Mar., 1916 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
85 
Ring-necked Duck near Corona. Riverside County, California. — While shooting on 
the grounds of the Pomona Recreation Club near Corona, Riverside County, Califor- 
nia, on December 12, 1915, I flushed a strange duck from the tules. The bird was taken 
and proved to be a female Ring-necked Duck ( Marila collaris). As there are few pub- 
lished records of this bird from southern California I thought this worthy of note. The 
bird is now in my collection. — Wkigiit M. Pierce, Claremont, California. 
Odd Performance of a Flicker with a Malformed Bill. — Attracted to an upstairs win- 
dow in the early morning of January 18, 1916, by the apparent nearness of a woodpeck- 
er's drumming, I found a Red-shafted Flicker ( Colaptes cafer collaris) resting within 
five feet of my eyes, on a square galvanized iron drain, which extended down from the 
extending eaves to the house wall, at an angle of twelve or fifteen degrees. I was much 
surprised to note that its lower mandible curved gradually downward from the base 
and had grown nearly if not quite an inch longer than the upper mandible, which 
seemed perfectly straight and normal. At first, assuming that this bird had done the 
drumming, I concluded that this obvious deformity must be its tongue, for some reason 
kept extended. The bird’s position, however, was such that it was silhouetted against 
the sky and it shortly satisfied that point by unmistakably extending and moving its 
real tongue. 
But, to cap the climax, it turned its head to the left and drummed, turning it far 
enough so that a line between the points of the two mandibles would be at right angles 
to the axis of the body, in which position the lower mandible was out of the way and the 
upper free to drum. And drum it did, not once, but time and again with long pauses 
between, always turning its head with crown to the left. In the drumming its whole 
body vibrated, so much so that it literally rattled down the drainpipe backward a little 
each time it drummed. 
As the sky was heavily overcast, I was unable to make out its sex. But it strikes 
me as notable that in spite of its deformity it had maintained itself in good enough con- 
dition and spirits to sense the mating instincts, of which drumming is undoubtedly one. 
Not only that, but it heads the spring procession, as the first drumming for 1916, heard 
on one of our drains January 12, was probably by this same bird: Rather earlier in the 
season than we are accustomed to expect it, though for a month or so each early spring 
our resonant metal work is a favorite sounding board for flickers at unreasonably early 
hours. — J. Eugene Law, Hollywood, California. 
The Old-squaw in West-central California. — On November 21, 1915, an Old-squaw 
( Harelda hyemalis) was taken by Master James M. Moffitt on the Suisun Marshes, 
Solano County. A careful examination of the bird in-the-flesh left no doubt in my mind 
as to its identity. — John W. Mailliard, San Francisco, California. 
Additions and Changes to the Summer Birds of Flathead Lake. Montana. — Work 
during the summer of 1915 at the Biological Station at Flathead Lake haa resulted in 
several additional species, and some changes in the identifications of others. With the 
new species I have included two found by Mr. Silloway, the records of which have never 
been published. The new species are as follows: 
Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis. Black Tern. While waiting at Somers for a 
boat to take me to Yellow Bay, I saw a pair of these birds flying over a small slough 
that was overgrown with rushes and cat-tails. From the actions of the birds when I 
approached the slough, I believe they were breeding, but since I was still travelling and 
not dressed for wading in a marsh I was unable to investigate. 
Spatula clypeata. Shoveller. I saw a single bird of this species on the Pend-Oreille 
River near Poison, July 27. 
Phalaenoptilus nuttalli nuttalli. Poorwill. This bird was heard calling in the hills 
back of Poison on the evening of July 26. 
Archilochus alexandri. Black-chinned Hummingbird. Mr. Silloway has seen this 
bird in the vicinity of Yellow Bay, but the date of this occurrence is not given. 
Empidonax hammondi. Hammond Flycatcher. Observations this season have 
shown that this flycatcher is not uncommon in the forests about Flathead Lake. It was 
first noted June 24, on a mountain slope back of Yellow Bay. A specimen was secured 
on Wild Horse Island, July 2. A nest was found near the station at Yellow Bay, June 
