THE OOLOGIST. 



31 



com position as the one described. The 

 eggs are pme white, quite thickly dot- 

 ted with small uniform dots of reddish- 

 brown about the large end, and meas- 

 ure 76x60, 77x59,77x58 and 75x58 inches. 



Cassin's Vireo is the largest and 

 handsomest representative of its genus 

 in the west. Its food is largely of in- 

 sects and grubs which are found plenti- 

 ful on the leaves of the trees and 

 amongst the vegetation. The song is 

 usually uttered near the nest and more 

 often by the female while she rocks 

 back and forth in her dainty home. 

 The song is gladsome and full of vivac 

 ity, and though short, rings through 

 the woodland most beautifully. It is 

 sounded often when one is in the vicin- 

 ity of the nest, in a jolly, enquiring 

 way and cannot be satisfactorily ex- 

 pressed in words. The nests of Cas- 

 sin's Vireo, so far as I have examined 

 them, always may be identified by the 

 white cocoons with which they are out- 

 wardly decorated. The accompanying 

 illustration is from a photograph taken 

 by R. H. Beck in June, 1896, showing a 

 Vireo on its nest, which was in a small 

 black oak bush only three feet up. 

 With admirable courage the bird re- 

 mained bravely on her nest while the 

 camera was being focused and the ex- 

 posure made. 1 found one nest in the 

 Sierras in 1896 which contained live 

 young but the usual complement is 

 four. 



June 14th we had a delightful walk 

 for two miles to a burnt district, a large 

 area which had, several years before, 

 been swept by a forest fire, leaving 

 only the charred trunks of the pines. 

 On the border of this district were 

 growths of small cedar saplings and 

 pine, while an undergrowth of deer 

 brush had sprung up between the burnt 

 trees. This locality was noticeable for 

 the numerous Woodpeckers, to whom 

 it offered no doubt a tempting feeding 

 ground. Here were seen the Pileated, 

 Cabanis's and Red-breasted Wood- 



peckers. On the way a nest of the 

 Red-breasted Sapsucker was found in a 

 dead bark-stripped pine, 40 feet up, 

 which contained young which the par- 

 ents were feeding. 



The bushes were full of bird life, the 

 sweet songs of the Thick-billed Spar- 

 rows. Warblers and others coming to 

 us from all sides. A pair of Green-tail- 

 ed Towhees drew attention to their 

 nest li feet up in a small bush, con- 

 taining five young which fluttered away 

 at our approach. Macgiliivray's Warb- 

 lers were numerous, all with bi'oods of 

 young. Western Robins were common 

 and a nest with three fresh eggs was 

 taken from the top of a 12 foot cedar 

 growing on a flat. Olive-sided Fly- 

 catchers were calling frequently from 

 the edge of the timber but generally 

 kept wel!-up in the tall conifers, where 

 their nests were safe from discovery. 

 I was somewhat surprised, while walk- 

 ing through a growth of small cedars to 

 see a dainty little nest of the California 

 Bush-Tit hanging from a cedar limb 8 

 feet up. It seemed rather odd to see 

 little Psallriparus so far up in the 

 mountains. The nest held seven incu- 

 bated eggs. 



A short distance further I noticed the 

 nest of some Warbler which has since 

 satisfactorily proven to be Audubon's. 

 It was A.k feet up in a small cedar on a 

 horizontal limb, next the trunk and 

 held one egg which was partly hidden 

 in the feathery lining and proved to be 

 addled, the nest apparently not having 

 been used. Evidently the mother bird 

 had been shot after the first egg was 

 deposited. The nest is composed of 

 small roots, weed fibres, fine grass and 

 a light brownish* fibre resembling horse 

 hair. Lined with feathers, among 

 which are several chestnut ones of the 

 Plumed Quail. I left this nest several 

 days and then took it with its one egg. 



Late on June 15th while waiting for 

 the stage to take us out of the moun- 

 tains I rambled down the road and on 



