Page:Condor13(5).djvu/16

 162 THE CONDOR Vol. XIII ground, and not more than tell feet from the bench by the house, where six or eight men washed three times daily, each time considering it their duty to see how the Kingbird's family duties were progressing. In spite of this scrutiny the eggs hatched before we left, and there was every prospect that the young would prosper. I had occasion to visit the Painted Rock at the south end of the valley, on May 26 and 27, and found a surprising number of birds there, the more strikingly so after the long dreary drive over dust>' roads, with but little to see except the ever- lasting Horned Larks flitting persistently along before the horses. The rock rises abruptly from the surrounding plain to a height of about 100 feet, and is something of a local landmark, partly from its conspicuousness, and partly from the Indian paintings with which it is decorated. A colony of at least a hundred pairs of Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon lunrons) was the most con- spicuous feature of the arian population of the rock, ninny times that number of nests being plastered thickly on its east face. With them were several lairs of White-throated Sxvifts (Aeronaules melanoleucus). A nest of Say Phoebe (,SO'- ornis sayus) with four eggs, was found on a little sheltered shelf, and a second pair of the birds seen. Several pairs of House Finches ((rpodacus mexicanus Fig. 46. PAINIED ROCK, CARRIZO PLAINS, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUN'r, CALIFORNIA lalis) flitted about, bunches of straw protruding from various cracks showing where their nests were. A Raven ( (}'vus co?'ax s[nuattts) flew croaking from her nest on a ledge near the top of the rock, but it was in too inac.ible a spot to be reached very easily. The only additionM species observed was the Arkansas King- bird, but I found unmistakable feathers of Barn Owl (Aluco pdincola), Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus), and A large hawk, probably uteo swainsont'. At a ranch hou about a mile from the rock a pair of Bullock Orioles (Icterus bullock/), and a number of English Sparrows (Passer domesticus) were seen. A few water birds were seen about a small fresh water pond by the roadside thr Night Herons (55,cticorax n. naevius), an Avocet (Recurz,b'oslra ameri- cana), several Killdeer ( Ox3'echus z'ocirus), and a flock of about thirty Northern Phalaropes (Lobipes lobatus). Two of the latter secured were in full breeding plumage, as the entire flock appeared to be. At a subsequent visit to the pond a few days later, the Avocet, Herons and Killdr were still there, but the Phalaropes had nearly all departed, only about ten remaining,so they were probably still migrat- ing, even at this late date.