390 



WAXWINGS AND PHAINOPEPLAS 



the study that can be given them, and if watched through a nesting 

 season win their own place in the affections of the bird-lover. 



.- 



GENUS PHAINOPEPLA. 



620. Phainopepla nitens (Swains.). PHAINOPEPLA. 



Head with long thin occipital crest ; wing rounded, of ten feathers, but 



first only about half as long 

 as second ; tail long and fan- 

 shaped ; hind toe very short. 

 Adult male : glossy blue 

 black except for white 

 patch on inner webs of pri- 

 maries. In winter : many of 

 the feathers bordered with 

 white. Adult female and 

 young: plain brownish gray, 

 lighter below ; white on pri- 

 maries restricted, but wing 

 coverts, secondaries, and 

 lower tail coverts with whit- 

 ish edgings. Length : 7.00- 

 7.75, wing 3.60-3.80, tail 

 3.80-4.10. 



Remarks. In the field the 

 Phainopepla may be recog- 

 nized at a distance by his 

 black body and white wing 

 patches. 



Distribution. Breeds in 

 arid Lower Sonoran zone 

 from southwestern Texas to 

 the Pacific, and from south- 

 ern Utah, Nevada, and Cali- 

 fornia south to Cape St. Lucas and the Valley of Mexico. 



Nest. Saucer shaped, compactly made of plant fibers, stems, and 

 blossoms, small twigs and plant down ; placed in elders, peppers, oaks, 

 and blue gums, and often in parasitic plants. Eggs : 2 or 3, grayish or 

 greenish white, thickly spotted with brown, blackish, or faint lilac. 



Food. Insects and berries such as those of the pepper, choke cherry, 

 elder, sumac, the mistletoe and other parasitic plants. 



The phainopepla is a bird of the southwest desert country, and in 

 Arizona Mr. Scott has found flocks of fifty or more gathered in 

 juniper covered canyons when the berries were ripe; but when a 

 single individual strays up to the foothills of the Sierra it is a de- 

 lightful surprise to meet him. In" southern California the phaino- 

 pepla seems as much at home on the telegraph wires of Pasadena and 

 in the parks of Riverside as in the canyons, and wherever found is 

 the same dashing, distinguished beauty. 



When flying at an intruder he lowers his crest threateningly, but 

 ordinarily it stands as a high plume adding distinction to his refined, 



Fig. 481. 



