At Congress Springs a bird that looked all black and had a crest was perched at the top of a small bare tree - Saw Green-backed Goldfinches there. On the way home I noticed a shrike perched on a wire when it was almost dark. Do they roost on the telephone wires? Many robins and a flock of 20+ Band-tailed Pigeons seen near Congress Springs. Very warm sunshine at Boulder Creek - 18" rain there between Jan. 9-16. Acacias & almonds in bloom. Also narcissus. Jan. 29. Lady Birds went to San Francisco to see Short- billed Gulls and Ring-necked Ducks. The Gulls were seen at the Marina feeding at the outlets of a sewer pipe. There were three birds in adult plumage seen at a distance of 10-15 ft. They dropped like I almost vertically, spreading tail and dropping bodily [illegible], but without any splash, just touching the feet to the water and at the same instant taking something with the bill. The flight was very graceful; Alaine easily in swift flight, The tail is all white; back pale slaty grey; neck marked with grey; head white; bill yellow, tapering and short; feet yellow; underparts white. Lines of black near tip of wing. If the after-edge of the wing is seen it shows three black stripes toward the tip. The ducks were on the lagoon at the Fine Arts Bldg. (1915 Exposition), most of them in the shade of the notulas. The pattern of white on the sides ends in a crescent, the point of which reaches upwards near the neck. The slender bill is circled by white near the tip. The head is almost uplifted at the back. The ring around the neck could not be seen, as the birds kept their heads drawn down. The female has a broad light