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 108 THE CONDOR Vol. XlII The Catbird in Southern Idaho.On August 1, 1909, while prowling along a thick fringe of scrub willow, beside a lagoon-like pond on the B>ise river bottoms, I started the only catbird (Z)umetella carolinensis) I have seen this side of the Rocky Mountains. At the time I did not think the occurrence specially worthy of note, as I was then new to this section; but having ex- plored this same thicket and others of a similar sort and in similar location, many times since, without results, I have concluded the species is rare, in this section at least.--L. E. WYMAN. A Nesting Incident of the Brewer Blackbird (Euphaus cyanocephalus).--In July, 1909, having occasion to burn a pile of brush in the roxd near my residence, I removed there- from a nest of this bird, with three eggs, and fastened the same in a crotch of a small black locust about twenty-five feet distant. The next morning I -was surprised to see the mother bird on the nest in its new location, brooding as though nothing had happened, and in due time two young appeared, though the family cat prevented their_reaching maturity.--L. E. WYMAN. The Virginia Rail at Helena, Montana, in Winter.--On February 22, 1911, I secured an adult male Virginia Rail (Ralltts virginianus) near Helena, Montana. The bird was one of three that were found in a willow swamp where warm springs keep the waters open all winter. The birds were feeding about the edges of these springs. The one shot was in good condition and there is every reason to believe that. all of them had remained there throughout the winter. Two other species by no means common in winter in Montana, but seen in the same vicinity at the same time, are the Western Meadowlark and Wilson Snipe.--AREAS A. SAUNDERS. Occurrence of the Red Crossbill (Lozria curviroslra minor) in Southern Idaho.--While this bird should be, and probably is, common, or at least not rare, among the conifers of the mountains, it apparently seldom strays into this section of the Boise Valley. Last October I saw a small flock of birds passing overhead and heard the familiar note of the Crossbill. The flock alighted in a Lombardy poplar and a shot brought down a Crossbill and a House Finch. As nearly as I could determine without glasses, the Crossbill was the only bird of its species in the flock, the rest being House Finches (Carpodacus rnezricanusfronlalis).--L. E. WIAN. The Yellow Rail in Southern California.--A Yellow Rail (Colurnicops noveboracensis), male, no. '2077, coil. of P. I. O., was received from Mr. Evan Davis of Los Angeles. The specimen was collected at Newport Bay, California, on December 12, 1896, by Mr. J. H. Hender- son. Are there other records for this vicinity?--PxNCREE I. OSBURN. Some August Notes for Lake Valley.--I spent most of August, 1906, at Lake Valley, which lies at the southern end of Lake Tahoe. This being my first visit at so late a date, a comparison with the Valley's bird life in May and June may be of interest. While advancing summer finds certain birds ascending to still higher altitudes, on the other hand some species, or rather individuals, having reared their young in high altitudes, now descend to lower levels. In May and June at Bijou, such birds as the Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus pinus), Olive-sided Fly- catcher (2Vuttallornis borealis), Slender-billed Nuthatch (Silla carolinensis aculeata), William- son Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus thyroideus) and Clarke Nutcracker (2Vucifraa colurnbiana)are either scarce or wanting; in August, however, I found these not uncommon and collected exam- ples of all of them in the immediate vicinity of Bijou. Green-tailed Towhees (Oreospiza chlorura), while scarce in the breeding season at Bijou, although nesting commonly in certain localities adjacent, were in August one of the most com-' mon birds, being found in large numbers along the now dry meadowlands in company with the Sierra Junco (Junco byemalls thurberi). In general birdlife, being increased by the young of the year, was more abundant than earlier. These conditions did not obtain at the Rowland's Marsh at Al-Tahoe, however, where the de- fection as very marked. Here we found almost the entire summer congregation absent. Of its usual 'quota of thousands of Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalu$ zranthocephalus) we observed only a single individual, an immature male; Forster Terns (Slerna forsteri) were en- tirely wanting and the very few Black Terns (tIydrochetidon nigra surinamensis) seen were all young of the year. In our tour of the marsh, however, we secured a new bird for the Lake Valley checklist in the Least Sandpiper (tNsobia minutilga). Aflock of about twenty passed over our boat and we secured three specimens, all adults. Another species new for the checklist was the Sofa Rail (torzana carolina). We first took this bird on the Bijou Meadow on August 12; on August 27, on our trip through the Rowland's Marsh, we noted two more rails of this species. During a stay of a little over a month the writer made a collection of about fifty skins, including a few of the smaller mammals. The two birds already noted, however, were the only ones to be newly recorded for Lake Valley.--MxxroN S. R,.