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lan., I9O 7 FROM FIELD AND STUDY LItrE KILN, JUNE xo TO JULY x.--I found a nest of the willow woodpecker in a rotten alder stub by a creek. The chips showed me that it was a late nest. It contained four iresh glossy white eggs. The parent bird was very noisy but did not come near. The next nests found were two of the western wood pewee. One contained four fresh eggs. The uest was saddled upon a limb of an alder about six feet from the ground. The other was built in a crotch of an alder about twenty feet from the ground and contained two eggs. The next nests were two of the valley partridge. One contained fifteen eggs and the other twenty-one eggs. I thought I had found a large set but another member of the party reported the finding of a set of twenty-two a couple of days later. This was the largest set reported. All nests were on the ground under bushes. Another peculiar nest I fouud was one built about ten feet down in an old mine shaft. It was some sort of a s?allow's nest, built of red clay, and at this date contained three young. The parent birds would not come near, and were not seen closely enough to identify. It was quite dark and damp where the nest was. Around Dry Creek, near Auburn, nighthawks were numerous. About dusk they would fly about high up in the air with their peculiar flight and cry. They would take three or four slow flaps of the wings, then three or four very fast flaps and rise in the air, always uttering their peculiar cry when risi?g. Once in a while they would dive straight down with a sound like an enormous bow-string being struck. It was likely to scare one if it came unexpectedly, and if one was not accustomed to it. Sa? Francisco, California. FROM FIELD AND STUDY Feeding Habits of the Lewis Woodpeeker.--Late on the afternoon of December 8, z9o6 , while riding between Witch Creek and Santa Ysabel, I noticed ten Lewis woodpeckers (?}[elanerpes lewisi) flying abont over a creek catching insects in the manner of swallows, with flight that was graceful, resembling that of the latter. I never before noticed them feeding in this way, their usnal habit being to perch on top of dead trees, darting from a limb to catch pass- ing insects. They have been unnsually common here this fa11.--H. W. MARSDEN, IlXiich Creek, CaliJbrnia. Notes From Placer County, California.--Band-tailed pigeons (Columba fascists) oc- curred here in considerable numbers this fall, appearing to be most numerous along Bear River, where ideal feeding grounds abound. The first noted were a few scattering birds on September 2?, ?9o6. On October ?7, a flock of about three hundred were seen feeding on acorns and "coffee" berries; and scores of birds were continually passing overhead, following the course of the river. Large nnmbers have been killed by hunters. This country is very much alive and the common turkey vultnre is seeking new climes! Dur- ing the first week of October I noticed five flocks of from twenty-five to sixty bnzzards (Calhartes aura) slowly making their way westward. They appeared to be young birds, but I have never been able to discover breeding grounds in this vicinity. A few robins (A[erula mifratoria propznqua) have remained in this locality thruont the summer. They breed here in small numbers, but usually leave soon after the young are able to fly. Quail (Lophorlyzr cal?fornicus vallicola) are plentiful, even tho the late rains destroyed large numbers of eggs. I collected a set last spring under rather peculiar circnmstances. We had cut and cocked our meadow grass, when the late rains came and interfered with hauling. Some of the hay was ruined and it was a month before it was removed from the field. These haycocks