Page:Condor10(1).djvu/39

38 THE CONDOR VOL. X morning we resumed our journey and making a short stop at Eureka, a tiariving business city on Humboldt Bay (Humboldt County) we began field work again at Alton Junction some 20 odd miles south of Eureka, on October 23. We trapped here till the 26th. This town is on a narrow plain thru which flows a narrow stream of clear water. Imposing cliffs and heavily timbered ridges arise in the vicinity. Tho well settled up here the wild nature of the country is still present. Deer tracks were often seen but one-half mile from town. Gaut caught a fine gray fox near these tracks. Unexpectedly hearing of a promising trapping locality upon the high Rainbow ridges to the south, Gaut and I made a hurried departure for this spot on October 26. We passed thru a prosperous farming country, with scattered patches of coniferous and deciduous timber similar to that previously described for this humid area until we reached the prettily situated and thrifty town of Rio Dell. From there we entered the redwoods and climbed steadily upward till we reached a series of bald ridges with their slopes heavily timbered with firs, spruces and fine groves of tan-bark oak. About the middle of the afternoon we reached Crawford's Ranch, and getting directions for our further journey, started down into the deep, heavily- timbered canyon of Bear River. Here we had to block the wheels of our light, one-horse trap every few rods, so steep was the declivity. The ascent up the oppo- site side was scarcely less difficult and about sundown we reached MeDonough's Ranch. Here our anticipations of a warm supper and a good bed were rudely shattered, as the place was temporarily deserted, and a few bites of oat-meal, raisins (trap bait) and jerked venison were all we had before going to bed in the hay loft. Next morning we gained Henley's Ranch, our destination, after traversing huge rounded ridges, grass-covered and treeless. The adjoining canyons, however, were of just the opposite character, steep and heavily timbered. Here we got wild cats, gray foxes, and a good series of spotted skunks (SiMlog'ale). Our stay in this charming, isolated spot lasted till November 1, and returning to Alton Junction, the writer's field work terminated. Gaut continued the survey work considerably further down the coast. ?Echmophorus occidentalis. Western Grebe. Crescent City in the ocean; at Requa, mouth of the Klamath River. Podilymbus podJeeps. Pied-billed Grebe, Crescent City, Requa, Orick. Larus delawarensis. Ring-billed Gull. The gulls observed by the writer were mostly unidentified and but one specimen of the Ring-billed Gull was taken. Gulls and terns were common about Klamath Lake, Crescent City and Eureka. A common tern about Klamath Lake was undoubtedly Sterna forsteri, and on the flat shores of this lake were immense droves of large gulls in company with large flocks of Cana- da Geese. A unique sight at Crescent City was large numbers of gulls feeding upon the carcass of a dead whale. Phalacrocorax dilophus albociliatus. Farallone Cormorant. Common at Bes- wick and at Marshalls. Cormorants were common at Requa and presumably this species was largely represented among them. Phalacrocorax pelagicus resplendens. }laird Cormorant. One taken at Crescent City. (Identification by Biological Survey). Pelecanus californicus.' California Brown Pelican. Common at Marshalis and Crescent City. Anas b0schas. Mallard. These birds are reported as breeding sparingly at Beswick. They were common in the sloughs and ponds about Lower Klamath Lake. Mareca americana. American Widgeon. Very common along the coast from Crescent City southward during October. Widgeons usually formed the largest