192 THE CONDOR Vol. XXIII 
these ponds appear as blue as ponds of water and they undoubtedly attract water fowl. 
The smaller sandpipers, when migrating, fall prey to these traps in larger num- 
bers than all other birds collectively. This is probably due to their habit of wading 
along the shallow margins of ponds in search of their food. I have seen ducks descend 
as if to alight in oil ponds, but they never do; they must be warned in time by odor or 
some non-attractive appearance the pond may have. The larger waders get their feet 
oiled up but not the plumage. 
There is no remedy for this condition and the wild life will have to suffer its con- 
tinuance as it does telegraph wires, light houses and the like.—J. R. PemMserron, Tulsa, 
Oklahoma, August 21, 1921. 
Least Tern Feeding Young on September 25.—All during the early part of Sep- 
tember, 1921, Least Terns (Sterna antillaruwm) were still feeding young at Carpinteria, 
Santa Barbara County, California. On September 25, one adult was still feeding a single 
young bird. The adult brought small fish at intervals of about twenty minutes to a flat 
in a lagoon where the young bird waited. At the approach of the parent the young bird 
uttered the characteristic kit-tick, opened its mouth and spread its wings. After feed- 
ing the young bird, the parent always dipped its bill two or three times in the lagoon 
as it flew off. Once the parent alighted in the lagoon and bathed. The young bird 
joined it, and both floated and splashed a moment or two.— RALPH HOFFMANN, Carpinteria, 
California, September 25, 1921. 
On the Occurrence of the Buffle-head at Eagle Lake.—The article by Mr. Dixon 
in the last Connor was read with particular interest because of the fact that we had 
Fig. 32. IN PURSUIT OF THE BUFFLE-HEAD, WITH YOUNG, ON HAGLE 
LAKE, CALIFORNIA, MAY 27, 1921. 
noted a pair of these ducks with young on the lake prior to Mr. Dixon’s visit. Our party, 
consisting of Messrs. Jules Labarthe, Sr. and Jr., and the writer, after an extended col- 
lecting trip in northern California and southern Oregon, on our way south, encamped 
at the lake for a few days. May 27 (1921) was spent on a trip to the islands along the 
east shore of Eagle Lake. Here we found Farallon Cormorants with everything from 
newly built nests to those with half-grown young. The California Gulls, however, were 
