May, 1906 | 
FROM FIELD AND STUDY 
75 
Peculiarities of Ducks in Nesting. — In June and July, 1903, in northeastern Montana, 
I found large colonies of ducks breeding, principally blue-winged and greeu-winged teals, mal- 
lards, canvasbacks and spoonbills. I was interested in the fact that all the ducks just men- 
tioned frequently deposit their eggs in each other’s nests, it being no uncommon thing to find 
the eggs of three varieties of ducks in one nest. The eggs of the larger ducks and those of the 
teal were often found together. 
I also found the mallards nesting in the short grass on the hillsides and even on the tops of 
the hills a mile or more from water. — G. Willett, Los Angeles , Cal. 
Whistling Swans.— A flock of between 15 and 20 whistling swans ( Olor columbianus) 
came onto the Alameda Gun Club’s marsh in Sonoma County about the first of December, 1905. 
They were reported by the keeper at different times up to the last shoot, February 15, when they 
- were still there. The swans would not stay in one flock all the time, but would separate into 
bands of half-a-dozen to feed in the different ponds. They did not appear to be very shy, and 
not one was touched, as the law forbids. Never before had more than one or two at a time been 
seen. — Louis Bolander, San Francisco , Cal. 
Uggs of the Sage Grouse. — Having noticed some confliction in regard to the number of 
eggs per set ascribed to the sage grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus) I give here the result of 
observations made in northeastern Montana in 1903. From May to July of that year I examined 
about 50 nests of this species, the smallest set numbering eight eggs, and the largest fifteen. 
Both of these are unusual, the general number being from ten to thirteen. — G. Willett, Los 
Angeles , Cal. 
Unusual Breeding Records at Escondido. — A nest of the golden pileolated warbler 
( IVilsonia pusilla chryseola ) with four fresh eggs was found by me in a willow grove in the San 
Pasqual Valley — elevation 350 feet above sea level — on June 16, 1901. The grove contained a 
number of patches of wild rose and the nest was placed at the margin of one of these near the 
edge of the grove at about a foot from the ground. It is large and uncouth-appearing for a war- 
bler and is made of stems of nettles with their leaves, and willow leaves and blossoms, all green; 
also old dry nettle leaves. The lining is of dry shreds of grass, loosely laid in. When found it 
was all slightly covered and obscured by the leaves of the rose and nettles. Its present measure- 
ments are about 8 inches by 3j^ in depth outside and by 1 inch inside. When found the 
depth was much greater. It has flattened since then considerably. Both birds were seen and the 
male secured. On June 18, 1905, I saw a male of the species in the same grove but did not see 
his mate who was probably holding down a nest in the vicinity, which I could not find. These 
are the only times I have ever seen the species here, in nesting time. 
On June 18, 1905, I found a nest and eggs of the Bell sparrow ( Amphispiza belli) in the 
same wild rose patch referred to above and not more than ten feet from where the warbler’s nest 
was taken. No bird was secured but both were seen and noticed for half an hour as they fluttered 
around thru the brush, coming within a few feet of me. This is a fairly common bird around San 
Diego and might reasonably be expected to be met with here, but I never knew of its breeding 
here before. 
San Pasqual proved attractive to the Traill flycatcher ( Empidonax trailli ) also last season, 
and I found it breeding for the first time on June 4. The nest was in a clump of nettles on the 
edge of a water hole in a grove of willows and was the exact counterpart of the nest of a lazuli 
bunting. The bird secured was identified for me by Mr. Grinnell. 
One would expect that these three species would not be so very rare here as all three breed 
in this county in localities not so vastly different nor so very far from this neighborhood. But 
in years of hunting and collecting here these are the only breeding records in my knowledge. 
In the Field and Study notes in January Condor Mr. Grinnell speaks of a wood duck ( Aix 
sponsa) being taken near Oxnard, Ventura County. In November last Mr. F. X. Holzner of San 
Diego showed me a beautiful specimen of that species which had been sent to him to mount from 
Ramona where it had been shot. Ramona is about 15 miles southeast of Escondido and about 
25 miles from San Diego. This is likely to prove the most southerly record for the species in 
the State. — C. S. Sharp, Escondido, Cal. 
Results of a Gale at Pacific Beach. — During a heavy gale that lasted for several days in 
the latter part of November, 1905, Mr. H. W. Marsden found a number of rhinoceros auklets 
{ Cerorhinca monocerata ), Pacific fulmars (Fu/marus glacialis glupischa), and dark-bodied shear- 
waters [Puffinus gnpeus) dead or dying along the shore at Pacific Beach, San Diego County, Cal. 
Iiis most interesting capture there was a young female mew gull [Lams canus ) on Nov. 30, 
which is now No. 14829 of my collection. — Louis B. Bishop, New Haven, Conn. 
