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 JAN. 9o31 THE CONDOR 9 proved to be a female in well worn plumage; crop filled with fragments of aquatic insects.--FRANK S. DXGGETT, Pasadena, Cal. A Rare Land Bird Taken at Sea.--November i3, 19Ol, while on If. S. & Path2qnder, making the run from Nagasaki to Manila, I killed a female specimen of Calliope kamtschalken- sis (Grad which had come aboard and was resting in the rigging. The position of ship at the time of capture was i27 degrees, 20 minutes E., 29 degrees, 40 minutes north. The bird was not very fat and not storm driven, as we had experienced only mild weather since leaving port. It was in all probability on its fall migration. The species occurs as a rare winter visitant to the Philippines, Grant having recorded several specimens from northern Luzon and Worcester hav- ing killed a single specimen in Mashate.--RICH&aD McGaGoR, Jk[anila, P. 1. Cryptoglaux aeadiea aeadiea in Placer County.--February 7, I9 o2, while collecting near Bear River, I observed a small owl, apparently asleep, sitting on a fallen log. I had watched him for several minutes when with surprising quickness he flew from the log to a brush pile eight feet distant. Fearing I might lose him, I shot just as he alighted. He proved to be a saw- whet owl, and lying near him was a mouse still struggling. Evidently Mr. Owl was sleeping with one eye open. This is the only specimen I have met with in this county. Pigmy owls (Glaucidium . calfornicum) are occasionally seen here. I shot one on March 24th just at dusk. It flew from a cypress where a member of linnets were going to roost. EaN- s ADAMS, Clipper Gap, Cal. Late Nesting of Arkansas Ooldfineh.--On November 22, I9OO, I found the nest of an Arkansas goldfinch among the leafless branches of a boxelder. At first glance I thought it was a nest of the previous summer but closer examination showed the tail of the sitting bird stick- ing over the edge. The nest contained a clutch of four fresh eggs. Being interested in a case of such unusual nesting I kept close watch of the little domoeile. All went well for a week when several days of hard rains wrecked the nest. I noticed no further attempt on the part of the parent birds to resume their late housekeeping.--JOuN M. MILLER, Parlief, Cal. The Snowflake and Other Unusual Birds at llarysville.--In the winter of I872 or I873, at Marysville, during the memorable snowstorm, when snow was six inches deep, a flock of forty or fifty snowflakes (Passerina nza/is} stayed fearlessly two or three days on the steamboat landing at the foot of D street, and caused much comment. They were mentioned in the local column of the tppea/by someone who gave their latin name. I have not heretofore mentioned their occurrence because I did not get a specimen, and was not positive of the form or species. Although nearly the same list of species can be found in Central Cahfornia every winter, that was a notable exception. At the same locality in the comparatively cold winter of i877-78 the northern shrike (Lanus borea/is) was quite common. I have not seen it at any other time in this state. Fine examples of the so-called hybrid flicker were very common there that winter, and their presence was apparently due to cold weather, for I have scarcely seen one like them since that time. I sent a larae fine series to the Smithsonian where, Mr. Ridsway told me, as I remember, they were mounted and placed on exhibition. The resident species remained and included the mockingbird, Pacific yellow-throat, Law- rence goldfinch, Parkman wren, and many other species. I doubt if the residents had a particle of the migratory instinct. Perhaps they never had any. During snowstorms at Murphys I have been unable to ascertain that the storms drove the residents away from the locality. I once saw a fine male Anna hummingbird feeding in manzanita (trcloslaphylos)on the mountain side above Murphys when the gronnd was covered with snow. Snowstorms seldom occur in the val- leys or foothills, and any snow that falls is certain to melt in a day or less.--LvMA BELDING, StockIon, Cal. Peculiar 1tabits of a Black Phebe.--For six years or more, I am told, a phoebe (Say- ornis n. semialta) has lived alone at this place and roosted, summer and winter on a branch of a rosebush under a porch. This year from January to June it could be found any night on its perch and seemed no wise disturbed by my frequent visits. In June the rosebush was torn down and for three weeks I could find no trace of the bird. Then it reappeared, alone, and ever since has divided its time between the house aud barn. Why has it remained so long unmated ? In former years they nested here regularly but the nearest nest this summer was over a mile from here.--EaES ADAMS, 7ipper Gap, Cal. Destruction of Birds' Eggs:  uery.-:-I have been greatly puzzled at the wholesale destruction of birds' eggs here, and vigilant watch during the nesting period failed to find the culprits. Early in the season I found shells of three black-headed grosbeak's eggs in a road, at least three yards from any suitable nesting place. The contents of the eggs had been removed through irregular holes about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter. A few days later eggs of