222. THt? CONDOR 'Vol. XVI extremely adept in catching the insects as dropped into the cage. The stom- achs of the young Pintails examined contained grass and other plant stems, seeds of filaree (Erodium) and certain other unidentified seeds in fragments. One stomach contained the remains of the pupa of some insect. (]haulelasmus streperus. Gad,wall. Four nests of the Gadwall were found. Frown one of these the yo?mg had already hatched, and one of the others had been raided by some animal, probably a coon. On 3/fay 12 a female of this species was flushed from her nest which was situated in tall salt grass about fifteen feet from a small pond and lined with gray down. It contained nine cream-colored eggs. When flushed the duck gave a few quacks, dropped into the nearby pond and, swimming low in the water, quietly departed. Five days later the nest was destroyed by some animal. On a small island grown up with sweet clover and grass the fourth nest was found on 3/fay 16. This nest was constructed of the leaves of sweet clover mixed with dark .gray down and was well concealed by the high growth. The outside diameter was 21 inches and the inside 16 inches. The nest contained twelve slightly incubated eggs. No downy young were found by us. Besides the two birds which were flushed from their nests, not more than two' Or three other Gadwalls were identified with certainty in the field. Hence we must consider this species as comparatively uncommon during the nesting Season in this vicinity. The number of nests found did not furnish in this case an' adequate criterion of the number of nesting birds of the species. The birds when flushed remind one of Pintails but appear to be of stockier build and much shorter neck. The eggs differ from those of the other ducks found nest- ing at Los Barios' in that they are of a distinct cream color. The stomach of one 'adult examined contained one tarabid beetle and a quantity of grass blades. The stomach contents was very similar to that usually found in the Baldpate. Querquedula cyanoptera. Cinnamon Teal. Twenty-three nests of the Cinnamon Teal were found. Of this number eighteen were destroyed by some predaceous animal, and from three, the young had already hatched. This duck almost invariably chose for nesting sites small islands or the banks of ponds upon which grew either sedge or salt grass. A typical nest found on an islet in a marsh was well concealed in a patch of bunch-grass about a foot high. It was well lined with down in spite of the fact that the eleven eggs were fresh. Two other nests discovered, which were afterward destroyed through some agency, were exactly the opposite in respect to the equipment of down: one containing five eggs held no down as yet, the other containing but one egg showed a moderate lining of down. A nest 'found in a dense clump of tules at the edge of a pond contained one egg when first found. Four days later the same nest contained five eggs, giving evidence that one egg is laid each day. It is interesting to note that two individuals of the same species will choose such different nesting sites as grassy islands and dense tules, and such differ- ent nesting materials as grass and tules. The choice of tules by Cinnamon Teal in the vicinity of Los Barios is certainly the unusual thing. The inconspicuousness of a nest when covered with its blanket of down was significantly impressed upon us on returning to a nesting site we had pre- viously marked. Although we wen? directly to the small islet on which the nest was situated and looked carefully for the nest it took several minutes to descry it, and when found it was in exactly the position we had pictured it in our minds. The dusky-hued down of the Cinnamon Teal harmonizes wonder-
