102 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 9 



nervous teetering- up and down as they run along the ground, and especially 

 their habit of suddenly dropping into a field or vacant lot to begin feeding 

 greedily, often tends to create the impression that they are transients, and 

 have just stopped over for lunch in the midst of a long journey. 



Open fields, especially those that have been recently plowed or are free from 

 weeds or stubble, are the favorite feeding grounds of these birds ; and it is prob- 

 ably because their requirements in this regard are so similar to those of the 

 California Horned Lark that the two species are often found together. 



Pipits arrive in the fall about the middle of October along with the host 

 of migrant sparrows, my earliest record being October 20 (1905). In the spring 

 the last individuals do not depart for their northern nesting grounds until well 

 into April. I have a definite record of one seen April 11, igo6. 



This species was unusually numerous during the past winter ('1910-11), one 

 flock feeding in the railroad yards in the city, where they were often seen, 

 especially late in the afternoons and on dark, cloudy days just preceding rain 

 storms. 



Wi^sTKRN Mockingbird. Mimus polyglottos leucopterus (Vigors). 



Mockingbirds are so well and favorably known that extensive comment 

 upon them seems unnecessary. It might not be out of place, however, to give a 

 few dates from this locality for comparison with those from other parts of the 

 state. 



This species is, on the whole, one of the most abundant of the non-gregarious 

 birds occurring in the Fresno district, their numbers not varying noticeably 

 from year to year in the cultivated areas, but showing a decided increase where- 

 ever new tracts of land have been brought under cultivation in recent years. The 

 writer has observed Mockingbirds in a small orchard surrounding a ranch house, 

 far out on the plains near Wheatville. among the tangle of swamp growths below 

 Riverdale, and along one or two of the creeks that lead down from the foothills ; 

 Imt the center of their abundance seems to be the most highly cultivated and 

 thickly settled tracts in the valley. Orchards, hedge rows, fig-bordered vineyards, 

 and shade trees around dwellings are favorite haunts of this famous vocalist ; 

 and from the tops of windmills, the topmost branches of trees, or the roofs of 

 buildings, they pour forth their wonderful repertoire of song. They sing not 

 only during the daylight hours, but, in summertime, frequently throughout the 

 entire night as well, especially if it be moonlight. 



The nesting season commences in early April, as is evidenced by the find- 

 ing of a nest with four considerably incubated eggs on April 11, 191 1, and 

 numerous other nests all through the same month. . Not until the first half of 

 August has passed may we feel safe in asserting that the breeding season has 

 closed. 



August 6, 1902, a nest was found with three small young birds, August i, 

 1904, another nest contained three incubated eggs, and on the same date the 

 following year a pair of these birds were found to be incubating a set of five 

 eggs. My records for July, as well as May and June, are too numerous to men- 

 tion. Three or four eggs usually constitute the sets, but five is not an uncom- 

 mon number. A record of fortv-one sets definitely recorded shows seventeen 



