232 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
1 and 2 were both fairly substantial platforms of oak twigs lined with weed 
stems ; but nest no. 3 was very flimsily constructed of willow twigs and lined 
with rootlets. 
At no time were the old birds aggressive. They usually left the vicinity 
of the nest as soon as we came within fifty or sixty yards. The only note we 
ever heard them utter was a sort of plaintive whistle. One morning, while 
working near the nest, my brother saw one of the Kites returning from the 
direction of the river with something in its claws. While still some distance 
from the nest it began calling and was quickly joined by the other bird. The 
first bird remained hovering in the air like a Sparrow Hawk, while the other 
darted up underneath it, took the food from its claws and returned to the nest 
while the other sailed away. 
Sespe, California, August 10, 1915. 
ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIRDS OF THE 
LOWER COLORADO VALLEY IN CALIFORNIA 
By A. BRAZIER HOWELL and A. VAN ROSSEM 
T HE FOLLOWING paper is meant to supplement J. Grinnell’s “An Ac- 
count of the Mammals and Birds of the Lower Colorado Valley” (Univ. 
Calif. Publ. Zool., xii, 1914), and contains only such notes on the birds 
of the region as would seem to be of especial interest in connection with that 
publication. The present writers spent from January 13 to 31, 1913, camped 
on the river bottom of the Colorado, with headquarters some four miles below 
Potholes, on the California side. It will be recollected that this was immedi- 
ately after the big freeze of two years ago, and for that reason it is possible 
that the conditions as we found them did not present altogether a normal 
aspect. Our work was mostly confined to the arrow-weed association with 
the intervening patches of cultivated ground, and to the bordering mesquite 
thickets. Some little collecting, however, was done back in the dry arrovo 
beds, and in the patches of sahuaros a few miles above Potholes. This general 
locality presents unusually interesting features and merits much further work 
on the part of ornithologists, especially in the summer and early fall. 
Marila valisineria. Canvas-back. We found this duck to be rather common. Two 
that were shot on January 21 and 28, respectively, were feeding in an abandoned canal 
that was thickly surrounded with brush, and in which the water was not over four feet 
deep. This was obviously a poor place for them, and it was not until we spent a day, 
the 28th, among the sloughs above Laguna Dam that we met with them in any numbers. 
Here a number of flocks were noted and an adult male secured by a Mr. Reckart. The 
latter person, who was thoroughly familiar with the ducks of the region, assured us 
that during some winters, the “Cans” were present by the thousands, while but very few 
were seen in other years. 
Dendrocygna bicolor. Fulvous Tree-duck. One of these birds flew close over van 
Rossem on the 17th, allowing him to be positive of its identity. 
Herodias egretta. Egret. A few may possibly breed near Yuma, but it is pretty 
certain that the majority of the birds to be seen here during the winter, have come to 
us from farther south. We were told on good authority that a flock of thirty or forty 
had been roosting for weeks on one of the islands above the dam. A number were seen 
by us on the 28th, and a male was secured on which the plumes of one side of the back 
