■zt> Pec 17 
believe that I felt more than repaid when, upon leaning the ladder 
against the tree last April,I heard a great scratching inside the 
box and the female Merganser came boiling out at top speed. I did 
have an awful shock, however,for while climbing the ladder I heard 
and 
a slight splash behind m#/\what was my horror, upon looking around, 
to see six baby ducks paddling by, You may imagine what a relief 
it was when a hen Mallard swam out of a patch of brush and escort¬ 
ed the ducklings to dry land and off through the bushes, I was soon 
on my way up the ladder and when X felt inside the box it seemed 
almost too good to be true. My first set of Sharp-shinned Hawk, 
Hermit Warbler, Wn, Golden-crowned Kinglet,and one or two other 
"red letter” finds had a hard fight for their laurels right there, 
I have also added some interesting new sets by the ex¬ 
change route,possibly the three best being California Vulture X/l, 
Short-tailed Hawk 1/2, and Tennessee Warbler H/6. Other new sets 
have raised ray collection to 770 varieties,with a few more expect¬ 
ed in the near future, so that I feel well pleased on the subject. 
It was something of a disappointment to me that my paper 
on the Limicolae of this state was not read at the A.O.U. meeting, 
as I think it might have proved of interest. However,X expect it 
will appear in some future number of the "Auk”. 
The American Lake cantonment,which is just outside of 
Tacoma, has brought me in touch with a number of interesting bird 
men who have joined the army. Among them are Sidney B. Peyton,of 
Seape, Calif., who collected ray set of White-throated Swift N/4, 
Bald Eagle l/2» Xantus’ Murrelet 1/2, all taken near Sespe. Only 
this morning I had the pleasure of showing ray collection to 
tKi 
Adrian Van Rossera, of Los Angeles, who has taken many sets that 
