HOUSE FINCH 297 



southern California do not show that philosophical disposition. 

 Though they have never been persecuted, and they seem to prefer to 

 build around the house, and often near doors which are in frequent use, 

 if anyone passes tlirough the doorway or approaches the nest, they 

 invariably leave precipitately, with every indication of great alarm. 



That the social tendencies of the linnet may be retained in some de- 

 gree even during the breeding season could be inferred from the fol- 

 lowing instance cited by Grinnell and Storer (1924) : A rather unusual 

 case was that of partnership nesting, noted at Dudley, 6 miles east of 

 Coulterville, on July 14, 1920, where two nests had been built on one 

 beam inside a barn. The nests were placed so close to one another that 

 the constituent materials were interwoven on the adjacent sides. The 

 centers of the two nests were but 4,^ inches apart. Each nest con- 

 tained 4 fresh eggs, and so far as could be seen the householders were 

 deporting themselves with model comity. 



F. G. Evenden (1957) found nest construction in the region of Sacra- 

 mento, Calif., took as long as 2 to 3 weeks in March or April, the chief 

 cause for delay appearing to be weather conditions and competition 

 with the house sparrow. In July, a nest was completed in 2 days. 

 Between completion of the nest and the beginning of egg laying, 1 to 

 4 days' time elapsed, with the greatest time lapses coming early in the 

 nesting season. In all recorded observations, eggs were laid in the 

 early morning hours. Disturbance, as by a cat or house sparrow, 

 might result in the skipping of a day. 



The eggs are usually deposited daily until the full complement of 

 four, or sometimes five, is reached. Incubation may begin at least 

 a day or two before completion of the set, so that all the eggs are not 

 hatched on the same day. To atone for his dereliction in the matter 

 of nest building, the male undertakes the support of his mate while 

 she alone incubates the eggs and broods the young. He feeds her by 

 regurgitation, in the manner described under Courtship (p. 292). The 

 feeding usually takes place while the female incubates, but she some- 

 times receives food away from the nest, after fluttering her wings 

 and begging in the manner of the fledglings. While the female 

 ordinarily attends to her duties quite faithfully, Bergtold (1913) 

 says: "The eggs sometimes undergo a surprising amount of cooling 

 without being spoiled. One set, when partly incubated, was success- 

 fully hatched after being uncovered all of a cold rainy night, the 

 female having been frightened from the nest at about 11 p.m., not 

 returning until da3dight." 



F. G. Evenden (1957) points out that early during the egg-laying 

 period tlie female was found at the nest only early and late in the 

 day, with the length of her visits increasing as the clutch was laid. 

 Very little of the male was seen until the young hatched. Although 



