I have looked carefully to find nests before and after these dates but have failed. Thus I would define their breeding time as the month of June, as most of my sets were found during that month and the majority during the first three weeks. During the six years of my observing this species I have collected forty-four sets of which eleven had two eggs each and thirty-three three eggs. The greater part of the sets of two were found at the end of the season, indicating a second set although I have been unable to prove this. A peculiarity was noticed in 1901, as the eight sets I collected all contained three eggs each. In all the above cases where only two eggs were collected the nests were always left long enough to complete the set; thus I am positive that the sets of two were complete. Several plover's nests were found before the eggs had been deposited and the nests carefully watched. The eggs are laid about three days apart.
The nesting ground is a white sandy cape or narrow strip of land between Ballona Swamp and the ocean about two miles long and two hundred yards wide. This place during the fall high tides is completely flooded and deposits of small rocks and broken shells are left there. Among these the plovers place their nests. On approaching it one may be attracted by noticing the little fellows running about on the sand in front of him, or occasionally flying in low wide circles uttering a pleading whistle so characteristic of this species. This whistle I have learned is a danger signal that I am near their nests, and on looking over the ground carefully I may be able to notice fine bird tracks in the white sand or in the patches of white sand between the shells and rocks.
In going over the ground carefully where the tracks are the thickest a nest will generally be found. Sometimes the birds will build among the small rocks where the tracks cannot be seen and here the eggs are safe as their coloration protects them, for they look exactly like small rocks. The nests are, as a rule, found by a mark of some kind, a bone of some animal, a small dead weed, or a bit of drift-wood and are slight depressions in the sand. Some are completely lined with broken shells or fish bones with the eggs pointed towards the center, very close together and about half buried in the nest lining. A pair of birds will build several nests during a season and only use one; for I have found nests all fixed up and completely surrounded with tracks. This I noticed especially in 1901 for I found about three times as many unused nests as used ones. During this season I visited Ballona about three times a week and gave the birds careful study.—W. LEE CHAMBERS, Santa Monica, California.
NOTES AND NEWS
On November 8, the following amendment to Article IX of the Constitution of California is to be voted upon by the people. "Section 12. All property now or hereafter belonging to the 'California Academy of Sciences,' an institution for the advancement of science and maintenance of a free museum, and chiefly endowed by the late James Lick, and incorporated under the laws of the State of California, January sixteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, having its buildings located in the city and county of San Francisco, shall be exempt from taxation. The trustees of said institution must annually report their proceedings and financial accounts to the governor. The legislature may modify, suspend, and revive at will the exemption from taxation herein given."
The California Academy of Sciences is a museum similar in scope to the United States National Museum in Washington and the American Museum in New York City; it maintains collections for popular instruction, which are open six days of the week and are free to the public; it maintains scientific collections and a scientific library, which are free to students; it publishes scientific papers without pecuniary profit; it sends out expeditions in search of new facts and new specimens; it gives free public lectures every month in the year; its staff answers inquiries relating to scientific matters, free of charge. The property of the academy consists chiefly of a building, fronting on Market Street, San Francisco, rented for stores and offices, and a building back of this front building used for the library and the collections of animals, plants, and minerals. The income from the front building supports the back building; without this income the work of the Academy could not be carried on. The Academy pays over $7000 a year in taxes; of this amount less than one-third goes to the state at large, the rest to the city and county of San Francisco. This tax impoverishes the Academy, the balance of its income being insufficient to do its work. Similar institutions in other states, such as the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Boston Society of Natural History are exempt from taxation. The attention of all Cooper Club members, who may reside in California, is called to the amendment. Everyone who is interested in the advancement of science in California should do his or her little toward influencing a favorable vote. It is suggested that those who receive printed
