208 NOTES ON CALIFORNIA ANIMALS. 



Tlic iiiciistirciiKMits of lour 0!^;;s of this specjes from as many dificrciit 

 nests were (in luimhcltlis of an inch): .18 by .o2, .50 by .aJ, .50 l)y .oo, 

 and .50 by .'M. 



Trocliilus anna (Less.). Anm'fi Jluminiiujlnnl. 



Tlie si)ecies wjis fonnd in abundauco along the Lower McClond and in 

 the timber belts of the npper Sacramento Valley. Specimens were 

 obtained in the former region as early as March 7. On Febrnary 4 L 

 saw a Ilummingbird miles above the month of Pitt Kiver, which I 

 think Ix'longed to this species. Another was seen on Febrnary 24, on 

 the Lower IM(;('l()nd Tiiver, which also seemed to be of this species. As 

 there was a little snow on some of the hill-sides at that early date, these 

 birds api)eared to be advancing more rapidly than the season, but the 

 manzanita blossoms which were beginning to appear on the sunnier 

 slopes probably encouraged them in their northward movement. 



I did not myself find this bird breeding in these places, but nests 

 collected at the United States tishery on McCloud ; liver by Mr. Liv- 

 ingston Stone establish the fact. These are altogether the coarsest 

 nests I have seen, being made of plant down and tlaxy plant tibers with 

 a miscellaneous coating of mosses, coarse lichens, husks of buds, tiny 

 bits of bark, and even a few minute twigs. I think they wouM har- 

 monize admirably with their surroundings in the high oak trees in which 

 they are said to have been i)laced. 



l''.arly in June I found a curious double nest which, from its coarse 

 structure and heavy covering of mosses and lichens, might have been 

 built by this species, l)ut 1 could not make its identity certain by obtain- 

 ing the bird. A fresh nest was placed upon a bit of drift lodged in 

 the tip of a swaying branch of a willow which overhung the IMcOloud 

 liiver. To the side of this mass of leaves and grasses was attached a 

 weather-worn nest which in all [)robability had been built the previous 

 season by the same bird. 



Trocliilus rufus (jiiicl. Iiii/uiix Jlinnmiiiijbird. 



This bird was tirst seen in the foot-hills of the Lower McOloud about 

 April 5, its presence there being noted throughout the summer. Several 

 specimens of males in flue plumage were obtained on ]\Liy 17 in the 

 vicinity of certain beds of wild flowers on the tops of the high hills 

 about the United States fishery. In such places I was always certain 

 of finding a considerable number of them during the latter part of the 

 month, and their actions there were cliaracterized by a wondei'ful degree 

 of animation. Tlie males Avere (u)nstantly darting into the air to a 

 height of liO or 40 feet above their fellows, uttering sharp squeaks and 

 dropi)ing almost instantly anion •; them and buzzing among the tlowers 

 in the noisiest possible manner. 1 could find no nests of this species, 

 an<l I do not think that they build close to the streams, lik(^ the other 

 fluminingbirds in this region, V)ut resort to the dry, brush-covered hills. 

 I found these birds in midsummer at the highest limit of timber on 

 Shasta. 



