170 Bowles, Range of Certain Birds on the Pacific Slope. |_April 



Pacific Eider (Somateria v-nigra). — In 'The Auk' for April, 

 1906, Vol. XXIII, I recorded the occurrence of these birds in Puget 

 Sound, as seen by myself, during January and February of that 

 year. 



My attention was first drawn to them by a local gunner who asked 

 me to name a duck he had shot that was, " a good deal like a hen 

 mallard, only about twice as big and with a very stout bill." He 

 had secured it on the Nisqually Flats, near Tacoma, but unfortu- 

 nately had devoted it to the pot. I at once visited the locality 

 and was fortunate enough to see two female eiders feeding in a 

 muddy slough. They allowed me a prolonged and excellent 

 view, but flew too soon for a successful shot. A few days later, 

 while crossing in front of these flats in a small steamer, the boat 

 passed a magnificent male of this species, which allowed an approach 

 of not more than fifty yards before diving. 



Although no skins were secured, there seems no possible doubt 

 as to identification. I believe this to be the southernmost record 

 for these birds, and it must be most unusual, since I never saw or 

 heard of any others during fourteen years' residence in the State. 



White-winged Scoter (Oidemia deglandi). — Monterey, Cali- 

 fornia, is the southern summer limit given in the Check-list for 

 this species on the Pacific coast. 



During the past summer of 1910 both Mr. Bradford Torrey and 

 myself noted daily a flock of some fifteen or twenty of these birds 

 close to the beach at Santa Barbara. Mr. Torrey says he saw 

 nothing of them in the summer of 1909. 



Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) . — Breeding records for this 

 bird in the State of Washington are rare, if, indeed, any have been 

 yet published. The only instance that has come to my knowledge 

 is kindly given me by Mr. D. E. Brown, of South Tacoma, Wash., 

 who took a set of four eggs from Douglas County, Wash. The nest 

 was placed on the ground in tall grass a short distance from a 

 pond, the location being a large field instead of the customary 

 swampy ground. The date was June 3, 1908. 



Night Heron {Nycticorax nycticorax ncevius) . — Northern 

 Oregon is given in the Check-List as the northern breeding limit 

 for these birds. During early June of 1906 Mr. Dawson and I 

 found these birds numerous on a chain of small lakes in Douglas 



