118 BULLETIN 2 03, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



along the hillside. The creek itself was about 50 feet distant. This nest was 3 

 inches across the outside and about 2 inches high, the cavity being IVi inches 

 deep. Strips of bark of the incense cedar, plant fibers, and horsehair comprised 

 the building material. 



The Bowles brothers (1906) say that the nests are very much like 

 those of the eastern Nashville warbler, as taken by them in Massa- 

 chusetts. In Washington, "the site chosen is usually at the base of 

 a very young oak, or fir, tho on one occasion we found one built 

 under some blackberry vines at the base of a large fir stub. The nests 

 are sunk well into the ground or moss, and are so well concealed as to 

 defy discovery unless one Hushes the bird." 



Effgs. — The eggs of the western Nashville warbler are practically 

 Indistinguishable from those of the eastern form. The measurements 

 of 40 eggs average 15.3 by 12.2 millimeters ; the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 16.6 by 13.2, 14.3 by 11.9, and 16.0 by 11.5 millimeters 

 (Harris). 



We have no information on the incubation of the eggs or care of 

 the young. The changes in plumage parallel those of the eastern 

 bird. Very little seems to be known about the exact food of the 

 Calaveras warbler, and its voice seems to be the same as that of the 

 Nashville, but the following accounts of its habits seem worth quoting. 

 Grinnell and Storer (1924) write: 



The forage range of this warbler lies chiefly in trees other than conifers. Such 

 trees as the black oak and big-leafed maple renew their foliage every spring 

 and the Calaveras Warblers find excellent forage in the insects and larvae which 

 feed upon this tender new leafage during the spring and summer months. Less 

 often these birds may be found in golden oaks and occasionally in Douglas 

 spruces. They usually forage 25 to 40 feet above the ground, keeping within 

 the stratum of new foliage, but they have been seen as low as 10 feet and as 

 high as 70 feet above the earth. When within the foliage their yellow and green 

 coloration makes it difficult to locate them, especially as the birds do not move 

 about as rapidly as some of the other warblers. At times a Calaveras Warbler 

 will poise on rapidly beating wings to capture some insect otherwise out of 

 reach. 



Dr. J. C. Merrill (1888) calls them "restless, shy, and very difficult 

 to shoot, and says further, "When alarmed, as they very easily are, 

 the males move rapidly through the trees, often flying a hundred 

 yards or more at once, and were it not that their constant song indicates 

 their movements, it would be impossible to follow them. I have fre- 

 quently followed one for half an hour or more before I could even 

 catch a glimpse of it, and my pursuit of any particular one was more 

 often unsuccessful than the reverse. * * * j have never found 

 a land bird more wary and difficult to shoot. But as soon as the young 

 leave the nest this extreme shyness disappears, and the parents are 



