A Record of the Old-Squaw in the San Joaquin Valley
A Record of the Old-squaw in the San Joaquin Valley.--On December 24, 1939, with a view to observing waterfowl, I drove 12 miles from my home in Planada, Merced County, California, to Lake Yosemite, a SOO-acre body of water used as a reservoir by the Merced Irrigation Company. Few birds were seen on the lake but a half mile north in a small pond were a few ducks and a dozen Mud-hens. Remaining with the Mud-hens after the others flew away was a whitish duck that I thought resembled an Old-squaw. As it seemed reluctant to leave, I drove back home, got my gun, and returned to the porid where the bird was secured. It proved to be an immature male Old-squaw (Clangula Hyemalis), the first of this species I have taken in California.-R. H. BECK, Planada, Merced County, California, Janmary 25, 1944.
