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Jan.,1910 FOSSIL BIRDS FROM QUATERNARY OF'SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 13 regards mammals of today. In the asphalt of Rancho La Brea there have been found the gigantic ground sloth, the saber-tootht tiger, camel-like forms, the great mastodon and the extinct Pacific horse. If such changes have been wrought in the mammalian fauna of the region, what may We not look for among birds ? The antiquity of the group precludes the likelihood of discovering in the Quaternary, any form which might be considered' as aneestraE The interest of expectancy then centers in the main in questions of distribution and in the occurrence of unusual . extinct forms. The following is a list of species thus far identified, with the num- ber of individuals of each found in a certain un-assorted part of the University col- lection. Gymnogyps californianus. California Condor, 11 Calharista occidentalis. Western Black Vulture, 21 Cathartes aura. Turkey Vulture, 20 Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle, 33 t3uteo borealis. Red-tailed Hawk, 8 Indeterminate buteonid, 3 Indeterminate falconid, 4 Circus hudsonius. Marsh Hawk, 3 Aluco pratincola. Barn Owl, 2 Asio. Long-eared Owl, 2 Asio accipitrinus. Short-cared Owl, 2 ?S?beotyto. Burrowing Owl (?), 2 Bubo virginianus. Great Horned Owl, 1 Anser. sp. ? Brant, 1 t3ranta. Canada Goose ?, 1 Ardea herodias. Great Blue Heron, 1 Indeterminate Stork, ' 4 Grus. Indeterminate Crane, 2 Indeterminate Pheasant, 5 [)avo caltfornicus. California Peacock, 6 Corvus corax. Raven, 2 Teralornis merriami, 6 Owing to the conditions under which the specimens were entombed, this list does not represent the balanced avifauna that probably existed in the region at the time. Three classes will be notist to predominate?predaceous or scavenging forms, water birds, and ground dwellers. Of these three, the first shows the greatest number of species.as well as individuals. An explanation of this anomal- ous condition was offered in the second of the papers referred to above (vol. 5, no. 20). I transcribe as follows: "The large preponderance of raptorial species will at once be noted in this list. * * * A similar relation between predaceous and non-predaceous species is noted by Professor Merriam a among mammals from this formation. Numerous writers on the Golden Eagle as it exists today have commented on the carrion habit of the species. lJts abundant occurrence in the asphalt trap of Rancho La Brea bears evidence of the long standing of the habit of preying upon either dead or disabled animals. The specimens average large and possibly represent birds in old age. The left tarsus of one individual shows an abundant exostosis due to some diseased condition which caused the loss of the entire foot. Merriam noted among mammals a preponderance of?oung individuals accompanied in the case of Merriam, J, C., Science, N'. S., vol. 24, p. 248; 1906.