Wilson Phal- arope (Steganopus trico/or), a female in handsome plumage; and presently I discovered nearby her plainly drest small mate. In the afternoon I found the pair in the same place, and watcht them at short range as long as I pleased. Both birds were still present May 2d, 4th, and 6th. On each of the next three days I saw the male only, and on the 10th I left home for two months. It amused me to' notice how to the very last I involuntarily thought of the bright large female as the male, and vice versa.--BRADFORD TORRI?, Santa Barbara, California. Limonites ruficollis in Alaska.--I have bought from time to time a good many bird-skins of Mr. A. H. Dunham, of Nome, Alaska. He usually spends his winters in his old home at New Haven, Conn., leaving Alaska early in the autumn. He has on several occasions brought back with him a nmnber of rather rare birds, such as the Kittlitz Murrelet, Emperor Goose, Specta- cled Eider, etc. On his last trip he had a large nmnber of skins, some rare ones and some of little interest. Among the lot were a pair of Sandpipers and two of their young, which he had shot at Nome, July 10, 1908. He "threw these in" with the other birds I bought, saying, that he "remem- bered my telling him to collect a few nestlings." The skin of the female was such a miserable? greasy thing and so wretchedly made (most of Dunham's skins are very poor) that I threw it away without examining it. On looking over these Alaskan skins one day, I found that I couldn't make out what this Sandpiper was. I sent the remaining adult skin to Mr. Outram Bangs, who sent it to Professor Ridgwa3;, who identified it as Limoniles ruficollis. This is, I think, the first record of this bird being taken in Alaska, and that it bred there is also interesting.--Jo}?N 13,. THAVER, Lancaster, Mass. The Allen Hummingbird at San Diego in Winter.--On January 26, 1908, I found an adult male Allen hummer (Selasphorus allcut) in a small hollow in the city park at San Diego, feeding upon the blossoms of the tree tobacco. The place was close upon the Fifth Street side- walk, within a five minutes walk of my hotel, and for three weeks I saw the bird almost daily. To be precise, I listed it fifteen days between the date of its discovery and the 16th of February, the day on which I left the city. On one occasion Mr. Frank Stephens was with me. I am told that there is no previous record of. the wintering of this hummingbird on the mainland of California.--BRADFORD TORRE, Santa Barbara, California. Red-eyed Cowbird at Sacaton, Arizona.mMay 28, 1909, I noticed one morning a new- looking bird strutting about the barnyard; and a near approach showing his flaming eyes, I decided he was a Red-eyed Cowbird. Later in the day I saw him again, this time accompanied by a mate to whom he was very attentive. I collected him, the female escaping, and found he was the Red-eyed Cowbird (Tangavius aeneus involucratus). I saw the female several times the next two or three days, and June 1, a pair of the birds were in evidence. Later, by several days, I noticed a male making violent love to some lady Dwarf Cowbirds, but they were not responsive to his courtship. I have seen the pair nearly every day smce, and they are here yet, July 16. I am certain of having seen at least two pairs and believe there were six pairs of them. This locality is rather far from their reputed range, and I have been carefully examining all the nests of the SonGran Redwings here to see if the cowbirds are breeding. As before stated they showed indications of mating, and it would be very interesting to determine if they ever do breed in this territory. Since recording these notes I have received the July ,4uk, and notice Mr. S.S. Visher, Carnegie Laboratory, Tucson, Arizona, reports capturing a male, and seeing several others of the birds.--M. FRENCH GILMAN, Sacaton, ?4rizona. The Blue-winged Teal at Santa Barbara.--Between January 21 and May 1, 1908, I saw drakes of this species (Querquedula discors) on fourteen days and in two places, an artificial lake at Hope Ranch and the ditches and pools near the freight station of the Southern Pacific Rail- road at Santa Barbara. The two places are perhaps four miles apart. I cannot assert that I ever saw more than one bird in either place, tho on several occasions the drake was accompanied by a female which it seemed fairly certain was of the same species. The following winter the birds were again in both places, and were listed seven times between December 6, 1908, and March 16, 1909. I had no doubt that at least one male spent both winters at Hope Ranch, where