The Avifauna. 



27 



build at the extremity of a slender cotton-wood 

 limb near the top of a tall tree. 



The nest is generally situated in a tree from 

 eight to thirty-five feet up. The oak is perhaps 

 the kind of tree most frequently used; but 

 alders, cotton-woods, and sycamores are not neg- 

 lected. The composition of the nest is a sure 

 means for the identification of it. The great 

 quantities of a lichen, taken principally from 

 the oak tree, used in the construction of the 

 nest gives it an appearance which none of the 

 nests of the other Vireos of this vicinity possess. 

 Cotton, fur, cobwebs, and fine grass are among 

 the other materials used in the building of the 

 nest. 



The breeding season begins in the latter part 



of March and lasts through the spring months 



into the early part of July. April and May seem 



to be the favorite months. On March 25, 1892, 



I found a nest of Hutton's Vireo built near the 



extremity of an oak branch, eight feet up, C(jn- 



taining four fresh eggs. A set noted July 15, 



1894, also contained four fresh eggs, and the 



nest was built in an oak tree twelve feet up. 



These are the two extreme nesting dates that I 



have record of, while sets collected during the 



month of May and the first part of June show 



the average date. The usual number of eggs in 



a set is four; but three is very often a full set, 



and a set of five is very uncommon, in this 



locality at least. 



Horace A. Gavlord. 



A Sparrow in a Fly Wheel. 



A sparrow flew into the bar works factory at 

 Anderson, Ind., and getting too near a small 

 fly wheel, was sucked in, The men who noticed 

 it thought the end had come for the sparrow, 

 and did not shut down the machinery. They 

 ran along till noon, four hours after the incid- 

 ent, and then shut down. They had forgotten 

 the bird, and were surprised to hear it chirp. 

 They looked over to the pulley and the spar- 

 row was perched on one of the inside braces. 

 He seemed a little dazed, but a moment later 

 jumped off his perch and flew away. The 

 wheel made 31,000 revolutions in four hours and 

 the bird was carried around over 73.8 miles. 



S. F. Bulletin. 



Bryant's Harsh Sparrow. 



{Ammodrainus sandwichensis bryantt.) 



JUDGING by the dearth of articles on 

 the nesting of these birds, they would 

 seem to be more rare than they really are. 



One reason for this is no doubt the com- 

 paratively limited area in which they are to 

 be found breeding. 



On June 28, 1891, while walking near the 

 end of Market St., San Francisco, toward 

 the ocean, I saw several of these birds 

 perched around a marshy spot in a field 

 which had very recenth^ been used as a 

 cattle pasture. Thinking it might not be 

 too late for a set of eggs, though they are 

 generally said to nidify a month earlier. I 

 began to look arotmd and very soon saw a 

 bird flush from the grass in front of me. 

 You can imagine my delight to find a nest 

 containinv; three fresh and prettily marked 

 eggs, having a light ground color blotched 

 and spotted with reddish brown and lilac. 



The eggs and nest are before me as I 

 write, the latter being composed of small dry 

 grass slightly lined with finer grasses and is 

 necessaril}' loose on account of the material 

 but fairly thick. 



It was so placed in a depression in the 

 ground that its top was even with the sur- 

 face and being at the edge of a bunch of 

 weeds was sheltered and protected by them. 



The measurment of the set are as follows: 

 .77 X .59, .76 X 58, .73 X .58, inches, or 

 19.63 X 15., 19.33 X 14.66, 18.5 X 14.66 

 millimeters. 



The two smaller eggs are alike in having 

 nearly the entire ground color covered with 

 markings, while in the larger one much 

 more ground color is exposed. It is of a 

 slightly darker tint and the lilac markings 

 are much more abundant. 



M. L. WiCHS, Jr., lyos Angeles. 



The subscription price of the Avifauna fur 

 one year is |i. 00, low enough for anyone who 

 takes pleasure in the study of Ornithology and 

 Oolog5s — Its interesting, try it. 



