Joseph Grinnell

“ A. Brazier Howell, I spent the afternoon of July 25, 1922, on the west slope of Walker Pass, which is in northeastern Kern County, California, at the southern end of the main high Sierra Nevada. The feature of the occasion was my meeting with an adult pair of Gray Vireos (Vireo vicinor) . The exact spot was on a steep, north-facing hillside within one-fourth mile south of "Jack's Station" (now merely a roadside camping place) ; altitude close to 4500 feet; life-zone Upper Sonoran, in a semi-arid phase of it. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The bill was about the length of the head and was still straight and conical in outline. On the evening of the 21st the older bird seemed alert and ready to leave the nest. Upon moving the limb on which the nest was placed both birds suddenly flew to neighboring trees thirty feet away. The younger, though it could fly from one tree to another, had difficulty in securing a foothold and generally dropped to the ground. ”

“ THE CALIFORNIA DISTRIBUTION OF THE ROADRUNNER (GEOCOCCYX CALIFORNIANUS)
BY JOSEPH GRINNELL
THE extremely limited powers of flight of the roadrunner are partly compensated for by its pedestrial capabilities. So that the range of territory possible to the individual roadrunner is doubtless much greater than one might at first suspect.
Yet I consider this species to be about as permanently "resident" as any bird we have. There may be a slight downward displacement on steep mountain sides in winter. ”

“ In the marshes of the Illinois River these nets are used extensively for the capture of carp, buffalo, and other fishes, an energetic fisherman frequently running a line of forty to fifty "tykes". The nets are placed in areas where large numbers of ducks gather to feed, and it is common to find halt a dozen mallards or pintails in a single net. During March, 1922, while engaged in banding work in this region, I made a practice of trying to beat the fisherman to the nets that were set in my neighborhood for the purpose of securing any ducks that might have been caught. ”

“ The darkest markings average one millimeter in diameter, while the vinaceous ones vary down to mere points. The markings are most crowded around the large ends of the egg-shells, and radiate from this pole in lesser numbers towards the opposite pole. The nine eggs are quite uniform in appearance, tho certain ones are to be distinguished as more sparsely, more boldly, or more minutely marked. The markings on one set are not so dark as on the other, approaching pale hazel at darkest and ranging to vinaceous-cinnamon.
In shape the eggs of the Sierra creeper vary from ovate to elliptical-ovate. ”

“ Altho the majority of the nests found were on cedar trunks, one was on a Jeffrey pine, and at least five were on silver firs. In the latter cases the trees were dead and rotting, for it was only on dead trees that the bark had become loosened and separated enough from the trunk to afford the narrow sheltered spaces sought by the creepers for nesting sites. But the huge living cedar trunks furnished the ideal situations. ”

“ But even if this is homologous to migration the movement must be so limited that we can safely ignore it in a distributional study. We can therefore establish its breeding range as practically coincident with its record area, irrespective of the season of observation. ”

“ No nests were found with eggs later than June 11, but young were found, yet unable to fly, until July 20. Two sets of eggs found on June 11 consisted of four and five eggs, respectively. Broods of young were of three to six individuals, one of the latter number being noted on June 26.
The ground-color of the eggs is pure white. The markings are elongated in shape lengthwise of the egg. The brightest markings are burnt sienna the tint varying from this towards vinaceous as the depth of the markings in the shell-substance increases. ”

“ The problem of evolving suitable methods for the capture of diving ducks for banding purposes will still require considerable experimentation, but present indications are that some form of a submerged net will prove most satisfactory. ”

“ When fully extended the hoops are about two feet apart, and the web cylinder thus produced is divided into two chambers by means of web funnels. The first of these has a large mouth while the second is much reduced. Short wings or guides of webbing are extended from the mouth of the trap and the whole affair is held in place in shallow water by long stakes forced into the mud. ”

“ 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. ”