Mar., 1918 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 91 



the beach and twisted around by the birds into a very compact nest. This was lined with 

 a few white feathers, mostly those of the Western Gull. In many places these balls of 

 sea-weed, remains of old nests, could be seen at the very entrances to the burrows. 



These "cliff dwellings" were not entirely occupied by Bank Swallows, for a number 

 of pairs of the Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidou lunifrons lunifrons) were also at home. In 

 several cases typical bottle necked mud nests were built over entrances to old rooms of 

 the Bank Swallow and contained eggs of lunifrons. Apparently an old Bank Swallow 

 nest of sea-weed which was just at the entrance to a tunnel was used, and the entrance 

 "bottled up". In one instance eggs of the Cliff Swallow were found at the end of a two- 

 foot tunnel, lying in a typical sea-weed nest of the Bank Swallow but without any feath- 

 ers for lining. Not more than four eggs were found in any nest of lunifrons while sets 

 of riparia ranged from four to seven. At the time of our visit, May 13, 1917, most of these 

 swallow homes held young or eggs far advanced in incubation. One nest of the Bank 

 Swallow with a set of five eggs contained a decided runt, measuring .36x.30 inches and 

 with no yolk. — Nelson K. Carpenter, Escondido, California. January 7, 1918. 



The Rough-legged Hawk in Western Washington. — One of the most interesting 

 features of the fall migration of hawks, through this part of the state, was the taking on 

 October 20, 1917, of two Rough-legged Hawks (Archiouteo lagopus sancti-johannis) . The 

 first, a male bird, was collected by Mr. J. Hooper Bowles on the Tacoma tide flats. See- 

 ing something on a cross-bar of a distant telegraph pole that looked very hawk-like, Mr. 

 Bowles carefully approached for a closer view, keeping the pole between himself and the 

 bird. In this way he obtained an excellent "close up", and was, indeed', surprised to find 

 it a Rough-leg. 



The bird sat lengthwise of the cross-bar, on the sunny side of the pole, with wings 

 half drooping. This odd attitude was observed by Mr. Bowles for a minute or more be- 

 fore collecting; when the hawk was brought to hand, he found the wings and tail soak- 

 ing wet, which probably accounted for the strange position on the bar. A freshly eaten 

 field mouse, found in its stomach may have been caught swimming across one of the 

 many channels of the flats, and the hawk had probably been obliged to take a partial dip 

 to secure its prey. 



The other bird, also a male, was, curiously enough, taken by the present writer on 

 the same day and only about a mile distant from where Mr. Bowleg got his. The latter 

 was taken in the morning, however, and mine in the afternoon. In coloration, the two 

 are almost alike, and in very good plumage, though the one I collected was afflicted by 

 a bad case of what we might call "scaly leg", so common among chickens. Several big 

 growths were found on each leg, one or two of which had been picked by the bird and 

 were sore-looking and bloody. 



My specimen was presented to Mr. D. E. Brown, of Seattle, who reported finding 

 the body covered with sores when he skinned it. The stomach of this one also contained 

 a field mouse. 



Though the Rough-leg is somewhat of a wanderer, local bird men have few, if any, 

 records of it for this vicinity, although east of the Cascades it is frequently met with. — 

 E. A. Kitchix, Tacoma. Washington, February 1, 1918. 



Wood Duck at San Diego. — On November 16, 1917, a female Wood Duck (Aix spon- 

 sa) in fine condition and evidently just shot by some hunter, was picked up near a water 

 hole by Mr. Jas. McAuliffe and brought to me while still warm. The bird is now in the 

 collection of the San Diego Natural History Society. This is the first time I have seen 

 this species here, and it is worth recording the occurrence of this rare visitor to this 

 place. — Henry Grey, San Diego, California. January S, 1918. 



Whip-poor-will in New Mexico in March. — The characteristic call-notes of the 

 Whip-poor-will, uttered repeatedly by two birds, presumably the Stephens Whip-poor-will 

 (Setochalcis vocifera arizonae) , were heard for some minutes preceding daylight on 

 March 2, 1917, at Rodeo, New Mexico. This place is near the Arizona line, in the extreme 

 southwestern part of Grant County. The altitude being above 4000 feet, the winter 

 months are chilly, and on the date mentioned the freezing point was registered. 



Notwithstanding this early appearance within our border, the usual arrival of the 



