LAZULI BUNTING 493 



sweert, sweert, siveert, zee, see, sweet, zeer, see-see. These notes follow 

 one another with rapidity ; it is really with difficulty that any syllabic 

 rendering, such as the one just given, can be made. 



The nests of the Lazuli Bunting are usually ensconced in low growths 

 along caiion bottoms in situations near which the adult birds spend most 

 of their time. A nest found in Yosemite Valley on June 7, 1915, was at 

 the edge of a meadow near Rocky Point. It was 18 inches above the ground 

 in the crotch of a small chokecherry growing in a rather sparse stand of 

 the sam'e sort of bush. The nest was rather thick walled, not tightly 

 woven, and its exterior was composed of dried and weathered grass and 

 plant stems of the previous season's growth. A few leaves of the cherry 

 growing on the small branches upon which the nest had been built were 

 incorporated into the surface of the structure. The inner portion of this 

 nest was made of fine rounded grass stems, while the cup Avas lined with 

 horsehair rather loosely placed. The outside dimensions were, height 3 

 inches, diameter 4 inches; the cup was about 2 inches across and nearly 

 the same in depth. Within were four pale blue eggs in which incubation 

 had just commenced. 



When this nest was approached and the observer was yet about 25 feet 

 away, the female parent left and flitted off through the brush, but she soon 

 reappeared and uttered her weak call note. The male also came to the 

 neighborhood but instead of evincing any concern during the examination 

 of the nest, uttered his song at regular intervals from successive perches 

 in the upper foliage of nearby black oaks. 



Another nest, seen at Smith Creek, near Coulterville, on June 5, 1915, 

 was 4 feet above the ground in a mountain lilac (Ceanothus integerrimus). 

 It, too, held four eggs. 



Western Tanager. Piranga ludoviciana (Wilson) 



Field characters. — Between Eobin and Junco in size. Sexes different. Male : Head 

 red; wings, upper back, and tail, black; rest of body plain lemon yellow. Female: Didl 

 yellowish brown (sometimes greenish in effect) on upper surface; dull yellowish white 

 beneath. Both sexes notably deliberate in all movements, the opposite of nervous. 

 Voice: Song of male a hoarse drawling note, cher'-wer, repeated three to many times in 

 rather rapid succession vdXh but slight changes in intonation; call note a hoarse cher'-tig, 

 or chee'-tik, or prit'-it, frequently repeated. 



Occurrence. — Common summer visitant in Transition and Canadian zones on west 

 slope of Sierra Nevada; sparingly represented on east slope. Observed by us from 

 3 miles east of Coulterville and from El Portal eastward to Tenaya Lake and Merced 

 Lake; also in vicinity of Mono Lake. Passes through lowland and foothill country on 

 west side (Snelling, Lagrange, Pleasant Valley, Coulterville, etc.) in spring migration. 

 Keeps to open forest during nesting season. In pairs at nesting time; otherwise seen 

 singly except as small flocks may be formed in early fall, before departure. 



