42 Merriam, Nesting Habits of Pliaiiiopepla nitens. I ^ 



eggs were there, although my horse frightened her by trampling 

 down the brush near by, it was she who first overcame her fears 

 and went to cover the eggs. 



When building, the male was an enthusiastic worker. He 

 would fly back and forth from the ground to the nest with his 

 material so rapidly that it kept me busy recording his visits. As 

 the tables show, he once went to the nest four times in four 

 minutes (Nest No. i, May 27) ; at another time, 17 times in 

 one hour four minutes (Nest No. 2. June 9). Sometimes he 

 stayed at the nest only half a minute, and when he stayed 

 three minutes, it was so unusual that I recorded it. However, 

 he worked spasmodically. On June 9, he came 17 times in one 

 hour, but during the next half hour, he came only 5 times. 

 The birds seemed to divide their mornings into quite regular 

 periods. When I awoke at 5.30 I would hear them at the 

 pepper trees breakfasting, and some of them were generally 

 there as late as eight o'clock. From eight to ten they worked 

 with a will, though the visits usually fell off after half past nine. 

 When working in this more deliberate way, the male would go 

 to his perch on an adjoining tree and sit and preen himself, 

 catch flies, apparently, or sing between his visits. Once he sat 

 on the limb in front of the nest for nearly ten minutes. By 

 ten o'clock, I found that I might as well go to watch other birds, 

 as little would be going on with the Phainopeplas. They often 

 flew off to the pepper trees. 



In building, the birds laid in the fine bits of weed gently, 

 weaving in the longer stems a little and moulding more or less ; 

 but the compactness of the nest came rather from the mass of 

 material than from any effort of workmanship. 



It would be interesting to know how commonly the males do 

 the building, and if the custom prevails, how it affects the broods 

 that should keep up the Phainopepla population. None of the 

 four nests I found came to anything. As there was a school- 

 house near the nesting ground, the birds should have paid 

 better heed to the laws of evolution. Supposing that the 

 ancestors of these birds came from deserts unfrequented by 

 small boys, it would be interesting to know if civilization will 

 eventually modify the habits of the Twin Oaks' Phainopeplas. 



