.May, 1919 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 127 
has resided in San Diego County for many years past, and regularly spends a portion of 
each winter hunting at Warner Springs. He stated that the Whistling Swan is a regular 
winter visitant to that section, though less plentiful than formerly. In a letter written 
from Warner Springs, December 21, 1918, Mr. Gordon states further: “A flock of over 
seventy-five swans came in a few days ago. All left in a day or two except six, two old 
birds and four cygnets.”’ 
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa). On November 29, 1918, while at Warner Springs, Mr. 
Gordon showed me the head and breast of a male Wood Duck that was killed a few days 
previous to this date. The hunter who killed it was not aware of its identity, a fact 
easily understood when its infrequent occurrence in the region is considered. 
American Merganser (Mergus americanus). In the parlor of the Warner Springs 
Hotel is a mounted specimen of a drake American Merganser which, Mr. Gordon states, 
was killed in that locality three or four years since.—G. WILLETT, Los Angeles, California, 
April 2, 1919. 
A Recent Record of Mycteria americana in the San Joaquin Valley.—So far as I 
have been able to learn, the Wood Ibis has been ascribed to the San Joaquin Valley prin- 
cipally upon the statement of Dr. J. G. Cooper (Auwk, Iv, 1887, p. 90) to the effect that it 
had formerly occurred in this region. There seemed little reason to doubt that the spe- 
cies still occurred sparingly, and occasional unfamiliar birds seen in flight, but not 
positively identified, further strengthened this belief. 
I am now able to report that only recently I have had the pleasure of examining 
a mounted specimen of this bird, taken by Mr. Adrey E. Borell at his home four miles 
west of Fresno, on July 28, 1918. This Ibis, in company with two others, was seen flying 
over. his home and was collected when the trio alighted in a tall eucalyptus tree. The 
bird was a female and evidently not fully adult, as a number of bluish feathers appear 
in certain parts of the plumage.—JouHN G. TYLER, Turlock, California, March 8, 1919. 
California Gulls Eat Earthworms.—Although late in the spring, gulls have many 
times been seen towering above the University campus at Berkeley, ostensibly to gain 
sufficient height to cross the hills towards their breeding grounds in the interior some- 
where, no opportunity to determine the species so as to add it to the campus list of 
birds has presented itself until this past winter. On December 8, 1918, a gull seen feed- 
ing on the parade grounds was positively identified as a California Gull. The appearance 
of gulls in the same place was reported several times during January. On February 9, 
1919, two gulls of this species were seen in the same place. At first they seemed to be 
picking up pebbles; but when watched closely they appeared to spy some item of food 
and running quickly to it, to swallow it whole. Closer investigation showed that they 
were feeding upon earthworms which had been drawn to the surface by a recent rain. 
On retrospection it was remembered that the bird seen in December was feeding simi- 
larly just after a rain—Haroxp C. Bryant, Berkeley, California, April 2, 1919. 
Miscellaneous Stomach Examinations.—The following bird stomachs were exam- 
- ined by Dr. H. C. Bryant. The results seem worthy of note. 
No. 1. Buteo lineatus elegans, Red-bellied Hawk, taken near Corona, California, on 
February 27, 1916. The stomach contained: parts 5 Jerusalem crickets, Stenopelmatus 
sp.; 5 beetles, Citones californicus?; 1 beetle, Chrysomelidae. 
No. 2. Buteo lineatus elegans, Red-bellied Hawk, taken near Corona, California, on 
February 27, 1916. Stomach contained one Pocket Gopher, Thomomys bottae pallescens. 
No. 3. Asio wilsonianus, Long-eared Owl, taken February 27, 1916, near Corona, 
California. Stomach contained bones and hair of one Meadow Mouse, Microtus californi- 
cus. 
No. 4. Archibuteo ferrugineus, Ferruginous Rough-leg, taken February 22, 1916, 
near Corona, Riverside County, California. The nearly empty stomach contained parts 
of one Skink, Eumeces skiltonianus. I have collected several of these hawks in the last 
few years and it is interesting to note that in nearly every instance the stomach was 
empty.—WRricuHT M. Pierce, Claremont, California, March 12, 1919. 
