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?86 THE CONDOR I Vol. IlI September ist and on Sept.ember ?5 heard a nestful making a racket at ? a.m. DONALD A. COHEN, ?tlameda, Cal. etting a Late Supper. ETURNING from work on my xvheel during the latter part of August, I picked up a tack in my front tire and after many stops to pump up the tire, reached home in a bad frame of mind to find a cold supper. After supper I concluded to repair the puncture Which I did, commencing at eight o'clock and finishing half an hour later. The first thing I did was to turn on the electric light on the front porch, and look for the puncture. While so engaged a shadow kept falling across the wheel and looking up, imagine my surprise to see a Black Phoebe sitting on a branch of a rose-bush about four feet over my head, biting the wings from off a large moth it had captured and eyeing the other insects which were darting about the light. After whetting his bill on the branch he se- lected another moth which was cap- tured on the second attempt. The electric light in question is eight cand!e-power and throws just enough light on the porch to attract a few in- sects. The phoebe did not seem the least bit alarmed at my presence and continued to catch bugs within two feet of my head, while I watched operations directly under the lamp. Soon t called my roofher and brother but the bird paid no attention to the three of us standing near the lamp. I turned the light off for a few minutes and when turned it on again he immedi,qtely started after the bugs. After wati:hing him 1or half an hour [came to the ct,n- clusion that it was bad for birds to eat between meals, so put out the light and retired. W. B. JuDsox. Los ?tngeles, Notes on Say's Phoebe. On April 28 I took a set of two Say's Phoebe (Sa. yornis saya) on the mesa northwest of Elsinore. This nest was 40 feet down an old mine shaft and was completed before w6rk was restimed. But in spite of frequent passage up and down and occasional blasts, the bird had the eggs half incubated when taken. A report a few days ago is that she has carried the old nest piece by piece up twenty feet and is' now setting on two more eggs. I observed this pewee in Pomona May ?t and am satisfied the species breeds on the hills south. J. EUGENE L^w. Pomona, Ual., ?Jay 3 o, z9oz. QUERY COLUMN. 7- We have a dark white-rumped shrike in California in winter that con]es from Nevada and north of us. How far south does it go? It is common in the Sacramento Valley in winter, but I do not think I have seen it as far south as Stockton. L. BELDING, Stockton, Cal. 8. Has any variation been found in the plumage of Dr?,obates nut/alii, in- dicating a cross between it and any of the eastern "ladder-backs," and if so have any specimens been secured in this state? J.J.W. 9. What is the range of A?erula m. ]Sro]Si?tqzta in this state in the months of August, September and October? Owing to their complete absence from this Io- cali?y and also at Independence Lake during this period, annually., I am led to believe that they are found in num- bers in some other locality during this tim:. J.J.W. xo. Has any detailed stndy been made of the song and habits of ?:rarpor- . hfnchus rediviz,us? If so, by xvhom and can their observations .be purchased? JNO. J.. WILI.?&?s, Applegate, Placer Co:; Cal. "