Mar., 1914 
fro:m field Axn study 
9,3 
Egrets in Los Angeles County, California. — On Thursday, September 2, 1913, about 
ten o’clock in the morning, while the Audubon Society was enroute to Anaheim Landing 
on tlie electric cars, we saw three large Egrets {Hcrodias cgrctta) in the marsh just back 
of Alamitos Bay. Feeding not far from these large white herons were several Great Blue 
Herons. Wlien we returned in the afternoon the birds were nowhere in sight. 
About March 17, 1913, I saw one Egret on Wilmington Bay, at low tide. On March 
23, 1913, I saw what I supposed to be the same bird, in another part of the same bay. — 
IIarriet Wiij.iams Myers, Los Angeles, California. 
Two Birds New to Oregon. — Arquatclla inariliina coucsi. Aleutian Sandpiper. While 
climbing about over the ragged rocks on the Oregon coast about two miles north of Netarts 
Bay on December 31, 1912, with Mr. O. J. Murie, we flushed a small flock of waders. Mr. 
Murie fired into the flock killing three birds, one of which proved to be an Aleutian 
Sandpiper, the other two being Surf-birds {Aphriza virgata). While visiting the same 
locality during March of this year (1913) I kept a careful lookout in all suitable localities 
and on the 10th was rewarded by seeing two more Aleutian Sandpipers climbing about on 
an almost perpendicular cliff just above the roaring surf. Both were secured and preserved 
as specimens. 
Dendroica palinantni pahnanim. Palm Warbler. In September, 1913, while col- 
lecting birds in Catlow Valley, Blarney County, at the west base of the Steins Mountains, 
one of these warblers was killed by Harry Telford in the willow thicket in the yard of the 
Home Creek Ranch. It was feeding in company with Audubon Warblers, which were es- 
pecially abundant at this locality. — Stanley G. Jewett, Portland, Oregon. 
• 
Probable Occurrence of the Harris Sparrow in Washington. — A correspondent, 
Mrs. Lucy M. Ellis, of North Yakima, Washington, under date of November 27, 1912, 
reports the recent occurrence of a sparrow whose characters were minutely noted and 
which could have been none other than an immature Blarris {Zonotrichia querula.) 
On May 14 of this year at almost identically the same spot in the city of North Yak 
ima, Mrs. Ellis saw a Harris Sparrow in full regalia. In view of the reported occurrences 
of this bird in both California and Oregon, and in view of, Mrs. Ellis’s careful description, 
there can be no reasonable doubt of Z. querula’ s claim to a place in the Washington avi- 
fauna. — W. Leon Dawson, Santa Barbara, California. 
Mallard Nesting in Tree. — On June 2, at Pauline Marsh, Lake County, Oregon, I 
found a Mallard nest in what I thought an unusual site. It was placed in a deserted crow’s 
nest, some eight feet up in a clump of willow trees, surrounded by the marsh. The nest 
was lined with down, and contained six well incubated eggs. Before the female returned 
to the nest, the crows, that with a colony of Black-crowned Night Herons were also nesting 
in the willows, descended upon the nest and ate one of the eggs. In one patch of lules at 
this place we found a large number of ducks’ eggs, probably 150, that had been destroyed 
by these crows. In some cases entire nests had been rifled. The Night Herons likewise 
suffered much from these depredations, but we did not make an estimate of the damage. — 
Alexander Walker, Mulino, Organ. 
Accidents to Spotted Sandpipers. — Of three specimens of Actitis inacularius taken 
along the rocky beach south of Redondo, California, on December 7, 1913, one had the last 
phalanx of middle toe of left foot gone, with claw hanging by a tendon. Another had the 
right leg gone at the knee, and the third had last phalanx of outer toe of right foot gone 
with claw. In every case the amputation occurred at a joint, and the wound had healed in 
a smooth slightly enlarged knob. Can this be the work of the soft-shell “side-step” crabs 
so abundant among these rocks? One can imagine one of these crabs catching a toe or 
leg in its big claw, but unable to subdue a struggling bird, which would finally twist oft' a 
toe or leg. Has anyone else noticed similar deformities? — J. Eugene Law, Hollyzuood, 
CaUfornia. 
A New Record for the Pacific Slope of Southern California. — On December 12, 
1912, while hunting through a large weedy field near El Monte, Los Angeles County, I en- 
countered a flock of San Diego Song Sparrows (Mclospiza m. cooperi) and Lincoln Spar- 
rows (Melospiza 1. lincolni) which must have numbered over a hundred individuals. Among 
specimens collected was a Mountain Song Sparrow {Mclospiza melodia niontana). In order 
to make doubly sure, Mr. Grinnell and Mr. Swarth most kindly verified the identification. 
This would seem to constitute a new record for the Pacific slope of southern California. — 
A. Brazier, Howell, Covina, California. 
