BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



brood of young has been saved from bright-eyed prowlers by 

 the harmonious coloring of the eggs with their surroundings. 



Singular as it may appear, among the earliest birds to begin 

 nest-building about Berkeley is Anna's humming-bird. In- 

 stances are on record of nests containing eggs in January and 

 February, but this, of course, is very unusual. Early in March, 

 however, the birds regularly commence work upon their won- 

 derful little homes. The cypress is a favorite tree in which to 

 build, although I have found their nests in many other trees 

 and occasionally even in tall bushes. The cradle is built with 

 infinite pains out of feathery seeds, bits of bark or shreds of silk 

 from cocoons, fastened together with cobwebs and with a soft 

 felt lining of milkweed seeds or similar material. Upon the 

 outside are placed bits of green moss and lichens, making the 

 nest, when completed, practically invisible even when in full 

 view. Two white eggs are presently laid in the nest and 

 tended with anxious care. When the young are hatched the 

 little mites just fill the basket, and, as they grow, the pliable 

 walls are stretched to contain them. It is a pretty sight, this of 

 the mother hummer with her two tiny babies, and one worth 

 much patient observation to see. 



Allen's humming-bird comes from the south during the 

 warm spring days of February, and commences nest-building 

 during the latter part of March or early in April. Operations 

 are frequently retarded by the late spring storms, and some- 

 times the young birds perish from exposure to the rain. An 

 unfinished nest which I recently examined had been abandoned 

 under rather unusual circumstances. For many years a pair of 

 these little creatures had nested in a New Zealand pine, pro- 

 tected from all intruders by the sharp, stiff needles of the tree. 



IllOl 



