Mar. ,1917 ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS OF FREMONT COUNTY 43 



100. Hylocichla fuscescens salicicola. Willow Thrush. Occurs sparingly in 

 dense willow thickets in large open meadows. Noted at the outlet of Beaver Creek Can- 

 yon, June 25, and at Camas Meadows, July 16. 



101. Hylocichla guttata auduboni. Audubon Hermit Thrush. Fairly common in 

 willow thickets near heads of canyons. Noted at head of Little Dry Creek Canyon, June 

 18. 



102. Planesticus migratorius propinquus. Western Robin. Common throughout 

 the county, nesting in trees and bushes in the vicinity of ranch buildings, and in thick- 

 ets along mountain streams. A nest with three eggs was found in a service-berry bush 

 along Little Dry Creek, June 11; one with four eggs on a limb near the base of a Cot- 

 tonwood tree at the Burnside ranch, June 14. 



103. Sialia currucoides. Mountain Bluebird. Occurs sparingly along foothills 

 and in open canyons throughout the county. A nest containing three young able to fly 

 was found in a hole in a fence post on the Burnside ranch, Jurje 28. 



Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, January 20, 1917. 



SOME NOTES ON THE EFFECTS UPON BIRD LIFE, OF THE CORPUS 

 CHRISTI STORM OF AUGUST 18, 1916 



By R. A. SELL 



BIRDS are governed by instinct. Their actions are so dependent upon in- 

 stinctive tendencies that they are often unable to meet with success new 

 and strange conditions. But is there any animal that does the best thing 

 possible in a real emergency ? How do horses and dogs behave at fires ? Recall 

 the peculiar things men and women do during storms and earth-quakes ! 



It seems to be the nature of birds to lose self-control quickly in emergen- 

 cy; yet there are some instances in which birds have been seen to act on the 

 spur of the moment with such an insight and directness as could only be ex- 

 pected from animals that are rated much higher in the scale of intelligence. 

 While the panic of a chicken flying and squawking along in front of a team 

 of horses rather than turning to one side is proverbial, there are many in- 

 stances of the same kind of fowls defending their young with tact and cour- 

 age, besides the innumerable instances of wild birds staying with their nests 

 or dropping into the water during fires. 



Corpus Christi Bay is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by a chain of 

 narrow sand-spits, and the passes connecting the two bodies of water are so 

 shallow that it is necessary to keep a dredge at work continually in order to 

 keep a channel open for the small boats that ply along the coast. Bird Island 

 is a narrow sandy island so named because so many birds nest there that liter- 

 ally acres of eggs are to be found there during the laying season. 



At Rockport there is a double row of posts, nearly a mile long, the remains 

 of an old pier, and this was a favorite resort for pelicans. One observer reports 

 seeing the entire line occupied by pelicans, a pelican to a post ; in other words 

 a double line of pelicans almost a mile long. At times these ungainly birds 

 could be seen swinging themselves through the air and then awkwardly plung- 

 ing down into the water only to flop out again with the fish, for they seldom 

 miss. 



The first indication of the storm here of interest was a stiff north wind 

 and an ashen sky. There was no calm immediately preceding the storm, but 



