This page needs to be proofread.

May, 1919 121 FROM FIELD AND STUDY Nesting of the Wiison Snipe in Cailfornia.--According to Grinnell, Bryant and Storer (G?me Birds of California, p. 355), there is only one published record of the taking of the eggs of the Wilson or Jack Snipe ((?allinai7o clelicata) in California. That record is of a set taken by A. Van Rossera for J. Maiiliard near Tejon Pass, in the extreme northern part of Los Angeles County (J. Maiiliard, ConnoR, xvi, 1914, p. 261). These authors. say, however, that Belding (MS) states that the species breeds at Webber Lake, that Cooper was informed that it bred at Lake Tahoe, that George Neale reports two small young as found at Lake Tahoe early in August, 1912, also that three young were found in Sierra Valley, Plumas County, September 1, 1899, and that Bryant in the first week in June, 1914, saw Snipe in nuptial flight at Lower Klamath Lake. The Maiiliard record is, therefore, the only one of eggs actually taken or even seen in California. In view of'these facts it seems worth while to put on record my ?ecent experience with this bird. During June and July of 1918, I accompanied Dr. John Van Denburgh and Mr. Joseph R. Slevin on a collecting trip through northern California and southern Oregon. We traveled by automobile and were equipped for camping. Our collecting actiities were confined primarily to reptiles, amphibians, and birds' nests and eggs. On*the night of June 1, we camped at the edge of Grasshopper Meadow which is in Lassen County, California. Dr. Van Denburgh has told (Co?voR, xxI, 1919, p. 39) of our finding the Western Willet nesting in this meadow. Soon after making camp, our atten- tion was attracted by the noise made by a number of Jack Snipe in their nuptial flight. Although it was too dark to see the birds, the noise was characteristic and not to be mistaken. We had spread our blankets in the lee of a haystack in the ?dge of the marsh and the peculiar booming noise made by the Snipe could be heard very late in the night; indeed, I think I heard it throughout the night whenever I was awake. The next day while searching through the meadow, about twenty Jack Snipe were seen and heard flying about in broad circles high in air, as vividly described by Grinnell (G?me Birds, p. 356). No nests, however, were found. A few days later (June 7), we camped again at this meadow, where we again saw several Jack Snipe performing their interesting flight, as before. This time I was more successful and succeeded in finding two nests. The first contained one egg, the other three. I took the set of three, but le'ft the one until the next day, hoping another might be laid before we left that camp. The next morning about eight o'clock the nest was visited again but it still contained only one egg, which I took, as we were leaving the locality that morning. This nest was found by flushing the bird when only a few feet distant. The bird circled about a few moments, then alighted on the top of a hay-press derrick near by, which was at least thirty feet high. Each of these nests was in a small clump of fine Carex growing in water perhaps six inches deep. The nests were simple structures composed of short pieces of Care:?, some still greenish or not altogether dead. The nest m&terial, although scanty, was sufficient to support the eggs above the water. Two days later (June 9), while working a small wet meadow about three miles west of Alturas I found my third nest of the Jack Snipe. This nest contained three eggs and was in construction essentially like the other two, but it was in short grass on dry ground at the edge of a marsh. All the eggs in these three sets were fresh. The single egg (measuring 1.48x1.14 inches), and the first set of three (1.44x1.12, 1.42x1.16, and 1.37x1.13 inches) are in the Museum of the California Academy of Sciences; the set taken near Alturas is in the collec- tion of Dr. Van Denburgh.--BARTON WARRrn- EVERMANN, Museum, California Academy o! Sciences, Sawn Francisco, California, February 5, 1919. Records of Larus heermanni with White Primary Coverts.--Mr. George Willett (ConnoR, xx, 1918, p. 127, fig. 21) has recently described and figured aberrant specimens of Larus l?ecrmanni having the primary coverts of each wing white. Mr. P. A. Taremet (CO?VOR, xx, 1918, p. 187) has recorded like specimens from Alert Bay, British Columbia. The writer observed several such birds at Redondo, California, in 1911, and one at Pa-