Price, Nestiiig of the Red-faced Warbler. 3^5 



NESTING OF THE RED-FACED WARBLER {CAR- 



DELLINA RUBRIFRONS) IN THE HUACHUCA 



MOUNTAINS, SOUTHERN ARIZONA. 



BY W. W. PRICE. 



This beautiful Warbler is commonly met with in the pine 

 region of Southern Arizona, where, in the Huachuca Moun- 

 tains, on May 31, 18SS, I had the good fortune to find its nest 

 and eggs, the first taken within the limits of the United States, 

 I believe. 



Early on that morning I left the house at the mouth of the 

 Ramsey Canon, taking an old disused lumber road to the mills, 

 situated about three miles from my stopping place, and at an eleva- 

 tion of about 6500 feet, or some 2000 feet above the mesa at the 

 northern base of the range. I had secured a fine variety of birds 

 and was on my return, when I decided to leave the trail and 

 follow down the caiion, which, below the point where 

 the road leaves it and crosses a spur of the mountains, is 

 extremely steep and rocky. As I was making my way slowly 

 down, I noticed a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher {Myiodynastes 

 luteiventris) perched on a branch of a maple, and while I was 

 trying to get a shot at it, a little bird flew from close to my 

 feet. On securing the Flycatcher I returned and searched for 

 some time in vain for my bird and nest, and was about to leave, 

 when a C. rubrifrons came chirping about. I secreted myself, 

 and the bird soon flew to a clump of columbine which grew on 

 the bank of the creek. I again flushed the bird, a female, and 

 secured it, and also found the nest, which was placed on sloping 

 ground in a slight hollow and contained four fresh eggs. A 

 few sprays of the columbine hid the nest so completely that had 

 not the bird been frightened directly oft' from it, I should not 

 have found it. Dissection of the female showed that the full 

 clutch had been laid. The structure was a very poor attempt at 

 nest-building, and made of such loose material that it crumbled 

 to fragments on being removed. The chief substance was fine 

 fibrous weed stalks, while the lining consisted of fine grass, 

 rootlets, plant fibres, and a few hairs. Skeleton leaves and bits 

 of fine bark were scattered sparingly throughout the nest. 

 Leaves and other rubbish had drifted with the wind or had been 



