R.E. Johnson 1968 48 Journal May 3 Berkeley to Livermore, California Yellow-billed Magpies were commonly seen flying over the open wash bed or grassland but were rarely seen otherwise. Brewers Blackbirds walked the edges of the wash ponds feeding & several were seen at a feeding trough for cattle. One Willet waded in a pond & occasionally called. Killdeer were commonly heard. Cliff Swallows dove over the pond surfaces & a Belted Kingfisher was seen flying to a low bank above the water with a white object in its month. Shortly after landing it swallowed the object. At intervals of approx. 2 minutes it plunged into the water (out of my sight) & rapidly returned to the perch shaking the water off & preening. Since it always faced away from the water on its perch between dives & spent a large part of this time shaking & preening, one would guess that it entered the water to bath. Unfortunately I could not see the entry itself. Was it head first or foot first when bathing?? A pair of Bulluck's Orioles flushed from my side of the wash, the or calling loudly & flew across the wide open wash to the other side. They encountered another pair there & they were rapidly chased back to my side before they had even had a chance to alight. The pursuing bird only chased them a short ways but this proved sufficient. A Linnet & several single Green-backed Goldfinches were seen sitting on bush &