^ 1910 ] Bailey, Wild Life of an Alkaline Lake. 425 



kicking and slapping it white with their feet, but the Redheads, 

 sometimes even when shot at, would merely tip over on their 

 bills and disappear. 



In the midst of this dark horde of Coots, Ruddies, and Red- 

 heads — phlegmatic, fat, slow-moving — there suddenly appeared 

 three spirit-like Phalaropes with white breast and slender shining 

 white throat; delicate, exquisite, vivacious creatures, facing 

 quickly from one side to the other, bending their beautiful necks 

 to reach some floating morsel — swimming, darting over the 

 water — their heads moving like doves as they went. They were 

 seen swimming about the lake for two days but then followed a 

 day of cold rain and they disappeared, doubtless continuing their 

 southward journey. A few traveling Grebes also made short 

 stops at the lake on their way south. 



The same storm that drove the phalaropes south and which 

 whitened the Colorado mountains north of us brought big flocks 

 of blackbirds, Brewer's and Red-wings, to the lakes. We found 

 them going to roost one night. The sun had already dropped out 

 of sight and the darkened hills behind the lake were edged with 

 yellow under a delicately flushed sky, the picture being reflected 

 in the lake below; while long, insect-like strings of ducks were 

 passing to their nightly feeding grounds and dark forms whistling 

 by overhead. As we rounded the tule lake on our way to camp 

 several large black flocks swung around close in front of us, drop- 

 ping down among the tules and settling themselves noisily for the 

 night. Migrants of all kinds were now on the wing. Before the 

 cold storm a flock of about a hundred of the cliff-dwelling White- 

 throated Swifts had been seen flying south high over the lakes. 



The m^^iads of birds that gathered at these lakes naturally 

 attracted hawks and owls and predatory mammals. In walking 

 along shore we followed tracks of foxes and lynx, and fresh deep 

 footprints of coyotes around the tules. Holes dug by skunks and 

 badgers for beetles, gophers, and kangaroo rats were also found; 

 the holes and mounds of the small mammals on the shore and on 

 the sagebrush ridges. Trapping brought good results here, two 

 coyotes, two badgers, and four skunks being taken, besides gophers, 

 wood and kangaroo rats, and smaller game. 



W'hen trapping for the mammals we scared up the birds of the 



