THE OOLOGIST 



63 



washed a mighty windrow of bones on 

 three sides of the island. It is esti- 

 mated by revenue men who have re- 

 turned from the vicinity this spring, 

 that there are 40,000 measured tons of 

 these remains of bird life, valuable for 

 lime and fertilizer. 



For some unkown reason the birds 

 have not nested on Layson since the 

 slaughter of 1909, having found other 

 uninhabited islands for the purpose. — • 

 Exchange. — Clipped from Rochester 

 "Democrat and Chronicle" issue of 

 Jati. 15, 1922. Do not know where it 

 first started but it sure gathered 

 weight. Ernest H. Short, Rochester, 

 N. Y. 



A CALIFORNIA OUTING 



On April 2, 1922 we made our first 

 trip of the season which was more for 

 the purpose of getting the birds locat- 

 ed than with any expectation of tak- 

 ing any oologicai specimens. 



Leaving Tulare at about ten o'clock 

 in the morning we drove west along 

 the county highway, and when about 

 eight miles west of town discovered a 

 Western Red Tail sitting alongside a 

 nest, about forty feet up in an old 

 dead cottonwood tree. As the limbs 

 were all dead, I did not get all the way 

 up, as an attack of cold feet crept over 

 me when nearly to the nest. 



As we neared the town of Corcoran 

 we came across an old reservoir, for- 

 merly used for irrigation purposes and 

 which was full of tules, and in these 

 there swarmed a large number of 

 Blackbirds, all busily chattering, and 

 this will probably be a nesting ground 

 in the near future. 



A few miles west of this town we 

 crossed a large irrigation canal, and 

 as this contained a little water and 

 many tules, and small trees, it was a 

 very likely looking nesting ground. On 

 the telephone wires, along side of the 

 road, were many Barn Swallows, busy 



with their visiting and nestbuilding. 

 They had three nests near completion 

 under the bridge, and in another week 

 should have some eggs. Near here we 

 also noted a few Great Blue Herons 

 walking among the alfalfa, searching 

 for their favorite pocket gophers. 



As we turned southward here, the 

 road ran along the top of a levee, 

 thrown up by large dredgers, to control 

 the overflow which courses in the 

 spring and threatens the vast fields of 

 grain which is annually sown on the 

 old bed of Tulare Lake, now almost 

 dry, except at flood season. In the 

 water alongside this road were many 

 Coots and one pair of Canvas Backs. 



Also it was here that the first egg 

 of the season was taken, it being an 

 egg of the Mourning Dove which did 

 not hatch and was left in the nest 

 from last year, and was found hanging 

 to this remnant of a nest, being about 

 ten or twelve twigs hanging to a wil- 

 low limb. 



As we were bowling along at a fair 

 rate along the paved highway toward 

 the town of Guernsey, we thought 

 as we passed a nest in a willow tree 

 near the road, that the aforesaid nest 

 had one tail pointing skyward from 

 its depths, and upon stopping and in- 

 vestigating flushed therefrom a Shrike. 

 This nest was in a willow tree about 

 six feet from the pavement, over 

 which many machines pass daily, and 

 in a fence row around a milking cor- 

 ral in which men are at work nearly 

 all day, and contained six fresh eggs. 

 This is the first set of the season and 

 together with another set of six, one 

 of which was lost in a ditch of water, 

 constituted the day's "take." 



A little way further north, we came 

 across a large pond, covering about 

 three acres. Here we found many 

 Coots, some Stilts and one pair of 

 Sandpipers. There were also a few 

 Killdeers and Blackbirds. There was 

 one tree here, a large spreading wil- 



