Page:Condor16(4).djvu/24

182 THE CONDOR Vol. XVI a pepper tree. All the flocks I saw were in sycamores, eucalyptus, camphor trees and evergreens, on the campus. The fact I wish to call attention to is that they were seen commonly not in pepper trees but feeding on the berries of the camphor (Cam?hora officinalis ). I had occasion this spring to witness an act of wanton destruction, committed ap- parently from jealousy. A Hummingbird(Calypte anna) had buil? a nest in a small tree just outside my window. Within fifty feet was the nest of a Cactus Wren (Heleo- dytes brunneicapillus couesi). The Cactus Wrens paid little or no attention to the hummer's nest until the two eggs were laid and incubated for one week. During the week of incubation both Wrens were observed to be prowling around acting suspicious- ly, and finally the female (?) was actually seen to approach the nest when the hum- mingbird was absent, and to smash both eggs, tear the nest down on one side and then depart apparently satisfied. On March third, while hunting on the mesa I discovered a Gambol Sparrow (Zon- otrichia leuco?hrys gambeli) which had been reduced to a terrible plight by a broken wing. The body was terribly bloated, the neck projected outward and was so swollen that the head was pointed downward and inward, and the bird barely able to run. In spite of this the eyes were bright and vivacious. I sent the bird intact to Mr. H. S. Swarth and he replied saying the body had been bloated and practically skinned alive by air entering through a broken humerus.--LEo? LLOYD GARDNER, D?t. Of Zoology, Po- mona College, Claremont, California. Cedar Waxwing Nesting in Humboldt County, California.--On August 3, 1913, my friend, W. ?r. Moore, came to my home, and told me that a pair of strange birds were getting nesting material in his yard. It was but a short while before I went over there and sure enough there was a pair of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) one of which was tearing at an old piece of cotton rope, which was tied to a post. After it had enough, both birds flew over a narrow strip of tall alders and down into a gulch heavily covered with young alder, willow and a few myrtle bushes: not a very promis- ing outlook on account of the distance the birds flew before they went over the alders. The way we found the nest, my friend staid in his yard and I went down into the gulch and when the birds left he would whistle and I would be on watch for their com- ing so as to get some .idea as to where to look for the nest. We had to do this several times before the nest was found, as the birds would go to a different ch?mp of willows each time, and would very soon fly up and go to a patch of myrtles on the bank on the other side of the gulch. The nest when found was about ready for lining, and was left until the 11th of August, when nest and four eggs were taken, incubation indicat- ing a full set. This is the second set of Waxwing I have taken in this locality, the other having been several years back. I did not keep the date of taking that set.--JoHN M. DAVIS, Eureka, California. Occurrence of the Yellow Rail in Southern California.--On January 31, 1914, while I was hunting near Corona, California, in a swampy meadow .covered thickly with marsh grass and a few rules, both the grass and rules ranging in height from two to four feet, my dog flushed a strange small bird. It was shot and proved to be an adult female Yellow Rail, Coturnico?s noveboracensis. Several days later Mr. A. van Rossera and myself, after much tramping through this same small meadow, flushed another of these birds, which was collected. It was an adult male. Several times on this trip we heard what we were quite certain were the notes of these birds. Again, about a month later, we visited this same place and while we did not flush or hear any more of these birds, we found some feathers in a small open pool and were very certain that they were from the breast of the Yellow Rail Diligent search- ing through the swamps and grass-covered pastures near the above locality failed to disclose any more signs of these birds,--WRIoHT M. PIERCE, Claremont, California. Nesting of the Allen Hummingbird on Catalina Island.--While on Catalina Island, March 20 of this year, I examined -eleven nests of the Allen Hummingbird (?elas?horus alleni), as follows: I[? ? Two nests with nearly fu?l-grown young. These young were of such size that I feared too close examination of them would cause them to leave the nest. Three nests with eggs: a set of two, incubation advanced; a set of two, fresh; a set of one, advanced. Six unoccupied nests. Of these three were undoubtedly new nests of the year; two looked like old nests of the previous season; and the remaining one was not examined closely enough to determine its condition. To give an idea of how commonly these birds were nesting I might state that only