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48 THE CONDOR Vol. XXIV 
of this Gulf Coast. I did not note it outside the Limits of the salt marshes, It 
nests close to water, in fact four out of six nests found were on small islands 
and within twenty-five feet of water. Mr. Kirn found a nest with a full set 
of three eggs on one of these mud shoals. The nests are different from those 
of most of the United States horned larks in that feathers are used for lining. 
In the Canadian forms I believe feathers are usually included, due no doubt to 
general practice among birds there to circumvent the cold weather. This Tex- 
an bird uses the water-washed feathers of small sandpipers and the like, and 
this practice seems to me to be more instinctive than practical. It is like the 
use of snake skins in nests of the Crested Flycatcher. The main part of the 
horned lark nests consisted entirely of a fine ribbon-like sea grass which was 
washed up in great profusion on the beach. The grass was, of course, bleached 
until nearly white. 
During both our visits in May we did not note any signs of coyotes. This 
seemed very strange to me, because the animal is really numerous everywhere 
on the mainland and was seen daily. It would be an easy swim to the islands, 
and with a great reward at the end. Rapacious birds are almost entirely ab- 
sent from that region and there are no rodents on the islands. It thus looks as 
though (aside from minor depredations by visiting oologists, perhaps every 
o ° . 5 
ten years) the terns have established themselves in a very well protected breed- 
ing ground, Mr. Camp writes me that steps will be taken to officially protect 
the colony, in addition to the natural protection already existing. 
Tulsa, Oklahoma, January 25, 1922. 
NOTES ON FOX SPARROWS IN CALIFORNIA IN THE AUTUMN OF 1921 
By JOSEPH MAILLIARD* 
HE fall field work for 1921 in the Department of Ornithology of the Cali- 
fornia Academy of Sciences was so planned as to include further observa- 
tions upon the fox sparrow group during the southerly flight from the 
threatening grasp of the northern winter. 
As the autumn field work for the two previous seasons, carried on in the 
area covered by the Inner Coast Range (Condor, xxl, 1921, p. 178), showed 
results that were practically similar insofar as concerned the species noted, 
the scene of activity for the fall of 1921 was shifted to the adjacent coast it- 
self, that is to say, the northwest coast of California. This territory was se- 
lected principally, however, because it made possible the combination of fox 
sparrow work with another scheme which was in reality the main object of the 
expedition, the results of which will appear later in a separate paper. 
It has been discovered that the subspecies of fox sparrow (Passerella ili- 
aca) wintering along the coast of California in what is known as the ‘‘ Humid 
Coast Belt’’ differ to a greater or less extent from those found a little farther 
inland at the same latitudes, but there are no published records of investiga- 
tions of the conditions existing in the former territory during the migration 
*Contribution no. 130 from the California Academy of Sciences. 
