John B. Edscorn, Paul M. Egeland, Howard Cuckoo, Purple Martin, Bell's Vireo, Yellow- M Einspahr, Dick Erickson, Thomas W. breasted Chat and GrasshopperSparrow. F•nucane, Charles D. Fisher, Richard A. The following additional specieswere sup- Forster, David Gaines, Clive E. Goodwin, ported for retention by a majority of the six Michel Gosselin, Janet Green, Helmut reporters: White Pelican, Prairie Falcon, Gr•inberg, George A. Hall, Nicholas Halmi, Snowy Plover (one dissent), Burrowing Owl, Anne P. Hamilton, Gregory M. Hanisek, Short-eared Owl and Yellow Warbler. James Haw, John P. Hubbard, David Hussell, The following species were unanimously Thomas A. Imhof, Jerome A. Jackson, disapproved for inclusion in the list: Western Douglas James, Robert Janssen, Herbert W. Grebe, Black-crowned Night Heron, Sharp- Kale, Richard Kane, Charles E. Keller, shinned Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Hairy Douglas P. Kibbe (for many), Hugh Kingery Woodpecker, Cliff Swallow, Bewick's Wren, (for 29), Vernon M. Kleen, Robert C. Leber- Mountain Bluebird and Loggerhead Shrike. man, Harry E. LeGrand, Jr., Philip Mattocks, Other Blue List specieshad indecisivetallies. George R. Mayfield, Jr., Earl S. McHugh, Nominations for additions to the list by two Mabel Mcintosh, Gale Monson, Joseph or more reporters included: White-winged Morlan, Dave Mossop, Mary Louise Myers, Scoter, Elf Owl, Willow Flycatcher,Vermilion Jim Neal, John G. Newell, John C. Ogden, Flycatcher, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher (P.m. Robert O. Paxton, Peter Petersen, Wayne R. californica), Gray Vireo, Summer Tanager, Petersen, James Ponshair, Noble S. Proctor, and two races of Savannah Sparrow. Warren Pulich, Robert R. Jr., and Elberta A few pertinent comments: Reid, Van Remsen, Chandler S. Robbins, "Harris' Hawk -- Formerly fairly common Mark Robbins, Thomas H. Rogers (for 20), along the Colorado River, but now extirpated Terry Savaloja, Jean Schulenberg,F.R. Scott, from the state. The primary factor that has Esther Serr (for 15), Kenneth D. Seyffert, P. been attributed to it has been the sport of William Smith, Don Snyder, Anne Stamm, falconry."--JD. Henry M. Stevenson, Doyle Storz, Daryl D. "Swainson's Hawk--has suffered Tessen, Robert P. Teulings, Laurel F. Van catastrophic declinesin California."--JD. Camp, Charles R. Vaughn, Peter Vickery, "Elf Owl--habitat destruction."--GMcC. Fred S. Webster, Jr., Ron D. Weir, Henry C. "Willow Flycatcher--This specieshas suf- West, George Wickstrom, Frances Williams, fered catastrophic declines as a breeding bird Jon Winter, Janet Witzeman, Jo Wright, Dale in California in the last twenty years. It no Zimmerman. longer breedsin southernCalifornia, and is no longer found in most of its breedingrange in northern California .... this bird has declined Southern California Postscript more than any other species on the Blue List."--JD. "Habitat destruction"--GMcC. Received much too late to be incorporated "Black-tailed Gnatcatcher--has a very small into continental summaries, Blue List recom- range; has declined from many parts of its mendations from six correspondentsfrom the former range; very local, habitat threatened Southern Pacific Coast Region differed in few with development."--JD. conclusionsfrom those previouslytabulated. "Gray Vireo--cowbird predation."-- The following species were unanimously GMcC, SS, SC. considered deserving of Blue-listing: White- faced Ibis, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Swain- CONTRIBUTORS: StevenW. Cardiff, Jon son's Hawk, Harris' Hawk, Osprey, Merlin, Dunn, Tom Heindel, Paul Lehman, Guy Mc- Gull-billed Tern, Least Tern, Yellow-billed Caskie, G.S. Suffel.

