214 THE CONDOR Vol. XVIII stead of comporting themselves in the usual way, they gathered in flocks of from half a dozen to thirty or more individuals, and took to the high cottonwoods, going over the whole top of a tree after the methodical manner of a flock of nut- hatches or bush-fits, even hanging from the branches upside down when need be. Although not encountered in any numbers, enough Bridled Tits (Baeolophus wollw?beri) were seen in the valley bottom to point to the probability that the species occurs regularly in such situations. As there seem to be but few state rec- ords for the Gadwall (Chaulelasmus streperus), I record a female shot a few miles east of Phoenix, March 27, when there seemed to be more of the same spe- cies present among the large flocks of teal and Shovelers. Ornithologically as well as otherwise, .Arizona is a wonderful state, and a great deal remains to be done among the birds within its boundaries. It is almost a pity that its southern border offers so many inducements to the collector dur- ing the spring and summer, the consequence being that other parts of the state, and the south as well during the winter, have rather suffered for lack of system- atic field work. Covina, California, August 28, 1916. MEETING SPRING HALF WAY By FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY III. (Concluded from page 190) S WE approached Mexico, not only were hackells more frequently seen, but yuccas became more common, sturdy little drum majors, four to twelve feet high, offering go.od nesting sites to Orioles and Thrashers. Cactus also increased in amount and variety. The beautiful magenta clusters of the ribbed Cereus and a small devil's head, with hooked spines, were among them. The thickets were becoming more dense, a veritable jungle of mesquite, huisache, butterfly tree, cactus, and yucca, suggesting the eleven foot rattlers that had been reported with such an air of verity. When Mr. Bailey was tempted in by some rare specimen, the old Texan cried excitedly, "You better come out of that thicket there's buggers there I tell you!" But a long black snake dis- patched by the roadside was the worst 'bugger' encountered. Near a pond a plant resembling sunflower was found together with masses of a white nicotine that fairly smelled of tobacco. Some of the migrants met with were near their southern breeding limits but the Veery seemed decidedly out of place beside Golden-fronted Wood- peckers and the two Doves, the Ground and the White-winged.' In the mes- quite thickets two of the common notes heard were those of the Golden-fronted Woodpecker and the Wood Pewee. The soft lulling notes of the Wood Pewee to us northerners brought up pictures of cool, high, heavily-roofed northern woods that contrasted strangely enough with these low, hot, thin-leafed mes- quite, cactus, and thorn thickets, dr011y spoken of as timber; but though the Pewee, which winters from Nicaragua to Colombia and Peru, breeds as far north as southern Canada, some of its numbers do breed as far south as south- ern Texas.
