VOl i906 m ] RaY ' A - Bird,in 9 in an Aut0 - 411 



preceded us and, to cap the climax, one of their horses became 

 balky in mid-stream, leaving us all in a rather serious predicament. 

 One of the party rode bareback to Pleyto, the nearest town, where 

 a plow-team was engaged, with the aid of which our various vehicles 

 reached the opposite shore in safety. During the interim I took 

 advantage of the occasion to reconnoiter along the river banks. 

 Besides the recurrent species I noticed a new bird in the Rock Wren, 

 which was rather numerous. The last crossing of the San Antonio, 

 at Pleyto, was easily made on the run, and without a barrier before 

 us we proceeded to make up for lost time. Becoming short of 

 lubricating oil we were fortunately able to obtain some from an 

 'up-to-date' farmer who possessed a gasoline engine. Jolon, 

 about the highest point, was reached, and some miles further on a 

 sharp descent was made into the broad, wind-swept Salinas Valley. 

 A sand-storm of a nature that made travelling almost impossible, 

 continued until we passed Soledad. These twenty miles through 

 an exceptionally barren country were the most dismal on the trip, 

 scarcely any life being visible. From Soledad, cold moist fog 

 replaced the sand and, wrapped in blankets, we sped into Salinas. 



June 7. — To Pacific Grove, 20 miles. Additional species, 1. 



What was intended to be a short side trip, but which proved 

 to be a long one, was taken this morning. The spin to Pacific 

 Grove, which lies on the southern end of Monterey Bay, was only 

 a matter of an hour or so, but when we arrived at the very door of 

 the bungalow we were to occupy the transmission shaft, probably 

 weakened in river fording, broke, and with a repetition of our 

 Visalia experience at hand I complacently reserved sufficient pages 

 in my note book for a week's observations on Pacific Grove bird- 

 ways. 



June S to 15. — Pacific Grove. Additional species, 19. 



The 'Grove,' as the town is commonly called, is prettily hid 

 away among an extensive and dense growth of patriarchal pines, 

 on a peninsula which juts into the sea. Salmon fishing, when 

 the weather allowed, was indulged in and frequent rambles were 

 made to all points of the compass. The extremely foggy weather, 

 which at the Grove obscures the sun for days, imparts a gloomy, 

 solemn aspect to the pine woods, the dampest and mossiest wood- 

 land I know of, but notwithstanding the unpropitious weather 