1096 American B•rds, November 1977 A Streaked Shearwater in California by Don Roberson', Joseph Morlan 2, and/lrnoM SinalP

It is difficult to confuse the Streaked Shear- ONShearwaterOCTOBER (Calonectris9,1977 weobserved leucomelas) aStreaked from water with any other species. Although the a chartered pelagic birding boat in Monterey Northern Fulmar may have a white head, its Bay, Monterey County, California. At the chunky shape and heavy bill quickly differen- time of the sightingwe were approximately6-7 tiate it from the much slimmer, longer-winged miles west of Moss Landing and above the Streaked Shearwater. The possibility of a par- south rim of the Monterey submarine canyon. tially albino Pink-looted Shearwater was con- The bird was initially flushedin companywith sidered, but the scaly appearanceof the back two Pink-footed Shearwaters (Puffinus caused by whitish feather edgings seemed creatopus) but although similarly sized it was unlike any albino. In cases of bilateral immediately distinctive becauseof the largely albinism, irregular white patches are in- all-white head and pale mottled back. Rober- terspersedamong more normal feathers. Here son, on the bow of the boat, and Morlan, on the back featherswere paler and grayerthan in the bridge, having previously studied the a Pink-looted Shearwater. The bird was also literature, soon suggestedthe probability of shaped somewhat differently from a Pink- Streaked Shearwater. Small, having had footed Shearwater, being slimmer in the body previous field experiencewith this speciesoff and wings, with a more pronounced angle at Japan, was able to confirm the initial iden- the wrist. Thus it was shapedand marked more tification and his shouting alerted the entire like a Cory's Shearwater (Puffinus diomedea). group. The bird landed on the water several In fact, the white edgings to the upper tail times and cautious approach allowed several covertswere quite similar to someplumages of diagnosticphotographs to be obtained. Cory's, however the white face and crown, We were in radio contact with another narrowly streaked nape, and dingy horn- chartered birding boat and called them over. colored bill eliminatedthat species.The various The Streaked Shearwater was seen well by all field guides that picture or discussthis bird observers of both boats -- about 80 birders in (King and Dickinson(1975), Alexander(1954), all. King (1967), Kobayashi (1975), Gore and Won

Thisphoto showsthe extensivewhite on the underwingsand the white underparts(the undertail covertswere atto cleanly white). Although the head is in shadow, closeexamination reveals the all-white head--with the dark eye con- spicuouslyon the whiteface, and a dark nape. The color slide also showspink .feet and a light bill.

Volume 31, Number 6 1097 ment of Pink-looted Shearwaters. Another possibility is that it joined a group of New Zealand Shearwaters(Puffinus buileri) in the southwestern or central Pacific and traveled with them to California. Moderate numbers of New Zealand Shearwaterswere in Monterey Bay on the same day. Whatever the explanation, the presence of two individuals of this unexpected speciesin the last three years points to our superficial Although somewhat out of focus, the markings of knowledge of seabird movements and the the dorsal surface are visible: white face, pale back, awareness pelagic birders need to possess. white edgingsto rump forming a conspicuous"U'• Almost any pelagic speciesis possibleoffshore and whitish patches on wings (probably due to molt, which caused a primary to stick out vertically at and birders need to broaden their horizons to rest). In life, the back and wings showed a scaly ap- those possibilities. The recent increase in pearance, especially clear on the grayish back. organized trips offshore is encouraging. Our Photos by Don Roberson. boat was chartered by the Santa Cruz Bird (1971), Yamashina (1961), and Slater (1971) Club and the secondboat was organizedby the tend to over-emphasize the streaking on the Golden Gate Audubon Society, while other head, although King and Dickinson indicate it trips during the same time were sponsoredby is seenonly at close range. Several (King and Western Field Ornithologistsand severalother Dickinson, Kobayashi, King, and Gore and Audubon societies. Continued year-round Won) show the scaly-backedappearance cor- coveragemay yield further important data and rectly. other unexpectedspecies. HESTREAKED SHEARWATER breeds on the Literature Cited islands off Japan, Northern China, Alexander, W.B. 1954. Birds of the Ocean. New Korea, and the Bonins, and winters to the York, G.P. Putnam's Sons. Philippines, Borneo, and New Guinea. Gore, M.E.J. and Pyong-oh Won. 1971. The Birds Vagrants have been recorded once in Ceylon of Korea. Seoul, Royal Asiatic Society. and northeast Thailand (King and Dickinson, King, Ben F. and Edward C. Dickinson. 1975. A 1975), and an unsubstantiatedreport comes Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. from near the Hawaiian Islands (King, 1967). Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co. It prefers offshore waters but usually within King, Warren B. 1967. Seabirds of the Tropical sight of land (Ornithological Society of Japan, Pacific Ocean. Washington, D.C., Smithsonian 1974). Institution. This is the second record for North Kobayashi, Keisuke. 1975. Birds of Japan in Natural America. The first was collected by Victor Colours. Osaka, Hoikusha Publishing Co., Ltd. Morejohn in Monterey Bay, Monterey Co., Ornithological Society of Japan. 1974. Checklist of Calif., on October 3, 1975 (American Birds 30: JapaneseBirds, 5th Ed. Tokyo, Gakken. 118). Slater, Peter. 1971. A Field Guide to Australian How these birds, otherwise unrecorded in Birds, Non-Passerines. Adelaide, Australia, the eastern Pacific, arrived in California is a Rigby, Ltd. mystery but it is noteworthy that our observa- Yamashina, Yoshimaro. 1971. Birds in Japan, A tion is close to the date of the previous record. Field Guide. Tokyo, Tokyo News Service, Ltd. This species has been recorded north to --'2244 Encinai #5, Alameda, CA 94501, Sakhalinand the Kuriles, and it is possiblethat 23815 San Pablo Ave., Emeryville, CA this bird wandered north into the Gulf of 94608, and 3608 N. Camden Dr., Beverly Alaska and wascaught up in a southerlymove- Hills, CA 90210.

