Nesting Time, 



the nest builders, followed closely after 

 by Gambel's white-crowned sparrow. 

 The house wren's nest is commonly 

 placed in a bird box or in some out-of- 

 the-way corner of a woodshed or barn. 

 The little fellows lumber up their homes 

 with a great mass of sticks, but always 

 arrange a soft, feathery spot for their 

 numerous heavily-speckled, brown eggs. 

 The red-shafted flicker, like all the 

 woodpeckers, digs a deep hole in a tree 

 trunk, usually choosing a rotten limb 

 for the purpose, and its eggs are always 

 pure white. One lazy pair that I dis- 

 covered had appropriated a hollow in an 

 oak limb, which had been tenanted for a 

 number of years by a pair of screech- 

 owls. Gambel's sparrow builds its nest 

 in a low bush or cypress hedge, and its 

 pale greenish eggs are speckled with 

 brown. During the mating season I 

 have heard the male bird utter a curious 

 note, somewhat between a trill and a 

 low-toned rattle. It was accompanied 

 by a quivering of the wings, and evi- 

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