132 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



Nesting sites are furnished by two 

 methods. Carefully prepared nest boxes 

 are inserted in stone walls and hung up 

 in trees. In addition, suitable shrubbery 

 has been planted in many places on the 

 estate, and this is carefully pruned to 

 form desirable nesting- sites. Recently a 

 hedge has been placed in the midst of an 

 extensive grainfield some distance from 

 any wooded area, in order to test the 

 willingness of birds to use such an iso- 

 lated spot. 



Practically all of the nest boxes become 

 occupied within a few years and the nest- 

 ing sites provided by pruning trees and 

 shrubs are almost all utilized. The 

 "show spot" on the estate is said to be a 

 thorn hedge along the edge of a small 

 wood, where each bush has been pruned 

 for nesting purposes. A recent visitor 

 counted thirty-one nests in examining 

 300 feet of this hedge. Baron von Ber- 



lepsch's experiments have been proving to 

 the world for several years that the bird 

 population on any given area can be in- 

 creased by furnishing birds additional 

 food and cover. 



APPLIED ORNITHOLOGY. 



Mr. Herbert K. Job, until recently 

 State Ornithologist of Connecticut, has 

 been placed in charge of a "Department 

 of Applied Ornithology," established by 

 the National Association of Audubon 

 Societies. The function of this new de- 

 partment will be the furnishing of advice 

 and assistance to the public relative to 

 methods of increasing wild birds and 

 propagating wild fowl and game birds in 

 captivity. The department has a fund of 

 five thousand dollars a year subscribed by 

 interested persons with which to cari-y on 

 its work. 



LIFE HISTORY NOTES. 



WHISTLING SWANS IN THE SACRA- 

 MENTO VALLEY. 

 A large number of whistling swans 

 (Ohir columhianus) were seen along 

 Cache Slough and on Grizzly Bay last 

 winter. On December 13, 1914, on Cache 

 Slough, a flock of fifty were seen in flight, 

 twelve of which were immature, distin- 

 guishable by their grayish, instead of 

 snow-white plumage. On December 14, 

 on Grizzly Bay, flocks of forty-nine, nine, 

 and another one containing between 

 twenty and thirty individuals were seen. 

 The birds appeared to be unusually tame. 

 The general report from residents in this 

 vicinity is to the effect that swans have 

 been more numerous this year than for 

 several years past. II. E. Foster. 



CANADA GEESE NUMEROUS IN 

 SACRAMENTO VALLEY. 

 In the vicinity of Rio Vista, Solano 

 (!ouiity, there has been a noticeable in- 

 crease this season (1914-15) in the num- 

 ber of Canada geese {Branta canadensis) . 

 We have not had so many honkers for 

 many years. 



All geese arrived very late this season. 

 Gray geese were the first to arrive, a few 

 flocks being noticed about October 10. 

 No white geese arrived xmtil late in No- 



vember. In fact, it was al)out the lOtli 

 of December before we had the usual 

 flight of geese. All geese are much harder 

 to decoy than in former years. They all 

 seem to fly in one large flock and do not 

 split up into small flocks. 



S. C. CiiURcn. 



RING-NECKED PHEASANT BREEDS 

 NEAR SAN BERNARDINO. 

 On April 22, 1914, I discovered a nest 

 of the ring-necked pheasant {Phasianus 

 torqitatus) near San Bernardino, San 

 Bernardino County. The record was 

 published in the January-February "Con- 

 dor," page 59. The bird in question (a 

 female was all that I was ever able to see 

 there) was reported by a farmer friend 

 of mine to have a nest in a swampy M'eed 

 patch on his farm. I at once investigated 

 and was able to approach within a few 

 feet of the bird as she was sitting on the 

 nest. She was covering twelve eggs. I 

 visited the place frequently within the 

 next week or so, but was never able to 

 locate her mate, but as there was a large 

 swamp nearby well grown to tules and 

 nettles it may be that the male was hiding 

 there. Unfortunately a flood so damp- 

 ened the nest that the eggs never hatched, 

 although the bird kept to the nest almost 



