M,?a. t9o3l THE CONDOR 47 A List of Water Birds of Lake Valleys Central Sierra Nevada Mountains? California. MILTON S. RAV. HILE the la,nd birds of this region have been fully treated by Chester Barlow in '[Hr Co?)oR (Vol. III, No 6) and by Wilfred Osgood and other writers in various magazines, little or nothing has been written re- garding the water birds. I have spent two seasons in the valley, from June 4 to June 20, t9o?, and from June ?6 to July 3, ?9 o2. My brother, William R. Ray, has accompanied me and in ?9o20lof Heinemann joined us. The principal resort of the water birds is the marsh extending along the shore of Lake Tahoe between Rowlands and Tallac for about three miles and from one to three miles inland. They are also found sparingly, however, on Lake Tahoe and other adjacent lakes, and in the various meadows and along the numerous streams of Lake Valley. Most collectors have been prevented from working the marsh at Rowlands thoroughly owing to deep water, impenetrable tule-thickets and impassable patches of pond lilies. While inaccessible to a row-boat, we over- came these difficulties with a light portable canvas canoe which we used both years. This enabled us to go over the shallowest water or lily-beds with ease and thru the thick rules with some little difficulty. Thanks are due Mr. Leverett M. Loomis for identifying a number of skins taken. Starred ('?) species were collected. Colymbus californicus. American Eared Grebe.'? The grebe is a very rare bird about Lake Tahoe. None were observed in x9o?, although many days were spent in the marsh at Rowlands. On June 29 , ?9o2, a nest was found in the above marsh in about six feet of water among a sparse patch of rules. It was a floating mass of decayed vegetation and fastened to the reeds, and contained four well stained and almost fresh eggs. Larus californicus. California Gull. This gull in all states of plumage is abundant on the lake about Rowlands but does not breed. On every visit im- mense flocks would lazily raise from the sand bar at the mouth of the river as we entered. Sterna forsteri. Forster Tern.'? Very common about Rowlands marsh where it nests in colonies of a dozen pairs or more. When the nesting grounds were ap- proached the terns would fly up and hover about us, uttering their discordant cries, and some would dart uncomfortably close to our heads. The nests were b?filt in various situations. The majority were built up of dry tules where the water is about five feet deep. Whe? ['reshly built of green tules the nost formed a pretty picture. They were placed among tall thick tules or ?narsh grass and pond-lilies at their edge. Great difference existed in the nests, some being elabor- ate structures, while others were scantily made and placed on soggy masses of dead rules or floating logs. Numerous eggs were observed floating in the water about the nesting grounds and in a large number or' sets taken the eggs were addled. A little before the first of June these terns start nest building, and fresh and partly incubated eggs were found all through the month. Even on my latest trip to the marsh, June 29 , ?9o2, I did not observe any young of forsleri. The nests contained either one, two or three eggs and in about one hundred nests ex- antined in t9ot and ?9o2, only one contained more, namely, five eggs. While the style of marking varies greatly, the ground color of brownish-drab and the blotches of brown, umber and lilac remain about the same. A single exception was a set
