16 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



Skunk: Skunks are masters of the arl of egg eating and their 

 work is easily identifiable. The skunk makes a hole in the egg large 

 enough to admit its pointed nose, then licks out the contents. The eggs 

 are either rolled a few feet from the nest before being eaten or are 

 eaten in the nest. The lining of the nest is not torn to bits as it is in 

 the case of a coyote, and Tracks are usually in evidence. A skunk will 

 ordinarily eat only two or three eggs from one nest. In no case was 

 there evidence that a skunk returned to a raided nest for a second meal. 



Skunks were responsible for the destruction of 12 ncsls or 7.1 per 

 cent in 1939. and 4 nests or 1.6 per cent in 1940. 



Qrows : Crows destroyed 6 or 3.5 per cent of the nests in 1939, 

 and 2~or .8 per cent in 1940. 



Crows ordinarily peck one or two holes in the shell of an egg and 

 only remove a part of the contents. Bits of shell are generally found 

 stuck to the surface of the egg. A number of eggs were eaten by crows 

 after the eggs had been scattered and cracked by other predators, but 

 these are not included in the above figures. 



Other Losses 



\^|±ejii. Many nests were flooded during periods of excessive spring 

 run-otr\Also, the strong winds that sweep across Honey Lake and 

 adjacent smaller bodies of water drove the waves high over the normal 

 shore line, washing out nests that were located near to water margins. 



During 1939, there was no high water and losses traceable to 

 flooding consequently were small, amounting to only 2 nests or 1.2 

 per cent. In 1940, high water occurring during the last few days of 

 March destroyed 35 or 14.1 per cent of the nests under observation. 



Eire : Fire destroyed 10 nests or 5.9 per cent during the 1939 

 season. The ranchers in Honey Lake Valley attempt to control the 

 growth of round-stemmed tule by winter and spring burning. All of 

 the nests destroyed by fire in 1939 were located in tule masses. In 

 1940, the ranchers, who proved to be a very cooperative group, com- 

 pleted the burning program before the beginning of the nesting season 

 and no nests were destroyed. 



('utile: T1h> number of ncsls destroyed as the resull of trampling 

 by cattle was small ; 2 or 1.2 per cent in 1939, and 4 or 1.7 in 1940. 



Hundreds of cattle were grazed on the study area during the 

 nesting season, but most of the nesting sites were located in areas that 

 were not heavily grazed. 



Miscellaneous: Fifteen ncsls were destroyed during the two-year 

 period by what the writer chooses to call miscellaneous causes. Ten or 

 6 per cent were so destroyed in 1939, and 5 or 2 per cent during 1940. 



Three nests listed as destroyed by farm machinery were broken 

 up by drags used by the farmers to smooth out meadows. One was 

 destroyed indirectly when a mink tore up a muskrat house on which 

 the nest was placed. Another nest located on a muskrat house was 

 destroyed when the rats worked up through the bottom of the nest, 

 allowing the eggs to drop into the house cavity. As noted earlier in 

 the paper, another nest was destroyed as the result of exposure to the 

 sun. One goose was found dead on her nest. The Poultry Patho- 

 logical Laboratory of the University of California determined the 



