420 



Bird - Lore 



themselves for a coveted morsel, so I wel- 

 come even the English Sparrow — for with 

 it comes the dainty Tree Sparrow, and 

 also the Song Sparrow, that in cold weather 

 seems willing to chum with its English 

 cou'^in. 



I have been much amused when 

 watching a pair of Downy Woodpeckers. 

 Evidently equal suffrage has not become a 

 fact in the bird-world, for when Mr. and 

 Mrs. Woodpecker come together for lunch, 

 if my lady tries to get a crumb from the 

 opposite side of the suet from which her 

 lord and master is feasting, he flies at her 

 in such a threatening manner that she 

 hurriedly takes refuge on an upper branch 

 and patiently waits until his majesty is 

 satisfied and flies away. Then Mrs. W. 

 flies down and eats as fast as she can. I 

 have watched this instance of family dis- 

 cipline many times, and never has the lady 

 of the family been allowed to eat at the 

 same time as her husband — though he 

 never interferes with the Nuthatch or 

 Chickadee that perch by his side and peck 

 away so sociably at the frozen suet. All 

 day long the Nuthatches will work, pick- 

 ing nuts from the shells, seldom stopping 

 to eat, but flying away to hide their treas- 

 ure in the bark of a neighboring walnut or 

 cherry tree, then hurrying back for an- 

 other morsel. The cheerful little Chicka- 

 dees are constant visitors, and as I watch 

 them — even though they wear a black cap 

 and necktie — I always think of a dainty 

 old-time Quaker lady^they are so trim 

 and neat in their soft gray garb. I have 

 been unable, as yet, to coax the Meadow- 

 lark to mj' tree, though I often hear him 

 calling in the neighboring wood. This year 

 the Blue Jay has come several times and 

 taken an early breakfast, and though he 

 hasn't a very good reputation, he is so 

 very handsome that I am willing to for- 

 give his many sins, and even his harsh call 

 sounds good to me. 



Following is a list of winter birds that 

 have come more or less regularly to par- 

 take of the hospitality of the old apple 

 tree, some even coming to the window-sill 

 and peering with bright ej'es into our din- 

 ing-room, as though asking us not to for- 



get that we have hungry neighbors wait- 

 ing outside for crumbs. 



List of Winter Visitants. — Robin, White- 

 breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nut- 

 hatch (one pair). Downy Woodpecker, 

 Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Tree Spar- 

 row, Fox Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow (one). 

 Song Sparrow, English Sparrow, Starling, 

 Junco, Goldfinch, Purple Finch (flock of 

 about twenty) Kinglet, Blue Jay, Crow. — 

 Mrs. F. W. Gorham, Katonah, N. Y. 



Bird Horizons in the San Francisco 

 Bay Region 



A summary of what birds can be seen in 

 the San Francisco Bay region in a series of 

 spring trips afield may be of interest to 

 bird students. One section of the Univer- 

 sity Extension class, taking the course 

 'Six Trips Afield' in the spring of 1918, 

 was successful in noting 90 different spe- 

 cies of birds. The trips taken with the 

 total number of birds seen on each trip, 

 were as follows: March 2, 1918, University 

 of California campus, Berkeley, 26 species; 

 March 16, 1918, Bay Farm Island, near 

 Alameda, 27 species; March 30, 1918, Red- 

 wood Canyon, Alameda County, 13 spe- 

 cies; April 13, 1918, Golden Gate Park, San 

 Francisco, 20 species; May 18, 1918, Tun- 

 nel Road Canyon, Berkeley Hills, 32 spe- 

 cies; May 30, 1918, Mill Valley to Man- 

 zanita via Big Lagoon, 52 species. 



All trips occupied three to four hours on 

 Saturday afternoons, with the exception of 

 the last one, which was an all-day trip. 



A composite list of the birds seen is as 

 follows. Species, the nests of which were 

 inspected, are marked with an asterisk (*). 



1. Western Grebe. 



2. Pied-billed Grebe. 



3. Eared Grebe. 



4. Pacific Loon. 



5. California Murre. 



6. Glaucous-winged 



Gull. 



7. Western Gull. 



8. California Gull. 



9. Herring Gull. 

 10. Forster Tern. 

 ii.Farallone Cormo- 

 rant. 



12. Mallard.* 



13. Canvasback. 



14. Lesser Scaup Duck. 



15. Bufflehead. 



16. White-winged 



Scoter. 



17. Surf Scoter. 



18. Ruddy Duck. 



19. Black-crowned 



Night Heron. 



20. California Clapper 



Rail. 



21. Coot. 



22. Northern Phala- 



rope. 



23. Western Sandpiper. 



24. Hudsonian Curlew. 



25. Killdeer. 



26. California Quail.* 



