1086 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 paRT 2 



Nesting. — Though they are primarily ground nesters, as are the 

 other races of Oregon junco, the Point Pinos Oregon juncos occa- 

 sionally build their nests elsewhere. Grinnell and Wythe (1927) say: 

 "Nests may be situated not only on the ground but on branches of 

 cypress trees, and occasionally in appropriate recesses about the 

 eaves of buildings." 



H. O. Jenkins (1906) describes a typical nest with four eggs, incu- 

 bation partial, he found June 26, 1905 at Big Creek, Monterey 

 County; it was placed on the ground in the redwood forest partially 

 hidden by trailing roots, grasses, and blackberry vines. Joseph 

 Dixon (1924) discovered a junco nest on the ground well concealed 

 in a dense mat of ivy on the University of California campus at 

 Berkeley, Mar. 16, 1923. 



Milton S. Ray (1911b) writes: 



Our first nest [Mar. 27, 1910, San Mateo County] * * * was a strange 

 departure from all previously recorded nest situations being placed 8 feet up in 

 a Monterey cypress where it was well hidden in a thick clump of foliage. The 

 nest, a well built structure consisting almost entirely of pine needles, contained 

 four eggs in which incubation had begun. A second nest of the junco was found 

 16 feet up in the Monterey cypress in an open situation well out on the limb, 

 and contained fresh eggs. This nest is even a better built structure than the 

 first one found. It is a very compact affair of pine needles, roots, grasses and 

 weed stems and well lined with various animal hair. 



Ray (1919) quotes Chase Littlejohn's observations for the 1918 

 season at Redwood City, a suburban town south of San Francisco: 

 "I know of three junco nests being found about Redwood City last 

 summer. These were built about the eaves of occupied dwellings and 

 in one case inside the attic and all of them were of pinosus." 



Grinnell and Linsdale (1936) give data on 24 nests they discovered 

 at Point Lobos. Six of the 24 were built in trees, either pine (Pinus 

 radiata) or cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) . They write: "The first 

 nest was one foot north of the base of one of four small live oak trees. 

 It was at the north margin of an opening in the pines. Both birds of 

 the pair were carrying material to the nest, on March 24 [1935], when 

 it was nearly ready for the lining." This is one of the few reports of 

 both birds of a pair working on a nest. In other races the female 

 usually does the bulk of the nest building. Their first nest with eggs 

 was found Apr. 8, 1935 as was the first nest with small young. The 

 last nest of the season with eggs not yet deposited was found May 20 

 "7 feet up in pine" and "nearly complete." They remark "young 

 about to leave on June 20." 



The dates of nesting for San Francisco and vicinity are about the 

 same. Grinnell and Wythe (1927) say: "Nesting begins by the last 

 of March and continues through May." 



