Lobipes iobatus. Northern Phalarope. This species was recorded in Pacific Coast avifauna No. 9, page 24, although the bird mentioned was not collected. I am now able to confirm the occasional appearance of this species and have a specimen in my collection taken May 24, 1915, along the Madera road, about halfway between that city and Firebaugh. Mr. J. E. Law and I discovered the bird at the edge of a small pond near the road, where it had evidently remained from necessity rather than choice, as one wing was nearly severed from its body. This injury was no doubt the result of coming in contact with the telephone wires overhead. The bird was a male in breeding condition and plumage although the withered appearance of the injured member indicated that the accident had occurred some time earlier in the season. How the bird had escaped predatory birds and mammals is a mystery.
Recurviroatra americana. Avocet. Avocets arrived early in the spring of 1914, several pairs being noted by March 20. April 20 I found a female with four young at least a week old, They were in a small pond near Helm. October 15, 1915, about twenty-five avocets, all in winter plumage, were seen in a shallow pond near Riverdale.
Himantopus mexicanus. Black-necked Stilt. The spring of 1914 showed a very early migration on the part of this, as well as several other, species. Five stilts appeared at a pond near Fresno on February 11, and four were seen at the same place on March 9. Early migration was followed by early nesting, and in one colony several birds were occupying nests on April 26. At one pond this species was still present on September 26, 1914; but a subsequent visit showed them to have all disappeared. The first Himantopus for 1915 was noted on March 11, and by the 21st of the same month they had become fairly numerous.
Gallinago delicata. Wilson Snipe. About an hour before sunset on June 8, 1915, Mr. Chas. E. Jenney and I observed a snipe perched on a "no shooting" sign that had been nailed to the top of a fence post on the Burleigh ranch about six miles south-west of Fresno. The bird was either asleep or engaged in profound meditation and we approached within fifteen feet before he twisted away across the overflowed salt grass pasture. Although at a much lower elevation than most of the recorded breeding stations, it would not surprise me to learn that during favorable seasons an occasional pair of Wilson Snipe remains to nest among the Stilt colonies around the Sewer Farm.
Totanus melanoieucus. Greater Yellow-legs. This wader has proven to be a very common spring migrant, and possibly winters sparingly, as I have one record for February 19, 1912; but it occurs much more commonly during mid-April. Some flocks return very early in the fall and I noted quite an assemblage near White's Bridge July 5, 1915, associating with about an equal number of Ereunetes mauri.
Podasocys montanus. Mountain Plover. This interesting little plover had arrived on the plains near Firebaugh by September 11, 1915. Had not the Federal law intervened these birds would soon have disappeared forever, as their habits made them a very easy victim for hunters. The birds feed in loose scattered flocks, ranging over much ground, but when sufficiently disturbed all the members of a company take wing and form into a dense flock which, after beating rapidly back and forth for a few moments, usually settles again within a few yards of the intruder, a full hundred birds often occupying a space no larger than twenty feet in diameter. As they alight each bird flattens itself upon the ground where its protective coloration renders it all but invisible save for the winking of its very large eyes.
As one old resident stated, a favorite method of hunting was to drive with a horse and buggy among the scattered birds and cause them to take wing, whereupon the horse was brought to a standstill until the birds had again settled on the ground and in nearly every case this was within easy gun range. The hunter immediately "ground sluiced" them with one barrel just as they "squatted" and fired again as the survivors took wing.
My informant stated that he once killed sixty-five birds with two shots and this method very rarely netted less than thirty. I was informed that this plover was rated as the best table bird in this part of the State and that parties sometimes came from points as far away as San Francisco to hunt them. Verily, as my friend remarked, "they don't seem to be as plentiful as they were twenty-five years ago."
Lophortyx californica vailicola. Valley Quail. September 15, 1915, a female quail flushed from almost beneath my feet, and I soon found her nest with seven eggs which, from their clean, fresh appearance, were evidently the beginning of a late set. Locality
