40 Merriam, Nesting Habits of Phainopefla nit ens. I j a u n k 



By following the birds as they flew from the pepper trees, I found 

 four nests. They were all on the border or in the midst of dense 

 chaparral. The valley had been almost cleared of brush and 

 planted to grain, orchards and vineyards ; but the desert-loving 

 Phainopepla went back into the brush at the foot of the hills. 

 One ' island ' of brush was left in the middle of the rich 

 valley, and this attracted them strongly. I found two of their 

 nests there and suspected three. Of the four that I did find, 

 all were built in low oaks, two not eight feet above the ground, 

 and two under five. One was in a narrow socket between two 

 small branches, and another was placed on a horizontal limb. 

 All the nests were broken up, and the three that I took after 

 they were deserted were made of about the same materials : small 

 bits of plant stems, oak blossoms and other small flowers. The 

 materials were so fine that, although I sat within a few yards 

 of the nests when the birds were at work, I rarely saw them bring 

 anything, except in the few instances when they came with grass 

 dangling from their bills. 



As soon as I began to watch the Phainopepla's nests, I dis- 

 covered that the males did almost all the building. This was 

 especially surprising because in direct opposition to the laws of 

 protective coloration, for their black plumage and white wing 

 markings made them striking figures as they went about their 

 work. On the other hand, the dull colors of the females toned in 

 admirably with the gray brush in which the nests were situated. 

 Moreover, their plumage was most inconspicuous with the sun on 

 it, and in the low brush where the nests were, the sun beat clown 

 constantly. 



I saw three pairs of birds building, and in each case the males 

 were doing most of the work. Two of the nests I studied closely, 

 watch and note-book in hand, in order to determine the exact 

 proportion of work done by each bird. The appended tables show 

 the results. One nest was watched two hours and a half, during 

 a period of five days, in which time the male went to the nest 27 

 times ; the female, only 3. The other nest was watched 7 hours 

 and 35 minutes, during the period of ten days, in which time the 

 male was at the nest 57 times; the female, only 8. Taking the 

 total for the two nests: in 10 hours 5 minutes, the male went to 



