THE OOLOGIST. 



13a 



the nest. It had been situated upon 

 a horizontal branch of the tree about 

 ten feet from the ground. Mean- 

 while the birds made th(?ir ap,pear- 

 anee. Both possessed crests; the 



male, a dashing, restless fellow, was 

 of a bluish-black color, and as 

 he flew I noticed a white patch under 

 each wing. Tlie female was of a duller 

 hue but quite as restless as her mate. 

 I supposed thej wave phainojiej^la nitenx 

 and subsequent! ' found my conject- 

 ure correct. I resolved to visit the 

 place on the following day. 



Eai'ly morning found me again in 

 this retreat. By the stream several spe 

 cies of Humming-birds, whose resplen- 

 dent plumage Hashed in the gleam of 

 daj', darted hither and thither among 

 the l)lossoming plants culling their nec- 

 tarean food while poised on murmuring 

 wringlets before the varied-hued flow- 

 ers. In numbers the Anna's probably 

 excelled,3'et the Allen's was numerous.a 

 few Alexander's, or Black-chinned were 

 noticed and an occasional Costa's,which 

 had wandered into this retii-ed nook, 

 was recognized l)y its violet gorget. 

 From a neighboring upland came the 

 cheery Avhistle of the Meadowlark 

 while in the vale there surged a flood 

 of melodious song, the rippling accents 

 breaking high up the sides of thd adja- 

 cent mountains. Warblers and Wrens 

 in well tuned lays,Thrasiiers and Mock- 

 ing-birds in extravagant medleys, and 

 Finches in joyous .songs joined in this 

 happy orchestra of the woods, while 

 the tentative warblings of the Towhee, 

 the querulous notes of the Pewee and 

 the mournful coo of the Dove broke oc- 

 casion ly ujjon the ear. 



Hopeful of making the desired dis- 

 coveries, with eyes alert, I proceeded 

 slowly along the valley. My way led 

 through a patch of cacti; while in the 

 midst of these a startled Mourning 

 Dove fluttered noiselessly from a cactus 

 at my side; upon one of the thorny 

 leaves I found her nest and eggs. A 

 moment later a House Finch betrayed 



her nest hy a precipitous dash there- 

 from after a scramble among the spiny 

 leaves, I found her nest and five eggs. 

 A second set of the latter species to- 

 gether with a set of the California Tow- 

 hee were taken from oak trees in the 

 vicinity. 



A male Pliaiuopepla next attracted 

 my attention by his strange antics. He 

 fluttered about a tree that was set some 

 w^hat apart from the others uttering all 

 the while a sweet bell-like note. As 

 thei'e was evidently something of inter- 

 est to him upon one of the lower bran- 

 ches of the tree. I immediately consti- 

 tuted ni.yself a committee on investiga- 

 tion. When I drew near I saw its nest 

 upon a horizontal branch about twelve 

 feet from the ground and to my joy 

 found in it two fresh eggs. While J 

 was after the nest the male flew from 

 tree to tree. uttering its peculiar note. 

 The female appeared upon the scene 

 just in time to witness the destruction 

 of her home and immediately joined 

 her mate in his mournful demonstra-^ 

 tions. During my subsequent search I 

 noticed about a dozen of tlie birds but 

 secured no more specimens. 



About ten days later a fellow oologist 

 and myself visited this avian haunt. 

 Nature was exultant under the genial 

 semi-tropic sun, the air i-ang with the 

 melodies of the merry choristers of this 

 wooded dell; now and then a Turkey- 

 Buzzard on sable wings swept silently 

 ov^er the little valley.or a Western Red- 

 tail, reconnoitering for its prey, rose in 

 expansive circles higher and higher in 

 the unclouded firmament. Among the 

 gay-liveried inhabitants of the valley 

 that rendered themselves conspicuous 

 in their sportive flights were a numl)er 

 of this species. 



The Phainopepla is of a restless, irres- 

 olute, suspicious disposition. When 

 perched it glances fretfully about utter- 

 ing all the while its sweet, bell-like note 

 and now and then giving its ample tail 

 a nervous jerk. In form it is slender 

 and active, the long tail and crest are 



