96 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 9 



begun. A goldfinch had been impaled on a fence barb, stripped of feathers, and 

 partly devoured. Their rasping notes never sounded more unmusical, and they 

 seemed to be expressing their opinion of me in no uncertain terms for disturbing 

 them. A number of other similar instances have come under my notice, and in 

 the majority of them the Western Vesper Sparrow has been the victim. As 

 the shrike seems to be on the increase, especially throughout the cultivated dis- 

 tricts, he may in time become quite a menace to the welfare of some of our 

 smaller birds. 



In the region about Fresno, where trees are fairly numerous, the California 

 Shrike nearly always selects a tree as a place in which to build its nest, but out on 

 the treeless plains, westward from the city, they often select rather extraordinary 

 nesting sites. On March 20, 1907, a nest was found near McMuUen in a bunch 

 of tumble weeds that were lodged against the railroad fence. This nest, which 

 held six eggs, was just one foot above the ground, while another, scarcely an 

 arm's length away, appeared to be of the previous season's use. April 6, 1906, 

 a nest was found on a sill in an old abandoned barn near the New Hope school- 

 house. There were three eggs in this nest, and one more was found on some 

 straw beneath. The nest had listed somewhat from having overbalanced in its 

 rather insecure situation. Another nest with five eggs was found on top of a 

 gate post between two nearly vertical boards, in just such a situation as would 

 be chosen by a pair of Western Kingbirds. The few willow and poplar trees in 

 that region contained one or more nests each. 



On March 21, 1907, while looking up nests of the Western Red-tailed Hawk, 

 along a steep, rocky canyon on Little Dry Creek, I discovered a bulky nest fif- 

 teen feet up in a scrub oak. The nest was supposedly that of a California Jay, 

 so of course I began to tear my way up through the numerous short, stiff 

 branches, but I had not climbed far before a pair of shrikes put in an appearance 

 and began protesting. The interior of the nest and the four eggs it contained 

 did not differ from those found in the valley, but the birds seemed strangely out 

 of place on that rocky hillside, with oak trees all around and the roaring creek 

 with its towering sycamores far below. At this time, and during a second in- 

 spection made on April 3, at which time the nest held small young, the parent 

 birds were fearless, and I could have almost caught them with my hands. 



In the vicinity of the city the favorite nesting sites are in the ragged, bushy 

 willows that are found along canals, the nests being placed from two to twenty 

 feet above the ground, averaging, however, about eight feet. A row of poplars 

 along the roadside is a close second, for numbers of nests, while others have been 

 found in grape vines, piles of brush, eucalyptus and fig trees, and rarely in um- 

 brella trees. 



Nests of the California Shrike are bulky and well built, with a foundation of 

 twigs and coarse weed stems, the inner cavity being compactly put together with 

 fine, stiff grass and weed stems. Where wool or cotton is obtainable a thick 

 coat of these materials is used as a lining, but in the absence of these, various 

 kinds of plant fuz and woolly seed pods are made use of. I have met with but 

 one instance where any feathers were used for lining, and in that case feathers 

 were about the only material obtainable. 



