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The White-winged Dove in San Diego County, California

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The White-winged Dove in San Diego County, California.-The range of the Whitewinged Dove (.%&a% asiutia) in California is defined by Grinnell and Miller (Pac. Coast Avif. No. 27, 1944: 18.5) as, “extreme southeastern corner of state: valley of Colorado River north from the Mexican line to vicinity of Needles, San Bernardino Cbunty ; northwest from Imperial Valley to Coachella Valley, Riverside County and Twentynine Palms, San Bernardino County.” Several “vagrant occurrences” have been recorded to the north and west of this range, the earliest for July 18, the latest January 17. All are for solitary birds except for a group of 6 which apparently wintered in the vicinity of Redlands, San Bernardino County (McAllister, Gull, 22, 1940:25). These records seem to indicate post-breeding wandering, a supposition which is further substantiated by our observations.

We saw two of these doves at noon on July 25, 1946, at Yaqui Well, a permanent desert waterhole in San Diego County, 13 airline miles east of Julian. At sunset of the same day, 8 White-winged Doves were seen on the bare ground adjacent to the spring. Two were seen in the mesquite trees in this vicinity the following morning and again on August 1. One White-winged Dove was seen an hour before sunset on August 31, 1946. Further search was prevented by lack of time.

The presence of these birds on several occasions points to more than an accidental occurrence, and the records of subsequent seasons will be watched with interest to see if the White-winged Dove will establish itself as a regular post-breeding visitant to favorable localities along the western edge of the Colorado Desert.--PHILIP H. KRUTZSCH and KEITH L. DIXON, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, September 23,1946.

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