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212
THE CONDOR
Vol. XXIV

pine, reaching the unusual height of some fifteen feet above the slope at the base of the tree. Her head was turned from side to side at frequent intervals, especially when she approached and eyed me curiously at a range of not more than twelve feet.

As for field characters, besides the general deliberateness of movement, the thick, dark-colored bill was well seen; the gray tone of color both above and below was noticeable; there was no crest, nor inclination to a crest. I was particularly struck by the relative great length of tail, for a vireo; also this member drooped, most of the time, below the axis-line of the body. It will be recalled that chaparral-dwellers in general, whatever their genetic affiliations, have relatively long tails—for example, Bell Sparrows, Bewick Wrens, Wren-tits, Gnatcatchers, Towhees, and Thrashers.

Some of the above observations will be found new or supplementary to those reported for the Gray Vireo from the San Jacinto region (Grinnell and Swarth, Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., vol. 10, 1913, pp. 291-297).

This Walker Pass record is the northernmost in California so far known for the species. In fact, only one other occurrence has been reported from north of west-central Los Angeles County (whence reported by Loye Miller, Condor, xxii, 1921, p. 194). This other northern record (Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avifauna no. 11, 1915, p. 144) is for a point at 2400 feet altitude near Bodfish, on the Kern River, in Kern County. An adult female (now no. 20679, Mus. Vert. Zool.) was collected there by Waiter P. Taylor on June 16, 1911. It is in worn "breeding" plumage. Mr. Taylor's field-notes indicate that the bird was taken on a slope clothed in part with junipers and digger pines—evidently good Upper Sonoran. The date of capture would argue for its nesting in the immediate vicinity.

There are vast areas of the same sort of territory as has afforded the two Kern County records, around the southern Sierra Nevada. It all looks like perfectly proper country for Gray Vireos. I am tempted to believe that the species will be found widely, though not abundantly, represented there by someone seeking it in May or June, who is familiar with its song and habitat predilections.—J. Grinnell, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of Calilornia, Berkeley, August 19, 1922.

Two Birds from the Bitterroot Valley, Montana.—Ross Goose (Chen rossi). As most of the records of this goose in Montana are from points east of the divide, it seems worth while to record one that was taken at Corvallis, October 10, 1911. The specimen is a female, and is now in the Zoological Museum, University of Minnesota.

Rough-legged Hawk (Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis). Through an oversight I omitted this species from the list sent to Mr. Saunders several years ago. There is a specimen, a male bird, taken by the writer at Corvallis, January 10, 1910, in the Museum collection at the University of Minnesota. The species was a fairly common winter visitant in this vicinity.—Bernard Bailey, Elk River, Minnesota, June 2, 1922.

Blackbirds Flocking.—In the May, 1922, issue of The Condor (p. 93) mention is made of the Yellow-headed Blackbird flocking with Brewer Blackbirds. It is not an unusual occurrence here to see a combined flock of Brewer and Red-winged Blackbirds, Cowbirds and one or two Yellow-heads all feeding together on the ground, generally about the early part of May. By that time the Cowbirds have arrived and the other several species have not yet scattered to their widely differing nesting grounds. On May 3, this year, I passed by one bull lying out in the pasture with an attendant group of three or four Cowbirds and one Yellow-headed Blackbird, though I cannot say I saw the latter perch on the bull's back like the Cowbirds.—L. B. Potter, Eastend, Saskatchewan, July 8, 1922.


Notes from Southwestern New Mexico.—White-winged Scoter (Oidemia deglandi). An adult female was brought to me November 10, 1921. It had been taken from a flock of six, on a small irrigation pond on Duck Creek, thirty miles northwest of Silver City. None of our local shooters remember to have taken this species in this country.

Zone-tailed Hawk (Buteo abbreviatus). From Tyrone, Grant County, New Mexico, a fine adult female was brought to me on April 15, 1922. Another was seen on several occasions in the same locality. I have never before seen this species in ten years careful collecting in southwestern New Mexico.