1098 AmericanBirds, November 1977 First record of the Pearl Kite in Panama by 'Jaime J. Pujals, :John W. Wall, and 3David S. Wilcove

N [HEEARl Y AFTERNOONonSunday, June 12, 1977, we were birding along K-2 Road near the Empire (firing) Range in the southwestern area of the Panama Canal Zone when Pujals spotted a small raptor perched aboui 20 feet up in a solitary tree approxi- mately 40 - 50 feet from the road in a field of tall grass. After momentary disbelief we iden- tified the first Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swain~ sonii) to be recorded in Panama. Except for evidence of molting, the kite closelyresembled the color plate illustration by Don Eckleberry of an immature Pearl Kite in Pearl Kite, Panama Canal Zone, June 12, 197Z Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World by Photo by John W. Wall Brown and Amadon (Country Life Press 1968). Buffy patches on the forehead, cheeks, border. (J. Haffer, Lozania [Acta Colomb. sides and ihighs highlighled this small raptor Zool.] 12:19). Eisenmann writes: that was oiherwise generally slaty above and whitish below. Other notable field marks were "Possibly like its ally, the White-tailed Kite a whitish collar and a slaty partial breast band. (Elanus leucurus), ihe Pearl Kite may be re- We could not tell whether the kite had light covering a former, more extensiverange as a resultof forestclearing. I suggestthis because edgings on the back or wings, the best marks of the isolatedbreeding population in western for distinguishing an immature from an adult. Nicaragua (leonae) which all recent authors {Blake, Manual of Neotropical Birds, v.l agree is not even subspecificallydistinguish- (Universily of Chicago Press 1977)). able from the populationfound widely in South The bird was quite wary, and when we ap- America down to the north bank of the Amazon. The lack of differentiationof the Nicaraguan proached to within perhaps 30 feet it flew disjunct population indicatesthat separation rapidly to a nearby tree. A• one point, under is fairly recentand that perhaps{as I suggested attack from a Troptcal Kingbird (Tyrannus for the White-tailedKite) the CentralAmerican melancholicus), the Pearl Kite took off for a and South American populations were con- brief evasive flight and returned to its perch. nected through open country in Pacific Costa Rica and Panama before the Spanish con- While we were observing it, the kite neither quest." hunted nor called. The dry Pacific woodland mixed with savan- UGENEEISENMANN BELIEVES thaithis bird na where we observed the Pearl Kite is one of probably came from South America the least disturbed examples of such habitat in rather than Nicaragua becausewholesale clear- Panama because it is a restricted area in the ing of forest in northwestern Colombia and generally well protected Canal Zone. The bird- eastern Panama has removed much of the ing potential of this and adjacent areas on the natural barrier which formerly blocked the Zone's Pacific slope was amply demonstrated norihward spread of open country birds such in the 1976 Christmas Bird Count when 297 as the Pearl Kite. Moreover, a Pearl Kite was specieswere recorded, only 36 below the total collecled in 1959 near Turbo, northwestern (record) count on the humid Atlantic side of Colombia, lessthan 40 miles from the Panama the Zone.

