Mat, 1893.] BIRDS OF THE DEATH VALLEY EXPEDITION. 15 



Nelson found them abundant all along the coast from San Simeon to 

 Oarpenteria, November 4 to December 18. 



Merganser americafius. Merganser. 



A flock of a dozen or more sheldrakes was seen at Soda Springs 

 (locally known as Kern River Lakes), in the Sierra Nevada the first 

 week in September, and a specimen shot there by Mr. Bailey August 

 15. belongs to this species. 



Merganser serrator. Red-breasted Merganser. 



A few red-breasted mergansers, according to Mr. Nelson, were liv- 

 ing in the lakes near Lone Pine in December, 1890, and the remains of 

 one were found on the shore of Owens Lake in June. Dr. Merriam shot 

 an adult male in a small pond in Yegas Wash, Nevada, May 2, saw 

 a pair at the Bend of the Colorado, May 3, and noted three females at 

 the mouth of Beaverdam Creek, Arizona, May 9 and 10. 



Anas boschas. Mallard. 



The first mallard seen was a fine adult male, which was secured as 

 it arose from one of the irrigating ditches in the alfalfa field at Furnace 

 Creek, in Death Yalley, January 23. Mr. Nelson noted several small 

 flocks at Saratoga Springs, at the south end of the valley, early in Feb- 

 ruary, and a few in Yegas Wash, Nevada, March 3-6. At Ash Mead- 

 ows, Nevada, this duck was not uncommon, and a number were secured 

 for the mess during the first three weeks in March. Dr. Merriam saw 

 a pair of mallards and several single birds in Pahranagat Yalley, Ne- 

 vada, May 22-26, and Mr. Stephens noted a few in Oasis Yalley, Nevada, 

 March 15-19. In Owens Yalley, California, Mr. Nelson found it spar- 

 ingly about the lakes at Lone Pine in December, 1890 ; Mr. Stephens 

 saw males and females at Little Owens Lake, May 6-11, and was con- 

 fident that it bred in the meadows about Olancha, at the foot of Owens 

 Lake, May 16-23. Dr. Merriam shot two and saw others in a small 

 tule pond in Kern Yalley, California, June 22, and the writer saw sev- 

 eral at the same place July 13. At Walker Basin, California, several 

 females were seen with their broods of young. A specimen of the lat- 

 ter in the down, secured July 13, had its stomach distended with grass- 

 hoppers, which insects were abundant everywhere in the neighborhood 

 of the sloughs. 



At Bakersfield, in the San Joaquin Yalley, a flock of nearly full- 

 grown birds was flushed from one of the old water ditches on July 19. 

 At a small pond near Trout Meadows, in the Sierra Nevada, Mr. Bailey 

 saw a flock of ten individuals about the middle of August, and on Sep- 

 tember 7 he and the writer saw a flock containing six birds at the 

 same place. Mr. Nelson saw the species at Buena Yista Lake in Octo- 

 ber, and along the route from San Simeon to Oarpenteria, in November 

 aud December. 



Anas strepera. Gadwall. 



The gadwall did not begin to arrive at Ash Meadows, Nevada, until 

 about March 8, from which time until March 21, when the party left 



