VOL. III.] General Bird Notes. 361 



has designated as Upper Sonoran. No mountain species were seen, 

 and but few of those common everywhere along water courses. 

 Animal life was scarce; rarely was even a rabbit noticed or the song 

 of a bird heard. 



The careful studies of the plants collected and the list of those 

 noted and collected will form the subject of a paper to which this is 

 an introduction. 



GENERAL BIRD NOTES. 



EDITED BY WALTER E. BRYANT. 

 A TRAGEDY IN BIRD LIFE. 



One stormy day in December found me on Damon's Point, at the 

 north entrance of Gray's Harbor. A great gale was blowing and 

 the rain and spray were driving in from the sea in clouds. Gun in 

 hand, I strolled toward the beach to view the surf, which was running 

 very high. 



A broad, sandy bay made in from the harbor, the upper end of 

 which terminated in a shallow slough about eighteen inches deep. 

 I waded across and was proceeding toward the beach, when my at- 

 tention was attracted by a small buffle-head duck (yCharitonetta albe- 

 old) commonly called butter-ball. He was swimming around iij the 

 slough and obtaining his food in the way common to his kind, by 

 diving and picking up that which came his way. With an admiring 

 glance at his beautiful plumage I was about to pass on, when one of 

 those pirates of the air, a duck hawk (^Falco peregrhitis anaium) 

 came in sight. 



Without hesitating an instant, he made straight for my little friend 

 and swooped at him. His long talons came down with a clutch, but 

 they closed on nothing, for the duck was under the water. Un- 

 daunted the hawk hovered overhead, and as the water was clear and 

 shallow, he could follow every movement of his prey. Again the 

 duck came up; the hawk swooped to seize him, each move being 

 repeated in quick succession and each dive becoming shorter and 

 shorter. 



It was evident that the poor little hunted creature was getting des- 

 perate, for the next move he made was to come out of the water fly- 

 ing. The hawk promptly gave chase. There was some clever 



