May, 1893.] BIRDS OF THE DEATH VALLEY EXPEDITION. 



25 



February 12-28; also at the ranch in Vegas Valley, and thence down 

 the Vegas Wash as far as water occurred, March 3-16. In Owens Val- 

 ley the same observer found it sparingly distributed along Owens 

 Eiver and on the shore of Owens Lake in December, 1890, and the 

 writer found it not uncommon in the same valley, both at Keeler and 

 Lone Pine, June 3-15. In other parts of the valley Mr. Stephens found 

 it at Little Owens Lake, May 6-11; Ha way Meadows, May 12-14; 

 Olancha, May 16-23; Ash Creek, May 30 to June 3; Alvord, June 26-28; 

 Bishop, June 30 to July 1 ; Morans, July 4-7 ; and at Benton, July 9-10. 

 He also found it rather common in Oasis Valley, Nevada, March 15-19; 

 and at Grapevine Spring, California, April 1-4. In the Sierra Nevada 

 Mr. Nelson found the killdeer at the head of Owens Eiver up to an 

 altitude of 2,440 meters (8,000 feet), and on the western slope from the 

 San Joaquin Valley up into the Yosemite as high as 1,220 meters 

 (4,000 feet) ; Mr. Stephens found it common at Menache Meadows, May 

 24-26 ; and Mr. Dutcher saw one on Big Cottonwood Creek about half 

 a mile below his meteorological camp, September 11. Near the west end 

 of the Mohave Desert Mr. Palmer saw the species at Elizabeth Lake, 

 July 2, and near Crane Lake, June 29. The writer saw killdeers on the 

 eastern slope of Walker Pass, July 1, and Mr. Bailey on the western 

 slope the following day. Several were seen at the South Fork of Kern 

 Eiver, July 3-10; at Kernville, July 11-13; at Walker Basin, July 

 13-16; and at Bakersfield, in the San Joaquin Valley, July 17-20. At 

 Three Eivers, California, in the western foothills of the Sierra, the 

 killdeer plover was common July 25-30, and on the return trip Sep- 

 tember 14-17. 



Mr. Bailey found it common at Monterey, Calif., September 28 to 

 October 9; and Mr. Nelson reported it as common and generally distrib- 

 uted in the San Joaquin Valley, about San Luis Obispo, and along 

 the coast from San Simeon to Carpenteria and Santa Paula, in Novem- 

 ber and December. 



Record of specimens collected of JEgialitis vocifera. 



Col- 

 lector's 

 No. 



Sex. 



Locality. 



Date. 



Collector. 



Remarks. 



122 



9 



d 





Mar. 10, 1890 

 June 19, 1891 



A. K. Fisher 



V.Bailey 







Death Valley, Calif 













^Igialitis nivosa. Snowy Plover. 



This handsome little plover was observed by the writer on the shores 

 of Owens Lake, near Keeler, May 30 to June 4, where it was common 

 in small flocks of five or ten on the alkaline flats which border the 

 lake. Like most other birds in the vicinity, it fed extensively, if not 

 exclusively, on a species of small fly (Ephydra Mans Say), which was 

 found in immense masses near the edge of the lake. Many of these 

 swarms of flies were four or five layers deep and covered an area of 15 



