1913 BIRDS OF THE FRESNO DISTRICT 



103 



of three, eighteen of four, and six of five eggs each, and this proportion would 

 probably hold good from year to year. 



A tendency to deposit their eggs late in the forenoon has been noticed in 

 this species, more than in any other. April 25, 1907, a nest was found with two 

 eggs, and neither of the owners were anywhere about although it was then after 

 ten o'clock. Shortly afterwards one of the birds flew to the nest, and a glance 

 into their home in mid-afternoon revealed a third egg. This and other similar 

 instances somewhat upset a theory that I had entertained in my vounger days, 

 to the effect that birds, as a rule, deposit their eggs early in the morning. 



It may be said that any kind of a bush, shrub, or tree that affords some slight 

 degree of concealment is liable to be chosen as a nesting site. The height from 

 the ground varies from two feet when the nest is built in a grape vine, up to 

 fifteen feet in willows, but an average height would be from five to seven feet. 



Any mention of this species would be incomplete unless the writer related 

 a rather amusing incident that occurred several years since. A lady visiting this 

 city from Pasadena was heard to express her dislike for a place where Mock- 

 ingbirds were not to be found, and she assured one of her friends that in thtr 

 two or three days that she had been in this vicinity she had neither seen nor 

 heard one of these, her favorite birds. All this despite the fact that not sixty 

 feet distant in the top of a shade tree, a Mockingbird was pouring forth a flood 

 of melody that could hardly have failed to arouse enthusiasm in any bird lover, 

 even had the bird been concealed ! 



California Thrasher. Toxostoma redivivum (Gambel). 



This thrasher is mentioned on the authority of Miss Winifred Wear, who 

 records a single bird seen in the brush near Riverview, on the San Joaquin River, 

 May 9, 1908. 



The writer has seen but one thrasher in this part of the state, and that one 

 was observed on a brush-covered hillside above Toll House, June 27, 1906. Upon 

 being too closely approached the bird arose and flew across a small canyon. This 

 record is, of course, outside the limits of the region treated in the present paper, 

 but is given on account of the rarity of the species in Fresno County. 



Rock Wren. Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus (Say). 



Along the rocky bluff that i)aiallels the San Joaquin River near Lane's 

 Bridge, several pairs of Rock Wrens find conditions suitable tc their require- 

 m.ents, and may often be seen climbing up the rough surface of a boulder or 

 engaging in short flights along the face of some ledge. The loud whistling song, 

 echoing along the bluffs, is one of the most pleasing of all the tuneful ditties 

 that greet the bird lover, but perhaps just a little of its charm lies in the fact 

 that the only other bird voices heard in contrast are the screams of the Barn 

 Owls that sally forth at dusk from these sam.e cliffs, and occasionally the cawing 

 of a band of Crows over among the willow thickets. 



On the ninth of April, 191 1, a Rock Wren's nest was found in a small 

 cavity that led upward about three feet in the soft crumbling rock. The entrance 

 was quite conspicuous, even at some little distance, on account of the many 

 small pieces of rock that were placed about the mouth of the excavation in 

 such a manner as to leave only a very small hole through which the wrens en- 



