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 238 THE CONDOR VoL. X Sparrow of Kadiak Island. In other words, tasserella iliaca meruloides (Vigors) [=/ .i. an- netens RIDGWA 3 and 2P. L insularis RIDGWA are lumped together. To quote: "Both nectens and meruloides are believed to represent one form, which is inseparable from t'. i. insu- laris". However that may be, it is certainly a mistake to discard the name meruloides, which has some sixty years priority over either of the other names and is without a shadow of a doubt applicable to the Yakutat form. (See CO;DOR IV, March 1902, p. 45.)--J. GRX;;ELL, 2erkeley, California. Northern Range of the Phainopepla.--?hainopepla nilens has been recorded along the foothills of the Sierras at various places north as far as Marysville, but previous to my observa- tions the northern limit in the Coast Range was Mr. Hamilton where R. H. Beck noted one bird in November, 1899, and Ernest Adams also recorded a bird from near the same place on October 28, 1898. Joseph Mailliard reports having heard their note in Marin County, but has never seen a bird. On June 23, 1907, while in the Arroyo Mocho in southern Alameda County, I saw six of these birds which I took to be a family of four young and their parents. On April 1, 1908, near the same place I again saw a pair of Phainopeplas, but failed to secure either bird. Later in the year, however, while doing extended geological work in the Arroyo Mocho I again met with the birds several times, and I believed several pairs to have raised broods this last summer. A number of birds were seen at dusk on July 21, 1908, and one young male of the year was taken, thus proving the birds to be breeding in Alameda County which probably marks their most northerly limit--J. R. PEMBERTOb;, Stanford University, California. Pacific Fulmars and Pacific Kittiwakes at Long Beach.-During February, 1908, I observed several Pacific Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis lupischa), both light and dark phases, about the pleasure wharf at Long Beach, California. These birds were exceedingly tame, swim- ming about within a few inches of the numerous fish-lines and often making a dash for the baited hooks as the fishermen cast them. Upon tossing a handful of fish scraps overboard I was surprised to see the fulmars dive for the sinking pieces, sometimes going two or three feet under water and bouncing almost clear of the surface upon returning. They were also somewhat quarrelsome, fighting fiercely over a fish, uttering a harsh, rasping note the while. Several Pacific Kittiwakes (lissa t. pollicaris) were also observed here.--C. B. Lx;To;, Long 2each, Cal. The European Chaffinch at Berkeley, California.--On May 14, 1908, while passing a gar- den in Berkeley, near the corner of Prospect Street and Channing Way, my attention was at- tracted by an unfamiliar song, and on stopping to ascertain the source, I was surprised to see a European Chaffinch (Frinilla colebs), in full plumage, singing cheerily in the lower branches of an acacia tree. The bird was not more than ten feet distant and repeated his song three times in full view, so that there was no mistake in identification. He had probably escaped from an aviary in the neighborhood but seemed to be as much at home as any of the native birds and, despite the raw, drizzling weather, was singing as merrily as a house finch. Notes of this kind are perhaps worth recording as they may be useful in future in tracing the introduction of foreign birds which may become acclimated in certain localities.--T. S. PALER, WashingIon, 29. C. The California Record of the Cape Robin Open to Question.--I recently visited the home of Mr. W. Otto Emerson, at Haywards, California, and was accorded the privilege of closely examining several of the record specimens in his extensive private collection. I was particularly interested in scrutinizing the skin of "irerula co,finis", upon which (and it alone) rests the inclusion of the Cape Robin as a bird of California. This bird is a female, No. 159 (Coll. W. O. E. ), and was sqeured by Mr. Emerson himself at Haywards, January7, 1882. It was first recorded in Joe, Vol. I, April 1890, p. 46. I was at once impressed with the similarity between it and certain pale female examples of the Western Robin. Mr. Emerson and I proceeded to analyze its characters. A male of true confinis, from Sierra de Laguna, lower California, was at hand for comparison. It was found that the Haywards bird, altho a female, was not so pale as the Lower California bird. The breast of the former showed a decided reddish caste, of the same quality as in females of ordinary pro- pinqua tho not so deep. The head of the Haywards "confinis" was colored exactly as in female specimens of propinqua, the superciliary stripe being not continuous but broken as in the latter, and the feathers on the top of the head being decidedly black-centered, also as in the latter. The white area on the belly of the Haywards bird was found to be no more extensive than in female examples ofpropinqua, and the bills were identical in size, outline and color. The only char- acter left, then, by which to identify the Haywards bird with true confinis was the decidedly ashy dorsal surface. But this, in absence of the other characteristics, Mr. Emerson and I agreed to be