104 



THB OOLOGIST 



Three Hours on the Oakland Mud 

 Flats. 



Last Thursday, April 1st, the writer 

 was in San Francisco. At 6 a. m. we 

 crossed the bay to Oakland. We walk- 

 ed down to the mud flats for the tide 

 was low, to study the birds that fre- 

 quent this locality. They feed on Crust- 

 acea, molluscae and marsh insects. 

 We remained in this region, moving 

 here and there recording the following 

 species until 9 o'clock, and then took 

 the car to Berkeley. The remaining 

 part of the day was spent in the 

 Museum of Vetebrate Zoology in the 

 University of California. 



List of the Birds seen on the Oak- 

 land Mud Plats: 



1. Western Grebe .Aechmopliorus 

 occidentalis). 



2. Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus 

 podiceps). 



3. Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica). 



4. Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus 

 glaucescens). 



5. Western Gull (Larus occidenta- 

 lis). 



6. California Gull (Larus calif orni- 

 cus). 



7. Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawar- 

 ensis). 



8. Heermann Gull (Larus herr- 

 manii). 



9. Least Tern (Sterna antillarium). 



10. Brandt Cormorant (Phalacro- 

 corax penicillatus.) 



11. California Brown Palican (Pele- 

 canus californicus). 



12. Lesser Scaup Duck (Aythya af- 

 finis). 



13. White-winged Scoter (Oidemia 

 deglandi). 



14. Great Blue Heron (Ardea hero- 

 fias). 



15. American Coot (Fulica ameri- 

 cana.) 



16. Wilson Snipe (Gallinago deli- 

 cata). 



17. Western Sandpiper (Ereunetes 

 occidentalis). 



18. Sanderling (Calidris arenaria). 



19. Hudsonian Curlew (Numenius 

 hudsonicus). 



20. Killdeer (Aegialitis vocifera). 



21. Turkey Vulture (Cathartes au- 

 ra.) Alfred Cookman. 



Xema Sabini at Point Firnnin. 

 On January 15th, 1915, the writer 

 spent the day making a general orni- 

 thological survey at Point Firmin in 

 Los Angeles County, Southern Califor- 

 nia. 



The tide was low at ten a. m. The 

 sea assumed a glassy appearance. The 

 weather conditions were ideal and a de- 

 lightful day was spent in this locality. 

 We recorded twenty species of birds 

 and nearly three hundred individual 

 birds. Our journey along the rocky 

 coast from Point Firmin northwest to 

 Whites Point was exceedingly interest- 

 ing, a distance of three miles. We ob- 

 served six species of gulls. One spe- 

 cies in particular excited me very 

 much. A Sabine Gull (Xema Sabini) 

 was seen soaring in company with sev- 

 eral Bonaparte Gulls (Larns Philadel- 

 phia). It seemed lost and unfamiliar 

 with this region. It remained with 

 these gulls for several hours, and then 

 flew seaward and was soon out of 

 sight. It had evidently got its bear- 

 ings and was making an effort to find 

 its members — inhabitants of the open 

 sea. The Sabine Gull is a rare visitor 

 in this locality. 



Alfred Cookman. 

 Dept. of Biology, University 

 of So. California. 



A White-eyed Vireo's Misfortune. 



On April 19th I found a White-eyed 

 Vireo's nest and one egg. The bird 

 was on the nest so I came back in a 

 week to find the bird gone and two 

 cowbird eggs piled on the Vireo's egg 

 that was broken. The cowbird eggs 

 filled the bottom of her nest. 



Ramon Graham. 



