San Francisco, March 30, 1905.

My dear Wolcott:

Preliminary to a more extended account of my trip, which I may give
you some day, I shall now write you a little letter having to do par-
ticularly with the subject of tiger beetles.

I was under the impression that I was too early for the spring
collecting, and must admit that I have found very few; but there have
not been many places where I could take the time to make careful investi-

gation, so I suppose the season is all right.

My first tiger beetles were taken at Miami, Fla., where on the beach
of Biscayne Bay I collected a nice series of C. tortuosa. They were not
very plentiful, but by spending an hour on each of two afternoons I
managed to get about fifty - half of which I have turned over to the raven-
ous sighsindeedledie artists of this village. These beetles were on the
wet sand, just above the water, seldom being found on the dry sand uneess
they had been disturbed and driven there.

My next tiger beetle was at Coleman, Fla., while we were en route
to Jacksonville from Tampa. I saw him as the train was moving by, and
jumped off and captured him with far more ease than I captured the tail
end of our car. It is C. unicolor.

There was nothing doing in the tiger beetle line at New Orleans,
or at Houston, or at Victoria, as the weather was cloudy and wet most of
the time. Therefore it happens that my next specimens were taken at
Yuma, which is in the State or Territory, as the case may be, of Arizona.
As about 300 lateral feet of a 15-foot fill had been washed out, five
miles beyond Yuma, we decided to remain there until some track repairs
had been made, and I had fifty-two hours in the place. The work which
came my way was not heavy, wherefore it happened that most of my time
was spent looking for beetles and birds. Of the latter I observed
several which are new and interesting to me; but this is a sighsindeedledie
letter. There was just one colony of tigers at Yuma which I succeeded
in finding, though I ranged for miles around, all the way from the level
of the river to the tips of the hills. These tigers I have not yet got
a name for, unless they be var. unijuncta of repanda, and they do not
quite meet the description there. It looks somewhat like repanda, but
the various lunules and bands and dots get together and form a narrow,
irregular edge to the entire elytra. They were not numerous, and were
hard to catch, so I got only about a dozen, half of which I have turned
over to Fuchs, Blaisdell and Van Dyke. Fuchs and Blaisdell have had a
try at the species, and have reserved their judgment; and I expect to see
Van Dyke tonight. I am anticipating a fine time with his collection, which
I understand is excellent, particularly in Omus. Blaisdell is raising
O. ambiguus from larvae.

A portion of Sunday spent in the sand dunes near the Cliff House
resulted in the collection of a dozen specimens of C. oregona; and thus
endeth ye epistle of ye sighsindeedledie. I am sorry to have done so
poorly.

Leave here Saturday for Omaha. Excuse this hasty job. With best
wishes to you and Mrs. Wolcott, I remain

Sincerely,