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May, i9o6 I 17ROM b'IELD AND STUDY 75 Peculiarities of Ducks in Nesting.--In June and July, r9o3, in northeastern Montana, I found large colonies of ducks breeding, principally blue-winged and green-winged teals, mal- lards, canvasbacks and spoonbills. I was interested in the fact that all the ducks just men- tioned frequently dep6sit their eggs in each other's nests, it being no uncommon thing to find the eggs of three varieties of ducks in one nest. The eggs of the larger ducks and those of the teal were often found together. I also found the mallards nesting in the short grass on the hillsides and even on the tops of the hills a mile or more from water.--G. WtLLETg, Los ?tn.?eles, Cal. Whistling Swans.--A flock of between I5 and eo whistling swans (Olor columbianus) came onto the Alameda Gun Club's marsh in Sonoma County about the first of December, i9o 5. They were reported by the keeper at different times up to the lastsho)t, I?ebruary ?5, when they were still there. The swans would not stay in one flock all the time, but would separate into bands of half-a-dozen ho feed in the different ponds. They did not appear to be very shy, and not one was touched, as the law forbids. Never before had more than one or two at a time been seen.--Louts BOL?NDER, Sat/ Francisco, Cal. l?ggs of the Sage (?rouse.--Having noticed some confliction in regard to the number of eggs per set ascribed to the sage grouse (Cenlrocercus urophasianus) I give here the result of observations made in northeastern Montana in I9o 3. Prom May to July of that year I examined about 50 nests of this species, the smallest set numbering eight eggs, and the largest fifteen. Both of these are unusual, the general number being from ten to thirteen.--G. WILLEgg, LOS M?tgeles, Cal. 1Jnusual Breetling Reeortls at 13seontlitlo.--A nest of the golden pileolated warbler ( ?Filsonia pusilia chcyseola) with four fresh eggs was found by me in a willow grove in the San Pasqual Valley--elevation 350 feet above sea level--on June I6, I9Oi. Thb grove contained a number of patches of wild rose and the nest was placed at the margin of one of these near the edge of the grove at about a foot from the ground. It is large and uncouth-appearing for a war- bler and is made of stems of nettles with their leaves, and willow leaves and blossoms, all green; also old dry nettle leaves. The lining is of dry shreds of grass, loosely laid in. When found it was all slightly covered and obscured by the leaves of the rose and nettles. Its present measure- ments are about 8 inches by 3?2 in depth outside and i x by I inch inside. When found the depth was much greater. It has flattened since then considerably. Both birds were seen and the male secured. On June I8, i9o 5, I saw a male of the species in the same grove but did not see his mate who was probably holding down a nest in the vicinity, which I could not find. These are the only times I have ever seen the species here, in nesting time. On June I8, I9O5, I found a nest and eggs of the Bell.sparrow (?tmphispiza belli) in the same wild rose patch referred to above and not more than ten feet from where the warbler's nest ?vas taken. No bird was secured but both were seen and noticed for half an hour as they fluttered around thru the brush, coming within a few feet of me. This is a fairly common bird around San Diego and might reasonably be expected to be met with here, but I never knew of its breeding here before. San Pasqual proved attractive to the Traill flycatcher (Emfiidona?c tra?lli) also last season, and I found it breeding for the first time on June 4. The nest was in a clump of nettles on the edge of a water hole in a grove of willows and was the exact counterpart of the nest of a lazuli bunting. The bird secured was identified for me by Mr. Grinnell. One would expect that these three species would not be so very rare here as all three breed in this county in localities not so vastly different nor so very far from this neighborhood. But in years of hunting and collecting here these are the only breeding records in my knowledge. In the Field and Study notes in January Co?)o? Mr. Grinnell speaks of a wood duck sponsa) being taken near Oxnard, Ventura County. In November last Mr. F. X. Holzner of San Diego showed me a beautiful specimen of that species which had been sent to him to mount from Ramona where it had been shot. Ramona is about I5 miles southeast of Escondido and about ?5 miles from San Diego. This is likely to prove the most southerly record for the species in the State.--C. S. S?x?P, Escortdido, Cal. Results of a (?ale at Pacific Beach.--l)uring a heavy gale that lasted for several days in the latter part of November, i9o5, Mr. H. x,V. Marsden found a nnmber of rhinoceros anklets (Cerorhinca monocerala), Pacific fulmars (P?lmarus.clacialis ?lufiischa), and dark-bodied shear- waters (Y?nus ?rzseus) dead or dying along the shore at Pacific Beach, San Diego County, Cat. His most interesting capture there was a young female mew gull (Larus canus) on Nov. 3 o, which is now No. I4829 of my collection.--LovIs B. BISHOP, dVez? /graven, Conn.