4 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 11 



lected. The only other species noted were Conozoa behrensi and 

 Parapomala calamus. 



Many of the ranchers believed that the grasshoppers had 

 migrated hither from other parts of the county. It appeared, 

 however, that the insects were hatched either in the alfalfa fields 

 themselves or in nearby pasture land. Practically no movement 

 was noted except the usual drifting with the wind when the in- 

 sects were frightened. Some evidence was obtained that they 

 slowly moved from one alfalfa field to a neighboring one in 

 search of food. 



Computation of the numbers per square yard in the infested 

 areas was obtained bj- counting the numbers disturbed by the 

 observer at each step. Little damage could be noted where the 

 grasshoppers were less than fifteen to the square yard. "Where 

 damage was greatest, alfalfa fields averaged about twenty-five to 

 the square yard. In some pasture land along the canals, the 

 numbers were estimated at thirty per square yard. 



Los Banos, largely on account of its great irrigation system 

 and the large amount of land which has been swamped, supports 

 a very large bird population. Water-birds and shore-birds are 

 very abundant along the canals and in the marshes, whereas the 

 pasture lands, alfalfa, and the trees, furnish food and cover for 

 many land birds. During the week's stay, July 10 to 17, 1912. 

 twenty-two species of water- and shore-birds were recorded, and 

 forty species of land birds. 



A census of birds taken on two successive afternoons on a 

 walk along roads and through fields west of town furnishes one 

 with an idea of the numbers and the comparative abundance of 

 the different species. The first was taken while covering a dis- 

 tance of about three miles, and occupied the time between three 

 and four-thirty o'clock. The second was taken while covering a 

 distance of four miles, and occupied the time between two-thirty 

 and four-thirty o'clock on July 12, both in the same infested 

 territory. Some idea of the bird population in the infested dis- 

 tricts compared with that in other parts of the county can be 

 obtained from a third census taken in the vicinity of Merced, in 

 a non-infested region. The counts were made in this instance 

 while driving about twenty miles north and east of Merced. The 



