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 Nov., 1908 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 237 ten at this point. The vegetation of the desert, saltbush (1triple:) and mesquite (trosopis) in scrubby form being the only vegetation noticeable except where the pumping plant of some rancher has made an oasis. At the station yard, however, a four inch well pipe has been sunk to a depth of eleven hundred and fifty feet where an artesian stratum was 'tapped which forces a gentle flow from the top of the pipe which overhangs the tank car siding. This small but con- stant leakage has nurtured a small grove of cottonwoods and a very limited rule patch. The bird was first noted hopping about the trucks and platforms of the tank cars and was finally taken from the timbers of the tank support. The bird gave only its call note but this was heard repeatedly. The actions were those described by Chapman and others as being so characteristic. The teetering action and stout shanks remind one forcibly of the Dippers. The bird flushed several times and seemed not at all shy tho restless as is its habit. Whetheror not the same bird was seen each time is impossible to tell. Tine did uot permit very extensive or prolonged search after the one specimen was taken. Plumage was complete and testes inactive. The identification I feel to be unquestionable as the bird fits perfectly the careful description and measurements of Chapman in his "Warblers of North America." It seems quite unusual to find this bird of the southeastern swamp and thicket so ont of his sphere as to associate intinmtely with the Abert Towbee and Leconte Thrasher in the midst of a great south-westeru desert. If our esteemed editor can assure me of this being a state record I shall be glad to deposit the specimen with the University Museum of Vertebrate Zoology where I consider such record specimens should be preserved.--LoYE HOLMES MILLER, Slale Normal School, Los ngeles, Cal. [Yes; the specimen is unequivocally Seiurus molacilla, and establishes the first record for the species not only for California, but also as far as I know for the whole of the United States west of the Mississippi Valley. In accordance with Mr. Miller's generous offer, the skin has been added to the ornithological collection of the University of California Museran of Vertebrate Zoology, and is number 1105.--J. G.] Late Nesting of the Green-backed Goldfinch.--On September 24, 1908, I took a set of four fresh eggs of the Green-backed Goldfinch from a cypress tree on one of our city streets, dis- turbing the parent bird from the nest. This seems to me a remarkable occurrence, as my latest previous date for nesting of the species was July 21.--C. S. SHARP, Jscondido, California. The Present Status of the Least Tern in Southern California.--I have noticed this season that the Least Tern (Slerna anlillarum) seems to be on the increase at nearly all of the breeding grounds in Southern California. The colony at Ballona Beach (this is the narrow strip of sand between Del Key and Ocean Park) is nearly donble what it was last year. As nearly as I could count, I should say that there were about 125 pairs of nesting birds. I watched this pretty closely, and do not think that nore than ten per cent hatched because of the depredations of dogs mostly, and of small boys. This colony will surely disappear, and why the birds keep coming back I cannot see, as the whole thing (both island and mainland being cut up into building lots) is rapidly being built up with summer cottages. Some of the nests were not more than a hundred yards from the houses. The 1Zedondo Beach colony seems this year to be deserted. I noticed a few birds flying around, but no nests. This used to be a big colony, but the building of so nany houses has driven the birds away. The colonies at Bolsa Beach and Newport Beach were very thickly inhabited. The birds were there by the thousands, and I. found it inpossible to count them. The colony at Bolsa Beach is mostly within the grounds of the Bolsa Chica Gun Club and ought to increase every year, as the gun club people allow no one on the gronnds. I should say that fully seventy-five per cent of the birds in this colony raised two or three broods. The Newport Beach colony is split up into two or three main colonies, and this year a new one was started on a lot of reclaimed land. The land company had dredged the channels and filled a salt marsh np with the sand taken out where the channels were cut. This formed a nice white patch of sand and shells where the Terns made themselves perfectly at home. This colony probably succeeded in hatching sixty per cent of its eggs. Both the Bolsa Beach and the Newport Beach colonies have increased about fifty percent over last year. The electric cars run directly thru the Bolsa Beach colony and the terns get so used to them that they very seldom leave their nests when a car passes.--W. LEE CHAMBERS, Sanla W/onica, California Subspecific Names in the Genus Passerella.According to the decision of the A. O. U. Committee, as stated in the 1%urteenth Snpplement (,4uk XXV, July 1908, p. 895), the lq'ox Sparrow from Yakutat Bay shonld not be recognized in nomenclature as different from the