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July, 1911 129 WINTER BIRDS OF THE SALTON SEA REGION By A. VAN ROSSEM HE species listed here were taken during the six weeks between December 1, 1910 and January 14, 1911. Localities worked were Brawley, about fifteen miles southeast of Salton Sea,Alamoria, five miles north of Brawley,and Mecca on the west end of the Sea and about a mile'from it, making a very convenient base from which to work the Sea and surronnding country. The Alamo River running near ]3rawley on its way to Salton, and the country closely adjacent form an ideal collecting ground, and on the whole the most productive one worked. The river itself is a muddy stream from thirty to fifty yards wide and runs in the channel carved by the Colorado on its recent outbreak, which formed the new Sal- ton Sea. The steep, almost perpendicular banks are washed out in many places, re- sulting in gulleys often running back a mile or more and supporting such growth as dwarf cottonwco:ls and weeping willows. Near the Outlet where worn down to the riveifs level, tule bordered inlets are the result, attracting such species as the Desert Song Sparrow, Tule Wren, and Western Yellowthroat. The country about is as flat as a table, and at some time most of it has been cleared and then abandon- ed. Now a dense growth of "inkweed" has sprung up and it is difficult to distin- guish it from the natural desert about. There is also a little mesquite but not nearly as much as at Mecca. Here are found the typical desert birds, Leconte and Crissal thrashers, Plum- beous Gnatcatchers, Roadrunners and Cactus Wrens. Nearer the towns of Braw- ley and Alamoria the whole country is a network of canals and irrigation ditches, and in planting time, flooded meadows. These last make a handy and convenient larder for the thousands of ducks for which Imperial Valley is noted ,as well as Sand- hill Cranes, Ring-billed Gulls and several species of shore birds. I was much interested in the feeding time of the different birds which came from Salton to the grain fields. The ducks all fed at night, arriving in the fields about dusk and leaving usually before daylight for the safer Sea. There was no definite time though, as flocks could be heard coming and going at aI1 hours of the night. But the Sandhill Cranes were as regular as the clock, passing over my tent every morning from 7:00, the earliest to 7:15, .the latest, returning just at sundown. Gulls and other shore birds did not come until late, usually about 8:00 and leaving as early as four in the afternoon. At Mecca were found many species either rare or entirely absent from the other end of the Sea, perhaps on account of the slightly cooler climate. Fine drizzles fell three times during my stay there. The greater attraction was undoubt- edly the mistletoe, which at this time was covered with berries furnishing food for the Phainopeplas, Bluebirds and Robins. Cover, too, was more plentiful, several planted rows and groves of cottonwoods and much native mesquite. Two species to be expected, the Sage Thrasher and Desert Sparrow were en- tirely missing. There were also several surprises, the most noteworthy being the English Sparrow, quite a little colony of a dozen pairs or more having established itself at Brawley about the main street and freight depot. No one seemed to know anything of their time of arrival. Salton Sea is rapidly drying up, and for a mile from the present shore line is a stretch of white, even the bases of the dead mesquites and bushes being crusted with alkali. The Farallon Comorants prefer to build in the tops of the trees about