Pen UTD RON: BB. Uri LAB TIN 7 
“An accident to my binoculars deprived me of their use just as the 
birds were returning from the mountains this fall. But I’ve had both the 
red-breasted and the red-naped sapsuckers in my yard this September and 
now the Gambel sparrows have come. And more and more of the latter will 
continue to arrive and remain for the winter. 
“T find Banning an interesting place, which would be delightful if some 
of my enthusiastic bird friends in the east were here to go on hikes with 
me. IJ have to limit the length of these hikes now, but am very fortunate 
in living only a half-mile or so from the excellent bird haunts on Indian 
School Lane. Altitude is about 2500 feet—cold often in winter and hot in 
summer—in fact, this is a mountainous desert. 
“T have made trips to Palm Springs and nearby canyons and to 
Twenty-nine Palms, all in low altitudes right out on the desert, and found 
many interesting birds. In March I saw the phainopepla nesting in mistletoe 
not far from Palm Spring's; later it ascended to this level and I’m sure it 
nested in Banning, for I saw one carrying food in its beak, but I failed to 
find its nest. At the oasis in Twenty-nine Palms I saw an eared grebe. 
Although in full breeding plumage, the bird was so small that one of our 
party kept insisting it must be a young bird. Later I learned that a small 
flock of these grebes had been driven in on a sand storm and, fortunately, 
had settled on a small artificial pond near an inn where they are kept 
supplied with fish. One grebe had been blinded by the sand. Since one of 
our party resided in Twenty-nine Palms and learned of the flock of grebes 
that were being fed, I’m hoping that he reported the lone one at the oasis 
and so saved its life. 
“Please remember me to my good Chicago bird friends. I miss them.” 
Ft ia ft 
The Swamp 
By Karu E. BARTEL 
WHEN ONE speaks of a swamp the mind unconsciously pictures it as im- 
possible to get into. That is not always the case. A swamp does not 
necessarily have to have water in it at all times. The fact is that there are 
more varieties of swamp than could be listed here, and there are a dozen 
or more within 50 miles of Chicago. Birdlife abounds in them and each 
type of swamp has its own typical species. 
To name a few kinds of swamp is indeed easy. There is a tamarack 
swamp at Volo, Illinois, in the northwestern part of the state, which has 
black larch growing in a slight depression. This swamp covers an area of 
about ten acres and has water in it at all times, but has a heavy carpet of 
moss that one can almost walk upon growing over the water. Some of the 
birds usually found nesting here are the great blue heron, some of the 
larger hawks, red-eyed vireo, wood thrush and some warblers. 
Then there is the cat-tail swamp, so called because of the abundant 
growth of cat-tails (Typha latifolia), which will sometimes grow out of as 
well as in the water. The most common nesting birds in a swamp of this 
type are the red-winged blackbird, pied-billed grebe, coot, long-billed marsh 
wren, and some of the ducks. 
