THE SUNNY SOUTH OOLOGIST. 



Vol, I, h. I 



Gainesville, Texas, April, 1886. 



Published Monthly, 

 50 Cents per Tear. 



Notes from Southern California. 



We have been having a bountiful 

 share of rain in this neighborhood of 

 late; and while we have been having 

 warm drenching rains in the low 

 lands, there has been a steady fall of 

 snow in the mountains. As a re 

 suit of the latter fact large numbers 

 of Cedarbirds, Robins, Catbirds, etc., 

 have left their usual haunts (the moun- 

 tains), and taken refuge in our warm 

 orange groves and vineyards. And 

 now a person cannot walk a mile 

 through the suburbs of the town, with- 

 out noticing several large fiocks of 

 these birds feeding contentedl}' by the 

 roadside, or Indus 'riousl}^ probin> 

 among decayed limbs, or under dead 

 leaves for bugs and larv«, upon which 

 they delight to feed. These birds how- 

 ever do not breed in this localit}^ but as 

 soon as the warm weather sets in, the}'' 

 betake themselves to the remote val- 

 le3^s and fastnesses, situated among 

 the almost inaccessible ranges of the 

 Sierra Madre. Here all are protected 

 from the ravages of that "fell egg- 

 destroyer," the school-bo}'. The}' 

 breed and rear their 3'oung in peace, 

 and we see no more of them until the 

 next "cold spell'" sets in and causes 

 them to again visit us, or properly 

 speaking, "our warm climate," until 

 the clemency of the weather will again 

 permit them to return to their accus- 

 tomed haunts. Further north how 

 ever these birds can be found among 

 the woods and forests the whole year 

 'round. 



At this season of the 3'ear we are 

 not alone favored with visits of the 

 land birds, but the aquatic element is 

 ver}' abundantly and variousl}' repre- 

 sented among our ponds and streams; 

 in fact, out of a bag of twenty or thirt}' 

 ducks, which a hunter may be so for- 

 tunate as to secure as a reward for a 



days' sport, he can generally single 

 out from twelve to fifteen different 

 species, from the majestic old M allard 

 or "Greenhead," to the diminutive 

 Butterball or "Silkduck." Quite a 

 number of these ducks remain with 

 us during the breeding season ; in fact 

 I have personally obtained "sets" of 

 eggs of the Cinnamon Teal, Baldpate, 

 Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Godwall, Red- 

 head, Pintail and Greenwinged Teal; 

 besides I have heard several authentic 

 accounts of "sets'' of some other spe- 

 cies of ducks being secured b}^ other 

 Oologists in different portions of this 

 county. The principal or most prof- 

 itable grounds on which to success- 

 fully^ search for nests of various spe- 

 cies of ducks and other waterfowl is 

 amongst the immense ''tu]e lands" and 

 sloughs of a marsh called "Gospel 

 Swamp." This is a place about sixtj^ 

 miles from Los zxngeles, and occup}^- 

 ing many square miles of countiy, in- 

 cluding the bogs, willow swamps, tide- 

 lands, etc. It is a veritable paradise 

 for ducks of all species; and during 

 the sporting season I have spent some 

 very pleasant and well repaid time, by 

 trudging around its extremities, armed 

 with a good ten -bore "breech-loader," 

 with an evil intent uj on the unsus- 

 pecting ducks and geese. Not with- 

 standing the thousands and thousands 

 of birds annuall}' slaughtered in these 

 swamps b}' the professional "pot" or 

 market hunters, as well as the havoc 

 wrought by amateur sportsmen, still 

 the number of the birds never decrease 

 to a perceptible extent; but, like 

 the "Hydra," where you kill one to- 

 da}', you will find two to-morrow. 

 Along towards spring the birds begin 

 to assemble together in vast flocks of 

 countless thousands, and depart for 

 unknown latitudes in the "far north." 

 Their time of departure seems to be 

 invariably during the night; in fact 



