Nov., 1912 
PROM FIELD AND STUDY 
225 
cliaracteristic chestnut patch on the head had the feathers slightly tipped with gray. The 
bird was evidently a migrant. So far as I am aware, this is the lirst record of the occur- 
rence of Vennivora nibricapilla giitturalis in the Yellowstone Park and the first in this part 
of the Rocky" Mountain region. The nearest records hith.erto published are those from Ida 
ho and Wyoming. Dr. Merrill (Auk, 1898, p. 18) found this warbler breeding at Fort Sher- 
man, Idaho; and Knight (Birds of Wyoming. 1902, p. 145), reports four specimens from 
southeastern Wyoming Init refers them to the eastern form rubricapilla nibricapilla . — 
T. S. PapmER. 
White Pelican at Bellingham Bay, Washington. — The appearance of White Pelicans 
(Pelecanus erylhrorhyuchos)m this vicinity is perhaps sufficiently out of the ordinary to he 
worthy of record. On September 5, 1912, a Hock of twenty or twenty-five of this species 
was seen near the mouth of the Nooksack River, at the head of Bellingham Bay. A resi- 
dent of the neighborhood who went in pursuit shot three of the birds, and an Indian of the 
Lummi Reservation, across the river, shot two more. I visited tlie scene on the following- 
day and inspected the dead birds. One appeared to be an adult, and the four others I 
judged to be immature. Some of these specimens have since been mounted. There is but 
one other record of this species in the Bellingham Bay region. That occurrence w"as about 
twenty-five years ago. — J. M. Edson. 
“Popular” Ornithology. — During ;i recent visit to Los Angelc.'^ I attended a moving- 
picture show exhibiting at one of the leading play-houses. It purported to represent the 
Carnegie Museum Alaska-Siberian Expedition in action, and the pictures were explained 
by a gentleman in evening dress who was no less a person that “Professor , 
M. A., Ph. D.,” who had taken the pictures. The pictures w"ere really wonderful, of moose, 
seals, walruses, polar bears, and Eskimos in life, not to mention Inrd colonies, which were 
our particular interest. No one w"Ould begrudge good fortune to the doughty captain, F. 
E. Kleinschmidt, who under the guise of leader of a scientific expedition, is cleaning up a 
‘cool’ half million from this moving picture rights this season. Rarely has the public received 
more entertainment and profitable instruction for its money than from this show. The 
“spiel,” too, was pretty fair — until it came to the birds. But when pictures of a colony of 
Red-faced Cormorants were shown upon the screen, and the “Professor” gravely introduced 
them as Spoon-billed Sandpipers, I gasped. The lecturer proceeded airily to tell a cock- 
and-bull story about the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, how the female laid only one egg which 
the male henceforth guarded in terror of his life ; and he raised a laugh over the shocking 
example set b}" these militant suffragets of the north (unoffending shags!). Next we 
were taken to view a magnificent colony of Pallas Murres, tens of thousands of them, 
and these were presented to us as “Red-faced Cormorants.” AVe learned that the female^- 
of this species lay two eggs which they carry in the folds of the naked skin (having mean- 
while plucked their breasts entirely bare), in order that they might -lot come in contact 
with the icy rock, etc., etc. And this Doctor of Philosophy (also blaster of .Arts, thinlc 
of it!) did actually take the pictures — no doubt of that — although he seems uot to have- 
profited mightily from his “scientific” associations. 
Preceded by a professional card, the writer ventured to take the histrionic professor 
mildly to task after the show. He capitulated at once. “I know 1 get all balled up on those 
birds, but what’s the odds? 7 he public don’t kiiozo the difference.’’ And I guess he was 
right, for this was the fourth week of the engagement. — W. Leon Dawson. 
The Wood Duck at Santa Barbara, California. — On February 18, 1912, I was so 
fortunate as to come upon a pair of the beautiful Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) in a raiiier 
heavily wooded section of Mission Creek, a small stream runnii-ig along the outskirts of 
the town of Santa Barbara. I was lucky enough to see them swimming in the stream some 
distance below me and, by careful stalking, was able to crawl within twenty feet of them, 
thus enabling me to watch them for half an hour without awakening a suspicion on their 
part. A week later, on February 25, I once more found them close to the original location, 
seemingly very much at home, as the male swam and paraded himself to his, and my, 
heart’s content, although his mate seemed too busy eating to pay him much attention. 
I left Santa Barbara for the north on February 27, and consequently was unable t<5 
finish the study, but I feel that there was a very strong possibility of their remaining to 
nest. There was a large, flow of water in the stream, and a number of most satisfactory 
hollow limbs in the immediate vicinity ; thus it would have been impossible to find more 
suitable conditions. — J. H. Bowi.ES. 
