Page:Condor10(2).djvu/39

 Mar., 1908 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 93 The Red-winged Blackbirds of Colorado.--Following the suggestion of Prof. W. W. Cooke of the U.S. Biological Survey, the writer undertook to collect a series of .,4g'elaius thruout the fall and early winter, for the purpose of ascertaining defipitely what form occurred in the. vicinity of Denver during the winter. With the assistance of Mr. L. J. Hersey of Denver, and Messrs Win. and George Richards of Littleton, twelve birds were secured, at intervals of about one week.- These were forwarded to the Survey and identified by Mr. Oberholser. Six of the birds were classed as /. p. foftis, the prevalent breeding bird in this section, while the remaining six wereJclassed as /. p. neu4falis, the Great Basin form. So far -as I know neuifalis has not been definitely recorded for Col- orado before. The addition of euD-a/is to the Red-wings of Colorado, makes four forms of /g'daius found within the State: the typical form (pher/ceus), forils, afcioleg'us, and eulfalis. Just what ranges, seasons, etc., these different forms occupy can only be definitely determined by ex- haustive field work, and should furnish a very interesting line of work to the field collectors of the State. The following table does not seem to point to any positive conclusi(m, but it is probable that eutfa/is is generally found in this section after the bulk offoft'is has gone south. No. Date Locality Collector Form 1 Oct. 5 Barr Hersey forlis 2 "13 Littleton Richards neutfalis 3 "20 .... fortis 4 "30 ...... 5 Nov. 2 Barr Hersey " 6 " 6 Littleton Richards " 7 "12 .... neutralis 8 "20 .... " 9 "27 .... forti 10 "28 Bart Hersey neutralis 11 Dec. 3 Littleton Richards " 12 "10 ...... Littleton is located ten miles due south of Denver, while Barr is eighteen miles northeast.- ROBERT B. ROCKWELL, .Deuef, Colorado. A Death Struggle--January 18, while collecting at Newhall, California, I wounded a Lewis Woodpecker. The bird was able to fly to another tree, and I noticed that some California Woodpeckers in a nearby tree became very much excited. As the Lewis Woodpecker lit on the tree trunk four California W'oodpeckers attacked him evidently with the intent of driving him off. The Lewis started for another tree but a California flew at him from in front, and they both fell in the struggle that ensued. At this the other California Woodpeckers, which were joined by a few more, set up a violent chattering and when I ran up, to my amazement I found that the Lewis had hold of the California by the Skull, two of its claws entering the latter' eyes and the other two entering the skull in front and behind ! The Lewis Woodpecker was dead and the Cali- fornia so nearly so that it died while I was removing the former's claws.--HowAR) W. WRtGHT, Pasadena, California. Albinism of Sealed Partridge.--A Scaled Partridge (Callipepla squamaia) was brought to me November 19, 1907, by an acquaintance, who had shot it in the San Pedro valley, a few miles below Benson. The bird was an excellent example of semi-albinism. It was an adult female and had the dark edgings of the feathers, that give the species the scaled appearance in normal plumage, reduced to a minimum by a change of color. Most noticeable tho was the lack of white streaks on each side of the back, so conspicuous in the ordinary bird. The crest also was lighter than usual. Sometime in September of the same year, Mr. O. had casually mentioned to me about wounding a "white quail," that he was unable to secure. This had slipped my mind, however; so when he handed me the specimen in subjec and remarked that he thought he had bagged his albino, it took me a few minutes to recall the incident. An ulcerated condition of the forejoint of one wing, apparent in preparing the skin, together with the fact that he had killed the bird in the same locality as the one that had escaped, would lend substance to his opinion.--AusTIN PAUL SMITH JelSOl figOla,