356 SHRIEKING BIRDS — STRISORES. 



Female with the nilbus of tlie back coverod or rejilacoil with fjrecn ; less i;innamon on 

 the breast. Traces ouly of metallic feathers on the throat. Tail ruibus, banded with 



black and tipped with white ; middle feathers glossed with green at the end. Tail cune- 

 atc. Length of male, 3. SO to 4.00; extent, 4.40 ; wing, 1.55 to 1.75; tail, 1.30. Iris 

 brown ; bill and feet black. 



Hab. ^Vest coast of North America to highlands of Mexico. 



Altlioiigli the most nortliern in its range of any North American species, 

 this liiunming-l)ird does not ai323ear to be so liardy as the S. Anna, since I 

 luive found none of them during winter, even at San Diego, where they 

 first arrived on the 5tli of February, 1862. Still, some may remain in the 

 warmer interior valleys, as I saw several on the 22d of February, a few 

 miles back from the coast, feeding among the flowers of tlie evergreen 

 gooseberry. The blooming of this plant may indeed be the guide to their 

 migration northward, as that of another species (Bihcs sanguinncm) is for 

 their arrival at the Columbia Eiver about March 10th. By the first week 

 of April they were swarming about San Diego. 



I found a nest of this species on Catalina Island, in which young had 

 already been raised by the middle of June. Some also build about San 

 Francisco, and probalily also on the higher Sierra Nevada, as weW as more 

 abundantly near the Colundiia rd\-er, where this is the only species I have 

 seen. The nest is made as usual of moss, and the down of plants, covered 

 with lichens, and the two small eggs can scarcely be distinguished from 

 those of the other species. 



When perching the males ha\-e a shrill wiiy call, like the higliest note of 

 a violin. ~\^^ien sporting in the air, or trying to drive an enemy from their 

 nest, they have a curious haliit of rising to a considerable height, then 

 plunging perpendicularly downward with a hollow wliirring sound, perhaps 

 produced liy their wings. They also produce a kind of a bleating sound. 



They are probalily the most lively and noisy species in the coxmtry, 

 being very quarrelsome, chasing each other away from favorite flowers, and 

 rising into the air until out of sight, buzzing and chirping in an angry man- 

 ner as tliey go. 



Though found on the interior table-lands of Mexico and the Eio Grande 



