162. Polioptila cærulea obscura. Western Gnatcatcher. Common resident. Abundant in spring and early summer.
163. Hylocichla aonalaschkæ. Dwarf Hermit Thrush. Abundant winter resident.
164. Merula migratoria propinqua. Western Robin. Very abundant winter resident.
165. Hesperocichla nævia. Varied Thrush. First noted March 13, 1901, when a number were seen in a grove of live oaks. We have never come across this species here before, and none of the men on the ranch were familiar with it.
166. Sialia mexicana occidentalis. Western Bluebird. Abundant resident.
167. Sialia arctica. Mountain Bluebird. Regular winter visitant. Sometimes very numerous.
168. Passer domesticus. English Sparrow. Common nuisance around buildings
This list is approximately complete as far as it goes, yet hardly a year passes without a new record being made of some visitant or wanderer. As neither my brother nor I have resided at Paicines for any length of time it is impossible to give correct data of arrival of migrants, and this we have made no attempt to do.
The past three years of successive drought reduced the bird life as far as immigrants were concerned to a very low ebb, and even affected many of the resident species. This winter however brought with it abundance of rain, and at the present writing the outlook for luxurious vegetation in the way of crops, grass, etc., could not be surpassed. The result of this will be a great plenty of food for the birds and it will be interesting to see whether this will at once produce a marked increase in the bird life over the last three seasons.
San Geronimo, Cal., April 6, 1901.
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Breeding Range of the Allen and Rufous Hummingbirds.
I was glad to see an answer in the July Condor to my query in regard to the breeding of the Rufous Hummer in California. But I do not consider the evidence offered by Mr. Emerson to be unquestionable or even worthy of any credence whatever. For have I not again and again seen male Rufous Hummers pursuing female Anna, Black-chinned and even Costa Hummers, where the latter appeared in the vicinity of the temporary feeding grounds of the pugnacious Rufous? And is it not probable that the female of the Allen Hummer would be treated in the same way if similar opportunity afforded, just as Mr. Emerson's two instances illustrate? And then too, has it ever been shown that after mating the male of any of our hummingbirds has anything whatever to do with the female or nest? Unless otherwise proven it seems to me more probable that the nests observed were those of the Allen. It seems to me an almost impossible feat for even the keenest observer to distinguish the female Rufous and Allen Hummers in life, though the two species should present themselves side by side at close range. For I am sure it is hard enough to identify the two in the hand. I am aware that a number of good authorities have recorded the breeding of the Rufous Hummer in Central and Southern California. But it will do these no injustice for some one to present fresh evidence of an unquestionable nature (if obtainable!); to be explicit, an incubating female taken with the nest and eggs.
The reasons for my present position in this regard are somewhat as follows:
