Transcribing the field notes of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Collector: Grinnell - 1925 Location: San Jose, 2500 ft., Lat. 31 degrees Date: October 19, 1925 Page Number: 2596

There was a little seepage there, and some rainwater in granite bowls in the stream-course. Large numbers of Valley Quail centered there. The following are the birds I saw, by individuals, from memory; but there were so few, I believe I am close & correct. Red-shafted Flicker (2); San Lucas Flycatcher (1, shot); Calif Jay (10±) Audubon Warbler (16±); Ruby-crown Kinglet (1); Spotted Towhee (5); Brown Towhee (4); Green-backed Goldfinch (1); Lawrence Goldfinch (1, seen and heard in flight overhead); Intermediate Sparrow (20±); Bell Sparrow (2); Calif. Thrashers (3); Shrike (one, very shy, seen and heard repeatedly, but refused to be stalked); Bewick Wren (3); Rock Wren (2); Valley Quail (40±). Horseback is a good way of taking a census, as it increases the range of vision, though chances of hearing high-pitched voices are less because of the squeakings of the saddle, rattle of the bit-chain, etc. I rather think that a foot in most productive, as a person can stop instantly, in perfect quiet, and listen and look; while the horse takes time to come to a standstill and even then fidgets. Of mammals, I saw one Jack Rabbit, and one Bush Rabbit, the latter, as usual in Adenostoma bush. Large bare areas in the mesa, adjacent to sage-bush and juniper, showed great amounts of Dipodomys sign — of the same sort as where I am trapping, near the ranch; this is of the heermanni or paramintinus kind and not of the agilis brand, it seems to me.