LAZULI BUNTING 117 



immediately left it and chased the intruding female. The male joined 

 in the chase and all three birds flew 10 yards to the southwest giving 

 the chipping note and a short, harsh buzzing note. The intruding pair 

 left after about 15 seconds of ''quarrelmg" and flew on down the can- 

 yon. The resident female returned to her nest. 



On May 10, 1939, Hubbard also observed a territorial dispute. A 

 male was sitting in a buckeye with a female nearby, when another 

 male chasing a female flew into the clearmg near them. The fii'st 

 male left his female to intercept the intruding male and chased him in 

 a large circle about 30 feet in diameter for approximately 3 miimtes. 

 The pursued male once uttered the complete normal song while 

 flying with the other male in pursuit. On two successive days 

 May 22 and 23, 1942, Dalquist, another observer at the Keservation 

 saw two males in a territorial dispute. One seemed to have a favorite 

 perch in a coffeeberry bush at the foot of a valley oak tree 20 feet 

 from a fence. The other had a perch somewhere up the canyon. 

 If the one from the base of the oak tree alighted in the coffeeberry 

 bushes along the fence, the other was at him like a flash and chased 

 him through the bushes. Similarly, if the one from up the canyon 

 came to the coffeeberry bushes by the fence, he was attacked. The 

 one being chased often turned after 10 or 20 feet and chased the 

 other; a moment later they reversed again and the chase went on 2 

 to 8 feet above the ground. The encounters lasted about half a 

 minute, and each bird went back to its own territory. On the 23d 

 such a chase occurred five times between 7:45 and 8:00 a.m. The 

 bushes near the fence appeared to be a "no man's land" where neither 

 bird fed, but would not tolerate the other. I also observed similar 

 encounters in the Santa Barbara area. 



Courtship. — At the Grand Canyon, Florence M. Bailey (1939) 

 gives this account of the courtship: "The gay suitor, after displaying 

 his beautiful colors with extended trembling wings, flew to the ground 

 and went through strange courtship antics while a demure watcher 

 sat on a twig merely turning her head from side to side." At the 

 Has ting's Natural History Reservation, Hubbard saw a female fly 

 to a rock on which her mate had just landed. She chirped repeatedly 

 while she held her tail vertically. Shortly she flew away foUowed by 

 the male, both going into the brush. The female continued to chirp 

 for about a minute when both reappeared from the brush and the 

 male resumed his singing. On May 12, 1952, I watched a male fly 

 into the top of a mustard clump. Here his mate was perched with 

 her tail raised, her wings spread and quivering as she gave a low call. 

 The male flew over to her and attempted to mount, but was unsuc- 

 cessful and flew back into the mustard. The female repeated her 



