Page:Condor18(2).djvu/47

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Mar., 1916 FROM FIELD AND STUDY 85 Ring-necked Duck near Corona, Riverside County, California.--While shooting on the grounds of the Pomona Recreation Club near Corona, Riverside County, Califor- nia, on December 12, 1915, I flushed a strange duck from the rules. The bird was taken and proved to be a female Ring-necked Duck (Marila collaris). As there are few pub- lished records of this bird from southern California I thought this worthy of note. The bird is now in my collection.--WR?GHT M. P?ERCE, Claremont, Calilornia. Odd Performance of a FUcker with a Malformed BIII.--Attracted to an upstairs win- dow in the early morning of January 18, 1916, by the apparent nearness.of a woodpeck- er's drumming, I found a Red-shafted Flicker (Colapies caler collaris) resting within five feet of my eyes, on a square galvanized iron drain, which extended down from the extending eaves to the house wall, at an angle of twelve or fifteen degrees. I was' much surprised to note that its lower mandible curved gradually downward from the base and had grown nearly if not quite an inch longer than the upper mandible, which seemed perfectly straight and normal. At first, assuming that this bird had done the drumming, I concluded that this obvious deformity must be its tongue, for some reason kept extended. The bird's position, however, was such that it was silhouetted against the sky and it shortly satisfied that point by unmistakably extending and moving its real tongue. But, to cap the climax, it turned its head to the left and drummed, turning it far enough so that a line between the points of the two mandibles would be at right angles to the axis of the body, in which position the lower mandible was out of the way and the upper free to drum. And drum it did, not once, but time and again with long pauses between, always turning its head with crown to the left. In the drumming its whole body vibrated, so much so that it literally rattled down the drainpipe backward a little each time it drummed. As the sky was heavily overcast, I was unable to make out its sex. But it strikes me as notable that in spite of its deformity it had maintained itself in good enough con- dition and spirits to sense the mating instincts, of which drumming is undoubtedly one. Not only that, but it heads the spring procession, as the first drumming for 1916, heard on one of our drains January 12, was probably by this same bird: Rkther earlier in the season than we are accustomed to expect it, though for a month or so each early spring our resonant metal work is a favorite sounding board for flickers at unreasonably early hours.--J. EUGENE LAW, HOllywooer, Califo?'nia. The Old-squaw in West-central Californla.--On November 21, 1915? an Old-squaw (Harel?a hyemalis) was taken by Master James M. Moffitt on the Suisun Marshes, Solano County. A careful examination of the bird in-the-fiesh left no doubt in my mind as to its identity.--JoHN W. MX?LL?X?, ?an Francisco, California. Additions and Changes to the Summer Birds of Flathead Lake, Montana.--Work during the summer of 1915 at the Biological Station at Flathead Lake has resulted in several additional species, and some changes in the identifications of others. With the new species I have included two found by Mr. Silloway, the records of which have never been published. The new species are as follows: Hyc?rochelic?on nigra surinamensis. Black Tern. While waiting at Somers for a boat to take me to Yellow Bay, I saw a pair of these birds flying bver a small slough that was overgrown with rushes and cat-tails. From the actions of the birds when I approached the slough, I believe they were breeding, but since I was still travelling and not dressed for wading in a marsh I 'was unable to investigate. ?patu?a clypeata. Shoveller. I saw a single bird of this species on the Pend-Oreille River near Polson, July 27. Phalaenoptilus nuttalli nuttalli. Poorwill. This bird was heard calling in the hills back of' Polson on the evening of July 26. Archilochus alexangri. Black-chinned Hummingbird. Mr. Silloway has seen this bird in the vicinity of Yellow Bay, but the date of this occurrence is not given. Empigonax hammOngi. Hammond Flycatcher. Observations this season have shown that this flycatcher is not uncommon in the forests about Flathead Lake. It was first noted June 24, on a mountain slope back of Yellow Bay. A specimen was secured on Wild Horse Island, July 2. A nest was found near the station at Yellow Bay, June