173 



breeds every year, but their nests are so well hidden that I have 

 found only one. This was built in a small bush and held three 

 slightly incubated eggs, May 9, 1898. The old birds were feeding 

 their young a kind of yellow spider, June 23, 1892. 



Melospiza fasciata samiiclis. Samuel's Song Sparrow. 



Samuel's song sparrow is a very common resident. It nests in 

 bushes, usually within a foot or two of the ground, though some- 

 times at a height of more than ten feet. Its three or four eggs may 

 be found from the first week in April (April 4, 1889) to the last of 

 June (June 29, 1889). Very frequently one of the eggs fails to 

 hatch. Discarded snake skins are sometimes used in construct- 

 ing their nests. This song sparrow daringly enters all sorts of holes 

 and dark corners about woodpiles and under boxes, where no other 

 bird except a wren would think of going. ^ 



Melospiza lincolni. Lincoln's Sparrow. 



My experience would lead me to believe that Lincoln's sparrow 

 is a rather rare winter visitant, though it may, perhaps, prove to 

 be fairly common in the low-lying portions of the valley. One was 

 shot February 21, 1891. 



Passer eila iliaca unalaschcensis. Townsend's Sparrow. 



This is a common winter resident in the foothills. It usually 

 arrives in October and stays late in March. 



Pipilo maculatus oregonus. Oregon Towhee. 



To this name I refer the common ** black-headed " towhee resi- 

 dent in the foothills west of Los Gatos. It is not typical oregonus, 

 but approaches that form far more closely than it does P. m. ?ne- 

 galonyx. Probably in winter some nearly typical P. m. oregonus can 

 be found. What the bird of the eastern side of the valley is I do 

 not know, but I shall not be surprised if it prove much closer P. m. 

 7negalonyx. 



This bird almost invariably builds on the ground, though in a few 

 instances I have found its nest in bushes. Its eggs are usually 

 four, sometimes three, in number, and may be found from late in 

 April (April 24, 1889) until the middle of July (July 11, 1888). April 

 30, 1888, I found a nest of this bird containing four eggs of the 

 towhee and one of the California quail. Wishing to learn whether 

 the towhee objected to bringing up other people's children, I took 



