Page:CooperBull1(5).djvu/12

88 BULLETIN OF THE COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. Type. No. 288, ? worn nnptial plumage, McGregor Coll., Westport, Mendocino Co., Cali- fornia, May a8, I889. Wing a.28; tail 2.IO; exposed culmen .42. Uo-lype. No. 287, ?) worn nuptial plnmage, McGregor Coll., Westport, Mendocino C., Cali- fornia, May 28, I889. Wing 2.38; tail 2.22; exposed culmen .42. l?ange. Coast of Mendocino County. The name is taken from Cleone, the town where three of the specimens were collected. Mr. A. W. Anthony has kindly Ioaned me a large series of song sparrows which he took on Coronado Island, Lower California. These are undoubtedly of the same variety as the sparrow on San Clemente Island. The range of ?relospiza mel- odia clemenlg is therefore extended to include the Mexican islands named. If the specific name ?relospiza melodia (Wilson) be reinstated as suggested in the ?tuk XVI, ?83, then the song sparrow described by me in the March BULLE- TIN should stand ?relospiza meloda in?er?vlli. tassoin? a California Vulture. BY F. STEPHENS? WITCH CREEK, SAN DIEGO CO., CAL. [Read before the Northern Division of the Cooper Orn. Club, Sept. 2, ?899.] I HAD heard of California Vultures being Iassoed, but had been some- what skeptical of the actuaI occur- rence, because I had never seen their near relatives, the Turkey Vultures, gorged to the necessary extent. As others may have doubted the probabil- ity of this statement also I will relate the circumstances of the capture of a California' Vulture near here with a riata. May 24, t899, I was at the principal dairy of the Santa YsabeI Rancho. Late in the afternoon MasslinG Morelli, a Swiss vaquero employed on the ranch, came to me and said he had that after- noon caught a California Vulture with his riata and it was then at one.of the other dairies, alive in a box. I ar- ranged to purchase it and sent a wagon after the bird, which he returned with it after dark. As the box it was in was too small to allow the bird to stand up- right I changed its quarters,' but it seemed unable to stand up. I meant to keep it' alive some time to study its habits in captivity and photograph it; however in the morning it Was dead, greatly to my disappointment. On skinning it I found the flesh discolored on the Iower part of the neck and be- lieve the choking of the rope caused its death. The bird. was an adult male in fair condition; weigh t 20 pounds; stom- ach nearly empty; Iengt: h 45 inches; ?pread of wing ?2 inches/ I have known MorelIi several years, and know him to be reliable. The fol- lowing is his account of the capture. He was out on the range looking after the stock as usual. Shortly after noon he saw this vulture at the carcass of a calfi As the bird seemed stupid he made a dash at it and threw his riata over its neck before it rose. He says the bird ran but did not seem able to fly. The bird proved difficult to handle, and struggled so that he was afraid it would get away, so he tied its wings to- gether across its back with his handker- chief, and finally had to lash the bird to a pole to keep it from flapping un- der his horses feet, as he was afraid to drag it behind him too much. Massimo says when he caught the bird it dis- gorged and stunk horribly. From his manner I fancied that he received more of the veal than he liked. The bird struck him several severe blows with his bill. H.R. PAINTON of College Park, a well known member of the :Club, is serving his second term as principal of the New Almaden, Cal. public school. W. B. JuDsoN of Los Angeles has re- turned after a two years' absence in Dawson City, where he had mining in- terests.