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 May, 19o7 THE BREEDING BIRDS OF ESCONDIDO 9 t Psaltriparus minimus californicus. California Bush-tit. Common among the willows, oaks, and higher brush along the rivers and on hillsides. March 18, to June 14. P01i0ptila ceerulea 0bscura. Western Gnatcatcher. Not unconlmou in the brush near ravines and on low hillsides and anlog the willows. April 16 to June 24. P01i0ptila calif0rnica. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. Only found once by me in San Pasqual, Aphl 5, 1901. Several nests said to have been found at Escortdido. Sialia mexicana. Western Bluebird. Nest found at Crescent Valley with young in March, 1905. No other record. Breeds plentifully in the higher moun- tains and valleys. btpplemenlary lisl ? birds ?tttd breedt3t al cotdddo eseJ z,o/r, e/ez,altz 4qo ?et, and about two miles outside//mits covered in ?bregoin l/st: Vireo hutt0ni 0berh01seri. Oberholser Vireo. SiVa car01inensis aculeata. Slender-billed Nnthatch. Both the above found by Mr. James Dixon. The latter species, possibly both, decidedly out of its range which should be the higher hills up to the level of the deciduous oaks. izts_/bund breedt'n a/ V/s/a, (u(/ome nd 5rn Luis e),, o lo kq miles northwesterly )vm Escondtto : Corvus c0rax sinuatus. American Raven. Found by Mr. B. P. Carpenter nesting at Vista in 1905. Plegadis guarauna. White-faced Glossy Ibis. A colony of about a dozen birds was found nesting iu the rules at Guajome in 1901. No other records. Ardea exilis. Least Bittern. Found nesting in the rules at San Luis Rey in 1901. Telmat0dytes palustris paludicola. Tule Wren. Common in the rules at San Lnis Rey; never seen around the ponds in San Pasqual. /scondido, ( /lmt tt. GULLS AS SCAVENGERS By WALTER K. FISHER HAT gulls are admirable scaveugers is a fact well known, and it is considered of sufficient economic importance to insure their protection by all enlightened sea-coast towns. Some municipalities dump their garbage into the sea, and if gulls are at all common they do the rest, with the aid of numerous other water birds. Altho the neighborhood of a garbage chute may uot be attractive to the average bird student, it is none the less a good place to watch and photograph gulls, provided these birds are plentiful in its viciuity. Not far from the town of Monterey, California, there is such a chute, used chiefly by the Presidio of Monterey. On either side are conveuient rocks upon which to stand, or place a tripod. The gulls swim in to the base of the chute and are very tame, or were three years ago. After feeding they sit about on the rocks, and one has little trouble in securing all the negatives he desires. The accom- panying picture shows a number of immature gulls watching for morsels to be washed out by the wax,es. The immaturity of these birds may account for their lack of fear. I am not sufficiently practiced to be able to identify young gulls on the water, but the old birds which were common i1 the vicinity were chiefly argyenlalus and 12. occidentalis; so it is probable that the majority of the birds in