412 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATION.VL MUSEUM 



climb tu a height of about seventj'-five feet; and then came the "high dive." 

 He swooped down with the speed of a comet, and on passing over the female 

 gave the low-pitched but resonant buzzing sound which had first attracted my 

 attention ; then he curved upward and came to a pause about twenty-five feet in 

 the air, where I had first seen him. The sound emitted on passing over the 

 female was of a second or more in duration, and differed greatly from the 

 instantaneous, metallic clink of the Anna Hummingbird. 



Nesting. — Charles A, Allen, of Nicasio, Calif., who discovered this 

 species, and for whom it was named, wrote to Major Bendire (1895) 

 as follows: 



Allen's Hummingbird arrives in the vicinity of Nicasio, California, about the 

 middle of February, and commences to nest soon after arrival. The earliest 

 date on which I found one was February 27, 1S79 ; this was then about half 

 finished, when a heavy storm set in which lasted about five days, and I did 

 not visit the locality again until March 8, when the nest was completed and 

 contained two fresh eggs. I have taken their uests as late as July 3, and am 

 well convinced that two broods are raised in a season, at least by all of the 

 earlier breeding birds. They select all sorts of situations and various kinds 

 of trees and bushes to nest in. I have found their nests as low as 10 inches and 

 again as high as 90 feet from the ground. 



All the nests and eggs of this species [continues Bendire] in the United States 

 National Museum were taken by Mr. Allen near Nicasio, California; one of 

 these, now before me, is attached to the side of a small oak limb which turns 

 abruptly at an angle of about 45° directly over the cup of the nest, protecting 

 it above ; another is likewise attached to the side of a small pendant oak twig, 

 its base being supported by a bunch of moss. Some are securely saddled on 

 small twigs of raspberry bushes, and several of these are usually incorporated 

 in the walls of the nest. Occasionally they nest in hedges, ou weed stalks, or on 

 bushes overhanging water. 



The nests are well and compactly built, the inside being lined with vegetable 

 down, while the outer walls are composed of green tree mosses, and a few bits 

 of lichens, securely fastened in place with a spider web. Nests built on trees 

 seem to be generally somewhat larger than those found in bushes. Tlie 

 average measurements of one of the former is I'/j inches outer diameter and 

 the same in depth ; the inner cup is seven-eighths of an inch in width by three- 

 fourths of an inch in depth. On the whole they resemble the nests of Anna's 

 Hummingbird more than those of the Rufous, and appear to me to be better 

 and more neatly built than either. 



James B. Dixon has sent me the following note : "The only place 

 where I have contacted this hummingbird in the breeding season 

 was in San Luis Obispo County, in the dense willow montes where 

 they were nesting in large numbers and were as common as the black- 

 chinned hummingbirds are farther south. Here the nests were 

 often found within 50 feet of each other. As with all the other hum- 

 mingbirds, there seemed to be a wide variation in the breeding season, 

 as nests with young half grown would be found close to nests with 

 fresh eggs. The nests are larger and better built than those of most 

 other hummingbirds. They have a habit of saddling the nests on a 

 small limb growing away from the butt or main stem of a willow 



