VOL. 111. | Notes on Phainopepla Nitens. me ic 
As a general thing it is rarely observed near the coast, except 
along the San Diego and Sweetwater Rivers, where willows, cotton- 
wood and oak trees are abundant, and the adjacent hills covered 
with shrub oak, sumachs, buckthorn, and sage. Rarely seen on 
the mesas about San Diego and other regions where Adenostoma 
Jasciculatum, A. sparsifolium, Hosackia glabra, Rhus ovata, R. integ- 
rifolia constitute the main flora. With the increased planting of or- 
chards in these localities it is becoming more common. 
It is occasionally observed at Coronado since the planting of the 
avenues with Fucalyptus, Cupressus macrocarpa, Olea Europea, 
Abies excelsa, Schinus molle, Ficus carica, Grevillea robusta, Cit- 
rus and palms, but I have never observed it nesting there. In 
favorable localities it is common and breeds. 
Among children and those not conversant with ornithology it is 
known by the following names:— 
Black Crested Flycatcher, Black Mocking Bird, Mountain Phoebe, 
and Red Eves. 
~The Phainopepla arrives at Poway about the first of May, the 
males usually arriving several days before the females. They are 
rarely seen after the middle of August. 
Poway Valley is situated twenty miles northeast of San Diego, four- 
teen miles from the seacoast, and thirty miles distant from the edge 
of the coniferous belt, with an elevation of 700 feet. 
The principal plants of this region are: Quercus dumosa, CU. agri- 
folia, Platanus racemosus, Populus Wislizeni,* Alnus oblongifolia,* 
species of Salix, Rhus laurina, Rhamnus crocea, Prunus demissa,* 
Sambucus glauca, Ceanothus sorediatus,* Adenostoma sparsifolium, 
A. fasciculatum, Artemisia Californica, Opuntia occidentalis, O. pro- 
lifera. 
Shortly after arrival the male selects a site for a nest and proceeds 
to its construction, which may be completed before the female ar- 
rives, but if not she assists. Late arrivals commence labor together. 
The mates make alternate trips to and from the nest in search 
of building material, one remaining upon the slowly growing nest, 
arranging the last accession and pressing it into place; as the return- 
ing mate approaches, they exchange a purring salutation and ex- 
change places. The nests are placed at varying distances from the 
*But sparsely distributed. 
