ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD 413 



sapling, in miicli the same manner as the wood pewee; I have never 

 found the other hummingbirds doing this. Nests are made of dried 

 weed stems, weed seed, and plant down, bound together with cob- 

 webs, and decorated outwardly with lichens; they do more toward 

 decorating the outside with lichens as incubation advances." 



Dr. Harold C. Bryant (1925) gives an interesting account of the 

 colonial nesting habits of this species : 



Heretofore I had believed along with others * * * that the favorite 

 nesting place of the Allen Hummingbird {Selasplwi-us allcni) is the tangle of 

 berry vines along a stream. But a recent experience in Golden Gate Park, San 

 Francisco, has led me to alter my view. * * * 



On April 19, a trip through a growth of cypress and Monterey pines netted 

 eleven hummingbirds' nests, all, with the possible exception of one, being those 

 of the Allen Hummingbird. Three of the nests found were in pine trees; all 

 the rest of them were in Monterey cypress. The lowest one was about 5'/^ 

 feet above the ground, the highest 15 feet. Measurement of the inside diametei' 

 of two nests showed them to be 1^4 to IY2 inches. Most of the nests contained 

 eggs, but in one instance young birds ready to fly were found. In fact, one 

 of the young birds launched out of the nest and had to be replaced. At least 

 two nests were incomplete. One of these a week later was found to contain 

 eggs. 



In most instances the incubating female, frightened from the nest, helped in 

 determining the location. On one area of less than an acre in extent, an 

 unsystematic search disclosed five nests. In one instance nests were hardly 15 

 feet apart. Another casual search on April 26 disclosed three more nests on 

 this same limited area, and undoubtedly several more nests could have been 

 found bad each tree been searched systematically. * * * 



When we stop to think that the Rufous Hummingbird, a close relative, breeds 

 commonly in coniferous forests of northwestern North America, it does not seem 

 unreasonable that the Allen should chose a similar habitat in the humid coast 

 belt of California. And evidently it was choice in this instance, for extensive 

 tangles of berry vines near water were close at hand but were not chosen for 

 nesting places. 



Grinnell and Linsdale (1936) report two nests found in the Point 

 Lobos Reserve, Monterey County, Calif. ; one "found on April 18, w^as 

 four and one-half feet up on a twig one-eighth inch in diameter, at 

 the lower, outer end of a limb of live oak. * * * Another nest, 

 found on May 18, was at least seventy feet above the ground on a small 

 stub beneath a slender limb of pine in the woods." 



Ernest D. Clabaugh (1936) tells of an Allen's hummingbird that 

 built its nest on an ivy vine hanging down about 6 inches from the 

 ceiling of a covered entrance to his house; one young was success- 

 fully raised and left the nest on May 11 ; "the old nest was removed, 

 and on June 4, another nest was built in the same spot." Joseph 

 Mailliard (1913) records three nests built "inside of buildings more 

 or less in use"; two of these were under the rafters of a wagon 

 shed, one on a hanging pulley, and the other on the loop of a rope 

 sling; the third was in a carriage house, on an iron hook that was 



