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 Echoes from the l'ieltl. 15arl, gigrati0n at bt0ckt0n, 6al.--Pelroche/idon/un(/kons. On the 5th of March [ observed a colony of Cliff Swallows around a country barn, which is the earliest record for Central California, except that this and other species of swallows ar- rived at Murphys on March 15 in 876 or i877. T,,rannus verticalis. First seen March 24, 19oo or two days earlier than any pre,-ious record for Stockton. On the 24th only one was seen and two days later I saw two lnore. No more appeared for several days, a cold spell having apparent- ly cheeked migration. The past winter was a very mild one with little or no frost and no sudden changes in temperature. The season is about two weeks earlier than usual but migrants are about on theii-usual time. I,v.xl^- BELDING, Stockton, Cal. t/.qe l'lsting bite 0t bay's I'b0be.--A friend of mine residing near the foothills west of this city reports a curious instance of the nesting of Say's Phoebe (3,or- ,is saya.) Sitting in an old shed he has a hawk mounted with wings spread, and on the shoulders of the bird, between the spreading wings, a pair of phoebes have built their nest and laid the usual number of white eggs. W.L. BURNF. TT, Fort Collins, Col., May 2, I9OO. bag Thrasher in Io0s Angeles 60., 6al.--In M'r. Grinnell's "l,ist of the Birds of I,os Angeles Co." this species (Oroscoptes montanus) is recorded as a rare straggler from the desert, on the strength of a pair of birds taken by myself near San Fer- nando (n March 13, 897. At the time these were taken no thers were seen and I naturally supposed that they were but accidental visitants. Since that (late I have seen them several times in the same locality, and believe that they will be fi)und to be of pretty regular occurrence in the county if looked for at the right time f the year. n Jan. 25, 899 I secnred three specimens and saw at least a dozen more, and on March 2, 9oo I saw a single bird but failed to secure it. All the birds seen were exceedingly wild, and as they are not at all  conspicuous bird, they may very easily be overlooked. H.S. SWARTH, Los Angeles, Cal. IoewW Woodpecker as a l=lycatcbcr,--Mr. McGregor's notes on .I/e/a,crlbes torquatns in the March Cox)(m, concerning this bird's flycatching habits brings to mind many observations of my own.while at Copperopolis, and makes plain to me the cause of their peculiar and erratic flight, which often arrested my attention. ften I have watched them leave a tree and pursue their jerky, irregular flight for a distance and then return to the tree, but as the birds were too far away for me to see the insect and not knowing that they took food on the wing, their actions were attributed to some pecular habit. Jonx M. Wv.i.ct, Jamestown, Cal; l'10tes l=r0m ban Ioui 0blip0 60an(y, 6al.--On January 5 a man from tile country brought me a cormorant which I took to be the Farallone, (Phalacrocorax dilophns t, lbociliatus.) He said he had killed it the night before, while it was sitting on the windmill. The bird had "held down" the windmill the whole afternoon, sitting on tile gear, the mill heing tied down. The bird was in good condition, so it must have lost its bearings in the night as the place where it was killed is about frty- five miles from the ocean in a direct westerly line. The measurements were as follows: Length, 35:37 inches; bill along gape, 4.o; extent, 54.83; wing, 3.5o; tail, 6.75. Bill bluish black on the tep; pouch, yellow. On January 22, I saw a flock of six Mountaiu Bluebirds (%'t'alia arc/ira) which is more than I have ever seeu together here 1)eft)re. Have seen quite a number of Mockingbirds (l/I'11ttts oU4'/ottos ) this winter. Two years ago I saw but one pair but a. nobody molested them they uested and last year I saw three pairs, aud hope that they will increase, for al){)ut the {;nlv 1)irdswho sing constantly around town are the House Finches and Bullock;s {)riles.