DIVISION EIGHT — SCIENCE. 593 



garden in town and country. There are six species here, each distinct from 

 any other. It is useless to try to describe their varied tints and metallic 

 colors. A person must see them to appreciate and understand. Humming- 

 bird's nests are wonderful examples of bird architecture, — so small, and yet 

 so perfect in adaptation for their use. There is a general instinct that the 

 nests must agree in color and shape with their surroundings. One that I 

 found in an oak was placed on a horizontal branch to imitate a knot, and 

 covered with green lichens to correspond with the color of the bark and 

 leaves. A nest built on an orange twig was composed of brownish sub- 

 stances and covered on the outside with black scale. Another situated on 

 a cactus stem was made up of grayish vegetable down and small leaves 

 of the wild sage. And yet another built in a sycamore, was attached at the 

 base of a leaf, and made entirely of the yellow sycamore down found on 

 the under side of the leaves. This provision is for protection against various 

 marauders, especially blue jays, (both human and avain). Our six species 

 of hummers are not all found here at the same season or in the same locali- 

 ties. The Anna hummingbird is the only resident species, being common 

 all the year. They are quite hardy, usually being able to withstand the 

 ' ' Santa Ana ' ' winds and the December frosts. This hummingbird breeds 

 the earliest of any of our birds, the nest with eggs having been found in 

 Pasadena as early as January 22. The Costa's hummingbird only stays 

 here through the summer, and its nests are to be found on grease- wood, 

 weeds, thistles and cactus, in the dry, open parts of the arroyos. The male 

 Costa's hummer has a habit during the mating season of mounting high up 

 in the air above the female, then descending like a shot down past her, then 

 again mounting upwards to repeat this performance, till the female goes off 

 to another perch. During each descending flight the male utters a shrill, 

 swelling squeak, which is loudest as he passes the female. The black- 

 chinned hummingbird is also a summer resident, building its nests on the 

 sycamores and alders which line the streams in the canyons. The males 

 are not often seen down in the canyons but remain high up on the mountain 

 sides where the wild honeysuckle blooms. The males of none of the hum- 

 mingbirds assist in nest-building or incubating. The Calliope, Allen's and 

 Rufus hummers are spring and fall visitors, their summer homes being 

 north of here. The two latter species are exceedingly abundant around 

 the orange trees in March and April. 



The Fi^ycatchers are an interesting family of birds, and we have a 

 good representation here. The black phoebe, or pewee, is common in town. 

 It is usually seen on top of a hydrant or hitching-post in a garden. From 

 this perch it makes sallies into the surrounding atmosphere, snapping up 

 any insects which happen to pass that way. The black phoebe is of a slaty- 

 black color, except the lower belly, which is white. It has a pleasing note 

 and a graceful bearing. The pewee builds a cup-shaped nest, made of mud, 



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