Cogswell 1949 Gallinula chloropus Feb.5 - 3 to 4 mi. E of Woodland, Yolo Co., Calif. - an adult (with red bill, at least) seen first on the shoulder of the highway (which is here on top of a rather high dike). When we backed up to a point opposite it, the bird ran down the bank, thru the edge (only!) of a patch of cat-tails in the deep ditch & up the other side of the ditch, where it skulked along still in the open despite the nearby cat-tail patch easily large enough to hide a dozen gallinules. Strange behavior for a bird usually so secretive. No body of water nearby here, either. Dec.11 - Gustine Land & Cattle Co. (Club 14), S.E. of Gustine, Merced Co., Calif. The number of this species seen here is quite amazing — for a bird formerly listed as “rare in winter”. I estimate that we saw at least 30 during the a.m. — all of them running or swimming toward or near tall cat-tails & tule borders water-filled ditches. As many as 3 were in sight at a time; most of those seen had bills of dusky or only slightly reddish color — but one was in full adult color (bright red with yellow tip).