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104 THE 'CONDOR Vol. XIII Bobwhites ( C?linus virginianus), introduced by man, were not infrequent at Medi- cine Root and Grass Creek, while at Lake Creek there was one small bevy, which, when alarmed, took refuge under a ranchman's dwelling house! In that region, too, if the statements of the settlers are correct, the Pinnated Grous[ ( Tympanu- chus am. ericanus) is increasing in numbers and forcing the Sharp-tailed Grouse (Pedioecetes phasianellus) out of the valley. In the highland country, however, where I dwelt also, only the latter species is to be found. Downy (Z)ryobates pubescens medeanus) and Hairy (Z)ryobates villosus) Woodpeckers were resident where trees abounded, but did not come to the build- ings. Blue jays (Cyanocitta cris?ata) now becoming more numerous with each returning year, often stopped at the door. The Orchard (]cterus spurius) and the Bullock Orioles (]cterus bullocki) hung their pendent nests in the great cotton- woods that stand isolated on the meadows of Grass Creek; and at the house on the hill there and at Medicine Root the charming lay of the Black-headed Grosbeak (Zamelodia melanocepha[a) was wafted to the ear from the groves below. Then, too, the notes of migrating Arctic Bluebirds (Xialia currucoides) greeted us from overhead, and numberless warblers and greenlets enlivened the thickets as, in their pilgrimages, they followed the north and south streams. But to enumerate all my bird acquaintances in that pleasant land, would, in itself, prove a task; therefore I will not prolong the list. Perhaps they came flying to the grounds--perhaps their notes were zephyr-borne from the trees below; in what way soever they made themselves known, these leathered companions'were an un- failing source of pleasure and instruction. A NESTING COLONY OF HEERMANN GULLS AND BREWSTER BOOBIES By JOHN E. THAYER WITH THI?I?I? PHOTOS N the spring 6f 1909 I sent my collector, Mr. Wilmot W. Brown, Jr., to the islands off the coast of southern Lower California in the hopes that he would find the nesting place of the Heermann Gull (JLarus heermanni). After a long and weary search on the differenffislands, he foun4 a large breeding colony on the southeastern end of the Island of Idlefonso. This was March 28. After waiting a few days, so that the birds would have full sets, he collected a very large series. With a few exceptions most of the nests contained two eggs; some twenty or thirty had three. Mr. Brown says.: "The nest in all cases was simply a well formed depression in the ground with no lining whatsoever. There must have been over fifteen thousand Heermann Gulls nesting on this island. "On the southeastern end of the island, facing the sea, there is a large semi- circular shaped depression, which covers about five acres. It is quite level on the bottom and covered with gravel, with here and there blocks of lava scattered about. (See fig. 35.) It is well protected from the northwest wind, which prevails here in March and April. At the time I arrived on the island immense numbers of these gulls had congregated. They literally covered the ground. They were so