ISS6.J Scott on tlir Brccdhio- Habits of Arizona Birds. 8C 



to my house. The hrst of these was found on May 9, 1SS4. I 

 took the .emale as she was leaving- the nest, which was in a 

 cavity, formed by decay, in an oak stump. The opening of this 

 hole was about three and a half feet from the gi-ound ; its diam- 

 eter was about three inches inside, and it was some eighteen inches 

 deep. The entrance was a small knot-hole where a bi-anch had 

 been broken off, and was only large enough to admit the parent 

 l)irds. The hollow was lined with cottonwood down, the fronds 

 of some small rock-ferns, and some bits of cotton-waste. Three 

 eggs had been laid, and by the appearance of the female two 

 more would haye completed the set. Unfortunately, in taking 

 the eggs from the nest, two of these were broken, and I am pre- 

 yented from giving measurements of more than one. All of them 

 were pure white, with a pinkish tinge before being blown, and 

 are unspotted. Thev are very much pointed at one end, and 

 correspondingly obtuse at the other. The unbroken e^^ measures 

 .63 X .4<'^ inches. 



Just a year later, on May 8, 1885, I again found a pair breed- 

 ing in an entirely similar location, and also ver}^ near the house. 

 I had been aware for some days that the nest was in a certain 

 group of oaks, for the male was constantly singing his very pleas- 

 ing song, and though I could see as well as hear from the piazza, 

 it was only by most careful watching that I was able to locate 

 the one of the many natural holes in which the pair had made 

 their home. The small entrance was some six feet from the 

 ground, and the cavity w^as a foot deep, and two and a iialf inches 

 in diameter. It was lined on the bottom and well up on the sides 

 with a mat composed of cottonwood down, shreds of decayed 

 grasses, some hair from a rabbit, and many fragments of cotton- 

 waste, gathered by the birds from refuse waste that had been 

 used to clean the machinery of a mill hard by. I cannot help 

 cilling attention again to the fact of how largely the birds that 

 breed in the immediate vicinity of this mill have acquired the 

 hal)it of utilizing this material. Foiu" years ago very few settlers 

 had invaded this region, and no machinery had before been 

 brought into the district. Now the influence of man, on such 

 a minor detail as the material used in nest-building, by a great 

 variety of birds just about, is plainly appreciable. 



Tlie nest contained, when discovered, four young just born, 

 and two eggs about to be hatched. These are very similar to the 



