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Notes from Los Angeles, California

Authors
H. S. Swarth
Journal
Condor
Volume
2
Issue
4 (July-August)
Year
1900
Pages
91
Section
Echoes from the Field
Online Text

Notes From Los Angeles, Cal.

I do not remember having seen the Pileolated Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla pileolata) recorded as occurring in California during the winter, and I was considerably surprised to see one of this species feeding in a willow tree in the vicinity of Los Angeles as late as November 11, 1899. A few days later, happening to be passing the place again I saw apparently the same bird and after that I found that I was almost sure to find it within a few hundred yards of the spot, by looking for it. I saw this bird almost every week all through the winter and kept track of it until about the end of February, 1900 when it was lost to view.

During October and November 1899 I saw several Townsend's Warblers (D. townsendi) in this vicinity. They are quite rare here in the fall and I have probably not seen more than eight or ten in the last six years, but it is a singular thing that the fall birds are, without exception, females. In the spring they are rather more numerous, some years being quite abundant, but all that I have ever seen or taken around here in the spring were males.

On October 30, 1899 I took an adult female Black-throated Gray Warbler (D. nigrescens) which I think is the latest they have ever been recorded from here. I also saw a Macgillivray's Warbler (Geothlypis tolmiei) on what I think is a very late date for this bird, Oct. 24, 1899. I did not secure the bird but was close enough to it to see that it was either a female or an immature bird.

Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri) I have noted several times this winter, although I do not believe that it is known as a winter resident here. On Dec. 27, 1899 one was seen near San Fernando sitting on a bush singing; on Mar. 2, 1900 one was secured near Los Angeles, and a day or two later several more were seen. On May 2, 1900, they were seen near San Fernando in flocks of a dozen or more.

H. S. SWARTH

Los Angeles, Calif.

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