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74 [[left margin]] Novr 9th [[drawing of crescent moon]] [[/left margin]] Since last date have been out daily & got a few specimens. [[left margin]] Spermophilus [[/left margin]] The Squirrel Marmot is very abundant on all the dry grounds of the valley & the lower hills, its burrows perforating the ground every few yards & extending to a great depth. They are very destructive to grain and orchards, & difficult to kill, as they run off when wounded into their holes & strychnine is the only certain poison. When alarmed they make a loud shrill cry. They seem to be entirely diurnal & most active during the warmest part of the day. [[left margin]] Lepus [[/left margin]] There is said to be a kind of a Hare commen here no larger than a rat with short ears, & which burrows. It is only seen at morning daylight & has a bluish tint. [[left margin]] [[?Bassaros]] [[/left margin]] A black & white catlike animal is said to be found in the Mts. with a ringed tail & very docile in its manners. The Magpie is common near the hills & is said sometimes to appear in very great flocks. Its cry is not loud & resembles that of some Jays. Hunters speak of 3 kinds of deer here the black & the white tailed & a very small one found among the willows on the San Joaquin. [[end page]] [[start page]] 75 [[left margin]] Nov 10th [[/left margin]] [[left margin]] Rain [[/left margin]] Last evening we had the first shower of the season although it scarcely wet the ground & today cleared off again cool. [[left margin]] Buteo [[/left margin]] Today shot a hawk of a kind quite common here now & which specimen seems to be changing to adult plumage though it had a brown Iris. One of the same species shot yesterday looks like a young but had a whitish yellow Iris. They seem to have the habits of the Redtail. [[left margin]] Mephitis [[/left margin]] Last night I poisoned a small skunk with strychnine & skinned it today. This kind is very common in this country & has a similar but fainter smell than the large ones. It is small enough to enter the Squirrel burrows. Today got a skull of the common species? [[left margin]] Meles [[/left margin]] Badgers are said to exist in this valley. [[left margin]] 13th [[/left margin]] This morning rode 4 miles to the Emerson's. Walked about the place with my gun but did not get any specimens. [[left margin]] Birds [[/left margin]] Immense numbers of Gulls & Cranes are flying about. Flocks of Grackles & but few Redwings are here now. Meadow larks, Titlarks, and shore larks are the common field birds. Noticed near a little creek flocks of Tringas & Plovers. Meadow hawks & sparrow hawks are the commonest kinds, also a few of the Buzzards which keep chiefly about the groves & woods. A shower fell last night.
