Page:Condor19(4).djvu/27

 July, 1917 141 FIOlI FIELD AND STUDY The Bohemian Waxwing in Colorado.--The Bohemiau Waxwing (Bombllcilla gar- rula), though erratic in its movements, visits Colorado in numbers every winter; but not within the memory of the oldest settler has it heretofore appeared along the eastern foot- hills and the western edge of the great plains in such large flocks as in 1917. It has attracted the attention o thousands of people who never noticed the species before, and who supposed that it was something unknown. The first word I had of the arrival of these birds in the state was from Mr. O. De Motte, who reported a flock of a thousand at Wall Street, in the mountains of Boulder County, about January 10, and smaller flocks from time to time until March 5. Tele- phone communications reported large flocks at Longmont' on February 25, in the or- chards. On March 2, during a heavy snowstorm, and for several days thereafter, my office and house telephones were kept busy by numerous reports from excited men, women and children in various parts of Boulder, telling of the thousands of queer birds gathered in the orchards, and asking what they were, whence and why they came, where and when they were going. I was especially pleased with the interest shown by the teachers in seeking accurate information concerning the birds and their habits, for the benefit of their pupils. The birds fed upon the frozen apples, a feast prepared for them by an unexpected freeze early last autumn. I counted five hundred waxwings in one tree and estimated that there were at least 10,000 or 15,000 within a radius of half a mile from the county court house. The large flocks began to break up about March 12, perhaps because the larger food supplies were giving out; but individuals and smaller flocks were seen daily until March 28. No Cedar Waxwings were seen. Reports of waxwings in equal abund- ance in Denver began to appear in the Denver newspapers a few days after their ap- pearance in Boulder. A similar visitation was reported in Grand River Valley, on the western slope, several years ago, and then, as on this occasion at Boulder and Long- mont, frozen apples provided them with a banquet.--JvNvs I-I.v,tsoN, Boulder, Eolo- rado, April 11, 1917. Another Instance of Lead Poisoning in Ducks.--During the winter of 1907-08, the writer learns from Mr. J. H. Bowles, of Tacoma, that Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) suf- fered in considerable numbers from the effects of lead poisoning. So far as known this occurred only at the Nisqually Flats, located between Tacoma and Olympia, where the Nisqually River empties into Puget Sound. These flats have been shot over by duck hunters for the past forty years and have doubtless become fairly well charged with lead. So far as known only the Mallards were affected, but in this species as many as twenty- seven pellets were taken from a single stomach. No recurrence of this trouble ha been reported until the present season of 1917, when on March 3, the writer collected an adult female of the Scaup Duck (Marila marila). This bird was found in the same vicinity as the others, and was unable to fly because of its greatly weakened condition. While skin- ning it no wounds were found, but an examination of the contents of the stomach re- vealed twelve duck shot and nothing else. In this instance, as in all the others, the walls of the stomach were eaten away, to a considerable extent, and the larger intestine had become slaty blue in color. The ducks evidently mistake the shot for sand, or gravel, and eat them with their food. It is interesting to note that this is the only local record of the kind since 1907-08, although the ground has been thoroughly worked over by careful ob- servers.--STATo. WARm:'RTO, JR., Tacoma, Washington, March 8, 1917. Fork-tailed Petrel and Baird Sandpiper in Southern California,--The following good records of birds rare in southern California have resulted from the systematic beach work being carried on by the Museum of History, Science and Art, lork-tailed Petrel (Occanodroma)'urcata). A total of nine birds found dead on the beach in the vicinity df the village of Sunset Beach, Orange County, in 1916, as follows: One each on May 15 and 22, three on May 25, and four on June 1. Two of these were fresh enough to save as skins, while skeletons were made of several others. All were found in a distance of less than a mile, six within forty feet, and four in a space hardly eight feet square. In the last case the proximity of the birds suggests that they died on tie beach.