Volume 31, Number 6 1099 NFORTUNATELY,WEUNDERSTAND thatthe without restriction. If the 'Cnited States Senate new Canal treaty with the Republic of ratifies the treaty as proposed, the variety of Panama does not provide for the protection of habitats that make the Canal Zone tropical any nature preservesother than Barro Col- America's most birdable place will soon give orado Island, held by the Smithsonian way to marginalcornfields and cattlepastures, Tropical ResearchInstitute, and perhapsthe as has adjacent Panama. We would advise partially clearcut Madden Forest Preserve.All birderswho have not yet visitedPanama to go the important birding spotsin the Canal Zone now while there is still a Canal Zone. including the Pipeline Road Biological Preserve near Gamboa, Achiote Road on the --'Box56, Coco Solo, Canal Zone, 276 Bram- Caribbean coast and the Pearl Kite area, would bach Rd., Scarsdale,N.Y. 10583, 389Depew be turned over to Panama immediately Ave., Buffalo, N.Y. 14214.

Nesting of the Red Crossbill in Mississippi by Randy C. Warren l, Jerome A. Jackson2, and Tom L. Darden I

young. By April 1, three :youngcould be seen NfoundFEBRUARY a pair 25,of Red1976 CrossbillsRandy Warren (Loxia in the nest. All three young successfullyfledged curvirostra) on Noxubee National Wildlife on the morning of April 8. Refuge in Winston County, east-central While making these observations we ob- Mississippi. All of us observed the female as served up to eleven Red Crossbills at a time she constructed a nest near the top of a 17 m within 100 m of the nest. It is possiblethat loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). The terminal bud others were nesting, though we were unable to of the pine had been killed and lateral branches locate additional nests. growing upward formed a cup that was being HISRECORD ISOF SIGNIFICANCE because it used for the nest. The nest tree was in a 28-30- representsonly the second season that year-old stand of loblolly with some shortleaf Red Crossbills have been observed m pine (P. echinata). Small dead twigs were Mississippiand the first known breeding of the broken for the nest by the female primarily species in the mid-South. Imhof (Alabama from shortleaf pine. The male frequently Birds, 1962) reported a possible nesting at- visited the nest site but did not assist in con- tempt by Red Crossbills in north-central struction. The female finished lining the nest Alabama. The specieshas been reported from on February 28 and we made daily observa- Louisiana on several occasions, but is not tions after that date. We do not know how known to breed in that state (Lowery, Lout- many eggswere laid or when they were laid, siana Birds, 1974). Other records of Red but incubation began on March 1. Throughout Crossbills from Mississippi include sight incubation the male fed the female on the nest. records in 1972 and the fall of 1975 at Noxubee Occasionally she would leave with him and fly Refuge, a specimen found dead on a gravel out of our view, but shealways returned within road there in October, 1972 (Jackson, about three minutes. Hatching apparently oc- Mississippi Kite 3:3-4, 1973), and two birds curred on March 18. On that date and for observed by Robbie Howell on March 7, 1976 several days thereafter the male regurgitated in Homochito National Forest between Rome food to both the female and the young. The in- and Meadville in Franklin County. terval between feeding trips ranged between approximately one and two hours. On March --•Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, 21 Jackson saw the female leave the nest at Mississippi State University, Mississtppt 15:15 and not return until 16:25, at which time State, MS 39762, and 2Department of Zo- she fed the young and settled down to brood ology, Mississippi State University, Mtss- them. From March 21 both adults fed the issippi State. MS 39762.

1100 American B•rds, November 1977