WESTERN EVENING GROSBEAK 243 



and three inches across, and thinly lined with pine needles, a few shreds 

 of moss, and two small pieces of fine grass stems." Of his experience 

 with these birds, Jensen has wi'itten me: "The evening gi'osbeak is 

 one of the most difficult birds to deal with as far as finding nests goes. 

 Saying this, I am speaking from my own experience in birdnesting in 

 several foreign countries and several States. The birds are as a rule 

 very common here in Santa Fe and it is not at all unusual to see as 

 many as 6,000 to 7,000 of the birds in the city, but it required 11 

 years of walking and climbing through the Sangre de Cristo Mts. 

 before I saw and collected a nest. * * * Two years later I took a 

 five set about 3 miles from the first located. 



"The birds are very quiet during the nesting season and seem able 

 to keep out of sight. The incubating bird stays on the nest until 

 the climber gets up so far that he can reach out and touch 

 the nest. The last nest found was about 40 feet up in a Douglas fir 

 and several feet out on a limb in rather open forest, and the nest 

 was in plain view, so I could see the the incubating bird from the 

 ground. When I reached out toward the nest the female left, but 

 dropped straight down to within 2 feet of the ground; as she fell she 

 gave her danger call, and in a few seconds there were several males 

 scolding me and fluttering very close, even alighting within 3 or 4 

 feet of me. I had looked over this particular mountain side several 

 times and never seen a bird, but there must have been a dozen more 

 nests in the immediate vicinity. I never found another." 



George I. Bone discovered the first evening grosbeak nest for Utah 

 near Salem on May 27, 1936. The nest contained 3 eggs. He writes 

 (MS.) : "The evening grosbeak is a common migratory bird here, 

 appearing in large numbers in early spring. * * * In 1936, I noticed 

 that at least one pair remained after the migration in a grove of maple 

 and scrub oak near Salem, Utah. The grove of trees partially sur- 

 rounds a small pond or lake and the nest was found within 200 yards 

 of the lake. I saw the birds several times and thought they were 

 nesting, so when Mr. Hutchings (Lehi taxidermist) said that they 

 were not known to nest in Utah I decided to see if this pair had a 

 nest. The birds were very friendly and not in the least afraid, but 

 the first day I looked for about an hour for the nest but did not find 

 it. The male kept singing about in the trees. About a week later 

 I was again in the grove and stumbled onto the nest which was in 

 very plain sight in a young scrub oak tree which was about an inch or 

 an inch and one-half in diameter. The nest was next to the trunk of 

 the tree and about 7 feet above the ground. I called Mr. Hutchings 

 and the following Simday we went to the nest. By this time the birds 

 were setting. The male seemed to set on the eggs as often as the 

 female. I reached up and pulled the small tree over toward the 



646-737— 68— pt. 1 18 



