CALIFORNIA SHRIKE 171 



On the twentieth day four of the young at a nest near Pinole still 

 were perched on the much flattened and excrement-stained nest, which 

 for only the preceding four days the parents had failed to keep clean. 

 The young hopped off through the trees while I was yet 6 feet from the 

 nest. This day may be considered as the normal time of final depar- 

 ture from the nest when broods are unmolested. 



Feeding still occurs at short intervals. It was estimated that the 

 solitary female parent of one brood brought food 21 times between 

 9 and 10 a. m. on the twentieth day. Most of the foraging was done 

 within 70 yards of the nest. The six young of this brood all were in the 

 nest tree or in the willow adjacent ; they occasionally gave the "location 

 note." When the female appeared in flight moving toward the nest 

 tree, the typical rhythmic wheedling or begging notes were given 

 simultaneously by many, if not all, of the juveniles. This note had not 

 been heard previous to the twentieth day. This latest and final type 

 of food call of the young is accompanied by a flutter of the wings. 

 Parent birds during this period are shy and usually do not attack in- 

 truders unless the young are captured or caused to move from their 

 hiding places in the foliage of trees and bushes. 



Between the twenty-sixth and thirty-fifth days the parents continue 

 to feed the young, but at the same time the young are learning to forage 

 for themselves. By the end of the period the juveniles frequently 

 drop to the ground and feed, although they beg and follow their par- 

 ents when the adults are in sight. The young still tend to stay grouped 

 together but now perch in conspicuous places much of the time. As 

 early as the thirtieth day the J^oung range over the entire territory but 

 make their headquarters near the nest. 



Captive birds began drinking water and attempting to bathe on the 

 thirtieth day. When 39 daj's old a bird sang the usual juvenal, mock- 

 ingbirdlike song for the first time, the first efforts being, to the human 

 ear, rather grotesque. The clicking vocal notes develop on the twenty- 

 fifth day in a feeble, but recognizable, form ; impaling of food items 

 begins about the fortieth day. 



Second nestings are begun while the adults are still feeding young 

 of the first brood, but not all pairs undertake a second brood. One 

 pair had a new nest with fresh eggs when the young of the first brood 

 were 46 days old. 



Plumages. — The natal down is scanty and is white (see p. 167) . The 

 juvenal plumage, which is acquired almost entirely before the young 

 leave the nest, is lighter colored and less compact than that of the 

 adult. 



Juvenal coloration is as follows : Uppeeparts : pileum and hind neck 

 smoke gray, each feather witli two dusky bars ; back olive-gray, each 

 feather usually with narrow smoke-gray tip and a dusky bar; lateral 

 scapulars dull white distally, each with a distinct bar near tip followed 



