288 CALIFORNIA BIRD STUDIES 



ions. Except upon bird islands, I have never seen birds 

 more abundant than they were in this desert-marsh. The 

 group, a photograph of which is reproduced herewith, was 

 based on our studies, and is by no means over-done. It is 

 true that one would not find all the birds it contains, m a 

 space twenty by eight feet, but one could frequently see 

 them all in a single glance, and the impression of the group 

 seeks to convey is therefore within the truth. 



Among the species seen daily, most of them in large 

 numbers, were the Cinnamon Teal, Mallard, Pintail, Bed- 

 head, Fulvous Tree Duck, Great Blue Heron, Night Heron, 

 American Bittern, -Forster's and the Black Tern, Coot, 

 White-faced Glossy Ibis, Killdeer, Avocet and Black-necked 

 Stilt. Twelve Wilson's Phalaropes, a species which had 

 previously been recorded from west of the ^Sierras but once, 

 were also added to our list. 



Of all these birds, the Stilts, because of tlieir abundance, 

 v^ociferousness, and remarkable actions were the most con- 

 spicuous and interesting. They nested on the little islands 

 formed by slightly elevated bits of ground, often selecting 

 a site which, under irrigation, subsequently became sub- 

 merged — a misfortune artificial conditions had not pre- 

 pared the birds to anticipate. 



On May 23, their eggs were hatching, and in June the 

 snipe-like young were widely distributed over the marsh. 

 They invariably attempted to escape observation by squat- 

 ting with neck outstretched, but the parents, whether one 

 approached their eggs or young, expressed their solicitude 

 by a surprising extravagance of motion, all apparently 

 designed to draw attention to themselves. I was at times 

 surrounded by hopping, fluttering Stilts, all calling loudly, 

 waving their wings, bounding into the air to hang there with 

 dangling legs and beating pinions, and executing other feats 

 which would have done credit to acrobatic marionettes. 



The Avocets were scarcely less demonstrative, but their 

 method of defending their eggs or young was less by the 



