Jan., 1907 FROM FIELD AND STUDY - 27 



Lime Kiln, June 10 to July i. — I found a nest of the willow woodpecker in 

 a rotten alder stub by a creek. The chips showed me that it was a late nest. It 

 contained four fresh glossy white eggs. The parent bird was very noisy but did 

 not come near. The next nests found were two of the western wood pewee. One 

 contained four fresh eggs. The nest was saddled upon a limb of an alder about 

 six feet from the ground. The other was built in a crotch of an alder about 

 twenty feet from the ground and contained two eggs. The next nests were two 

 of the valley partridge. One contained fifteen eggs and the other twenty-one 

 eggs. I thought I had found a large set but another member of the party reported 

 the finding of a set of twenty-two a couple of days later. This was the largest set 

 reported. All nests were on the ground under bushes. Another peculiar nest I 

 found was one built about ten feet down in an old mine shaft. It was some sort 

 of a swallow's nest, built of red clay, and at this date contained three young. 

 The parent birds would not come near, and were not seen closely enough to 

 identify. It was quite dark and damp where the nest was. 



Around Dry Creek, near Auburn, nighthawks were numerous. About dusk 

 they would fly about high up in the air with their peculiar flight and cry. They 

 would take three or four slow flaps of the wings, then three or four very fast flaps 

 and rise in the air, always uttering their peculiar cry when rising. Once in a 

 while they would dive straight down with a sound like an enormous bowstring 

 being struck. It was likely to scare one if it came unexpectedly, and if one was 

 not accustomed to it. 



Sail Francisco, Califor^iia. 



FROM FIELD AND STUDY 



Feeding Habits of the I/ewis Woodpecker. — Late on the afternoon of December 8, 



1906, while riding between Witch Creek and Santa YsabeL I noticed ten Lewis woodpeckers 

 [Melanerpes lewisi) flying about over a creek catching insects in the manner of swallows, with 

 flight that was graceful, resembling that of the latter. I never before noticed them feeding in 

 this way, their usual habit being to perch on top of dead trees, darting from a limb to catch pass- 

 ing insects. They have been unusually common here this fall. — H. W. Marsden, Witch 

 Creek, California. 



Notes From Placer County, California.— Band-tailed pigeons {Columba fasciata) oc- 

 curred here in considerable numbers this fall, appearing to be most numerous along Bear River, 

 where ideal feeding grounds abound. The first noted were a few scattering birds on September 

 21, 1906. On October 17, a flock of about three hundred were seen feeding on acorns and "coffee" 

 berries; and scores of birds were continually passing overhead, following the course of the river. 

 Large numbers have been killed by hunters. 



This country is very much alive and the common turkey vulture is seeking new climes! Dur- 

 ing the first week of October I noticed five flocks of from twenty-five to sixty buzzards {Catharies 

 aura) slowly making their way westward. They appeared to be young birds, but I have never 

 been able to discover breeding grounds in this vicinity. 



A few robins {Mertila migratoria propinqua) have remained in this locality thruout the 

 summer. They breed here in small numbers, but usually leave soon after the }'oung are able to 



fly. 



Quail {Lophortyx califormcus vaUuvla) are plentiful, even tho the late rains destroyed large 

 numbers of eggs. I collected a set last spring under rather peculiar circumstances. We had cut 

 and cocked our meadow grass, when the late rains came and interfered with hauling. vSome of 

 the hay was ruined and it was a month before it was removed from the field. These haycocks 



