1913 BIRDS OF THE FRESNO DISTRICT 



101 



song- sparrow's work, though perhaps just a shade smaller in interior measure- 

 ments. This nest was overrun with ants, but they had not in any way damao-ed 

 the single fresh eg^g-. The nest was a framework of dry grass, scantily lined v;ith 

 horse-hair. During the time that I was present one of the owners of the nest 

 remained nearby, frequently uttering- a guttural "chuck", but alwa}'s keeping 

 well concealed in the tules. 



LoNG-TAiLEi) Chat. Icteria virens longicauda Lawrence. 



The splendid whistling voice of this near rival of our Mockingbird often 

 greets the bird student who prowls about among the thick clumps of willo'A- 

 saplings and tangled vines. We are probably safe in assuming that the owner 

 of that voice is not far away, but it usually requires a deal of patience and no 

 little caution to prove the correctness of such a surmise. 



I consider the Chat a regular summer visitant to this part of the valley, but 

 in very limited numbers. Usually, somewhere along the course of one of the 

 larger ditches, a pair of Chats are to be encountered, but it may be a mile to 

 the next pair. 



April 29, 191 1, long before reaching the thick growth of the river bottom 

 near Lane's Bridge, I was aware of the presence of, it seemed, not less than fifty 

 Chats. The willows fairly echoed with their voices, as the birds whistled, called, 

 scolded, sang, and chattered, apparently from half-a-dozen places at once ; and 

 it was with some difficulty that I convinced my companion that this medley of 

 notes was produced by just one pair of birds. 



Often, in early summer, I have heard the scolding of this bird near Tarpey, 

 where, along a large ditch, a number of blackberry vines have run riot among 

 the willow shoots. It was there, on June 12, 1910, that I found a cleverly con- 

 cealed nest built three feet above the ground. This nest contained in its make-up 

 a number of dead leaves having a texture much like paper, the whole nest being 

 remarkablv light in weight. There were four eggs in which incubation was just 

 begun. 



Golden Pileolated Warbler. Wilsonia pusilla chryseola Ridgway. 



From the evidence at hand it seems that this handsome, black-capped warbler 

 pursues a course on its northern journey in the spring diiTerent from the route 

 selected for the return migration in the fall. At any rate this species has not 

 been observed before the nesting season, but appears regularly in limited numbers 

 during the month of September. Chryseola is an early migrant, my earliest re- 

 cord being September 17, 1905, when a single bird was seen. From that time 

 until the end of the month they were quite common, and frequented the brush 

 piles and low bushes rather than the higher trees. I have no record of a Pileo- 

 lated Warbler occurring later than October 8 (1904), so it seems that these 

 birds must hurry through the valley with hardly a pause. Probably the food 

 supply during September is at low ebb, and the birds find it necessary to seek 

 more profitable foraging areas. 



American Pipit. Anthus rubescens (Tunstall). 



Pipits are of common but somewhat irregular occurrence through the 

 winter, over nearly all the region about Fresno. Their querulous voice, their 



