1913 BIRDS OF THE FRESNO DISTRICT 27 



egg's are complete the water has disappeared and a new nesting site must be 

 chosen. Fortunately the larger colonies always seem to be located near the 

 permanent ponds, but there are numerous scattering pairs that are deceived 

 each summer. 



Nesting colonies of these waders in the Fresno district are never very large, 

 consisting of from six to twenty pairs, as a rule, the most extensive one of which 

 I have any knowledge containing an average of about thirty pairs each season. 

 Possibly the numerous small ponds will not support a great many birds, and 

 as suitable pastures abound in certain sections it is not a difficult matter for all 

 the birds to be accommodated without any crowding. 



It is not an easy task to define the exact summer range of this species in 

 the valley, as everything depends upon the presence of water. A winter of ex- 

 cessive rainfall, or a very dry one, may bring about results entirely unlike what 

 would be found the spring following a season of normal rainfall. It may be said, 

 however, that this species does not show such a decided preference for stagnant 

 alkaline ponds as does the Avocet, and although a few Stilts are usually to be 

 found with the Avocets in such places, the smaller birds are often found around 

 the fresh water pools also, where their larger relatives are seldom seen. 



Vineyards and orchards are for the most part shunned, as is shown by the 

 fact that I have only two or three records for the country northeast of Fresno. 

 One of these was a single bird that was seen flying over the vineyards near Clovis 

 on April 30, 1905. The i6th of the following May a friend reported having seen 

 three pairs of Stilts near Little Dry Creek, north of Clovis, and well into the foot- 

 hills. In general, however, it may be said that this species is to be looked for 

 wherever open treeless pastures with shallow ponds or sloughs are to be found, 

 with an unmistakable preference at all times for the areas that are thickly 

 carpeted with Bermuda grass. It has been known to breed near the Artesian 

 Lake, along some of the sloughs and irrigation ponds near Wheatville, in the 

 vicinity of Mendota, and from Firebaugh to Los Bafios in a number of places. 

 All through the pasture lands southwest of Fresno a few miles, the Stilts are 

 common and sometimes abundant summer visitants. 



I have often been surprised at the great diversity of nesting sites, even in 

 the same colony, it being not an unusual occurrence to find nests entirely sur- 

 rounded by water — little islands of mud and sticks often built up out of water 

 several inches deep. Not less common are the platforms of dried grass placed 

 just at the water's edge, or the slight excavations that, Killdeer-like, arc placed 

 on the bare ground a hundred yards or more from the nearest water. 



In one colony the majority of the nests were built on a levee that extended 

 through the pond and were so near the waters edge that, although most of the 

 nests were quite elaborate platforms of dry grass and twigs, the lower parts of 

 the eggs were wet. Undoubtedly a high wind would have caused the 

 wavelets to break over the levee. At this same place there were several nests far 

 out on the open dry ground without even a spear of grass for concealment or 

 protection, and with hardly a vestige of nesting material under the eggs. 



At one pond where two pairs had taken up summer quarters there was one 

 nest on the bare black ground where the white breast of the sitting female was 

 the most conspicuous object imaginable and could be seen at a glance from a dis- 



