THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrtitecl Nlagazine of Popular Ornithology. 

 Puhlisl)e(J |VIoi)th)ly e>;e6pt ii) Jaly ai)rt AciyCisl. 



VotUMK III. 



JANUARY, 1899. 



Number 5. 



Original Articles. 



NOTES ON EUGENES FULGENS. 

 Bv F. C. WiLT.AKn, Tombstone, Ariz. 



AMONG many new acquaintances made dur- 

 ing' a season in the Huachuca mountains 

 in soutliern Arizona, none proved more 

 delig'litful than the Kivoli Hummintfbird (/i"«- 

 gencsfulgeus). I was introduced to tliisbird early 

 one morning' about June 25tli, 1897. when a fe- 

 male was coming' and going* among' some maples 

 which lined Miller canyon Later observations 

 led me to believe that she was building at that 

 time, but I failed to locate her nest. 



June 28th found me looking* at a supposed 

 nest of the Western Wood Pewee about 4(i feet 

 hig'h in a sycamore beside the little stream 

 which flowed through Ramsay canyon. The 

 nest was near the tip of a horizontal branch at 

 the top of the tree, directlv over a pool of water. 

 A shower of sticks and stones failed to flush 

 the bird; so strapping on my climbers, I started 

 up. As I neared the branch, the sunlight 

 g'listening' on the bird's back caused me to look 

 closer; a second glance revealed a long^ beak, 

 and enabled ine to identify the bird. I hung' on 

 right where I was for a few moments until I g'ot 

 my breath, and then crawled out as tar as I 

 dared; still she did not leave her nest. Tying' 

 the limb up with a rope enabled me to get with- 

 in seven or eight feet of the nest and by shaking 

 the branch the bird was dislodg-ed, only to re- 

 sume her place a moment later. How to secure 

 the eg'g's was a question solved by the use of a 

 small net and a stick; one of the eggs was 

 thrown out, however, by a sudden gust of wind. 

 The bird interfered a good deal during this 

 operation I had to poke her to make her leave 

 the nest ; she constantly returned, trying- to 

 slide in under the net as it was tipped up on 

 edg'e, finally settling' right in the net as it lay 

 on the nest, not seeming' in the least discon- 

 certed or discourag-ed bj' repeated failures. 

 After the eggs were removed, she returned and 

 rearranged some of the lining and lichens while 

 the branch was being cut oft". 



The nest differs from all others of this species 

 I have seen. It seems to be built on the remains 

 of an old Western Wood Pewee's nest, but is 

 itself compo.sed chiefly of sycamore down. 

 Thistle-like seeds and grass-tops are scattered 

 over the outside, the whole being covered with 

 lichens attached by a thick coating of spider's 

 web. The nest measures 3.37 inches outside di- 

 ameter, 1.25 inside; 1.75 outside depth, 0.87 in- 

 side. Incubation was well advanced. 



The second nest was found July 2, by seeing 



the tail of the bird projecting over the edge; it 

 was 30 or 35 feet high in a moss-covered maple, 

 on a bunch of the moss, well out toward the tip 

 of a drooping branch, and was so perfectU' con- 

 cealed that, after flushing' the bird the first 

 time, I could not find the nest ag'ain until she 

 returned to it. There was only one egg' at this 

 time, but on the 6th I secured the set of two. 

 This nest, like the finst, was directly over the 

 water. It is typical of the species; composed of 

 sycamore down, covered with lichens and a few 

 pieces of grass tops intermingled; the whole 

 held together with spider webs. The dimen- 

 sions are. outside diameter, 2.25 inches, inside 

 1.12; outside depth, 1.25, inside 0.75. One egg* 

 was incubated several days; the other, just 

 noticeably. The male came around while the 

 eggs were being taken, but soon left. 



Ascending the canyon a short distance, I saw 

 a female Rivoli alig'ht on a small branch at the 

 extreme top of a slender maple. Nothing that 

 denoted a nest could be seen; but, as she re- 

 turned to the spot .several times, I determined 

 to keep an eye on the place. Returning the 

 ne.xt daj', what looked like the beginning' of a 

 nest could be .seen; so I sat down to watch. The 

 bird soon came with something in her bill which 

 she stopped just a second to place in position, 

 then flew off among the branches of a large 

 pine near by. On her return I could see noth- 

 ing in her beak, but she evidently had some 

 spider web, for she laid something on one side 

 of the nest and then, turning around, reached 

 under the branch and took hold of it and pulled 

 it under and up, fiistening' it in place by a strok- 

 ing motion with the side cjf her bill. This work 

 continued with great regularity during the hour 

 spent in watching her, nearlv every other trip 

 seeming to be after spider web. Once a short 

 stop for rest was made, and several expeditions 

 against neig'hboring Wood Pewees or an in- 

 quisitive Jay relieved her labors. Just a, week 

 was required to build the nest andlay twoeggs, 

 and on July 13th this fresh .set was taken. The 

 nest was over 40 feet up, directly above the 

 water. The male appeared on this occasion 

 also, but did not remain. The female sat in a 

 pine near by, now and then flj-ing over and 

 alighting near the nest, but she was too shy to 

 remain long. In construction this nest is the 

 same as the second one. but it has two small 

 feathers laid on -ivith the lichens. 



Two or three days elapsed and I had given up 



