COUVID.*: — THE CROWS. 209 



flew swiftly past with (iiii\ '^riiig winj::js, and with a fUrt of the glittering tail 

 ami a curious evolution dasiiud into a dense thicket close by In the hope 

 of seeing him again, and perliaps of finding his nest, 1 hurried to the spot 

 where he had (hsapneareii, and ]>uslu'd into the underhrush. In a few 

 moments 1 stood in a hitle open space, surrounded on all sides and covered 

 above with a network of vines interlacinii the twigs and foliage so closelv 

 that the sun's rays liardly struggled througli. A pretty shady bower ! and 

 there, sure enough, was the nest, not likely to be overlooked, for it was as 

 big as a bushel basket, — a globular mass, ^uing in the top of one of the 

 taller saplings, about twelve feet from the ground. The mother iiird was at 

 home, and my bustling ai>proach alarmed her; she flew ont of the nest with 

 loud cries of distress, which brought the malt? to her side in an instant. As 

 I scrand>led up the slender trunk, wjiich .swayed with my weight, b(»th birds 

 kept Hying about my head witli redoubled outcry, alighting tor an instant, 

 then dashing pa.st again so clo.se that I thought they wouhl i>eck at nie. As 

 I had no means of preserving the nest, I would not take it down, and con- 

 tented myself with snch observations as I could make whilst beshiding a 

 limb altogether too slender for condbrt. It was nearly spherical in sha])e, 

 seemed to be about eighteen inches in diameter, arched over, with a small 

 hole on one side. The walls, composed entirely of interlaced twigs bristling 

 outwardly in every direction, were extremely tliick, the space inside being 

 much le.ss than one would ex]>ect, and seemingly hardly enough to accom- 

 modate the bird's long tail, which I sup])ose nmst be hehl upright. The nest 

 was lined with a little coarse dried <»rass, and contained six vounu ones 

 nearly ready to fly. Authors state that the American Magpie lays ordy two 

 eggs ; but I su)»pose that this ]>articular pair lived too far from scientific 

 centres to find out what was ex})ected of them. Other birds, noticed to-day, 

 were Steller's Jays among the pines and cedars, a flock of Chrjisomi*ris, 

 a]»parentlyyj//<«s, feeding on willow-butls along the rivulet that threaded the 

 gorge, and some Robins." 



The eggs of this ^fagpie are somewhat larger than any I have seen of 

 /-*. nvttalli, and are dilferently marked and colored. Six specimens from 

 the Sierra Nevada exhibit the following measurements : 1.40 X 0.08, 1.22 

 X 1.00, 1.41 X 0.05, 1.28 X 0.95, 1.2G X 0.02, 1.32 X 0.9G. Their ground- 

 color is a grayish-white, or light gray with a yellowish tinge, spotted with 

 blotches, dottings, and da.shes of a purplish or violet brown. In some they 

 are spai-sely distributed, showing plainly the ground, more continent at the 

 larger end. In others they are finer, more generally and more thickly dis- 

 tributed. In others they are much larger and of deeper color, and cover the 

 whole of the larger end with one large cloud of confluent markings. Xone 

 of these closely resembles the eggs of F. nuttalli. The usual number of eggs 

 in a nest, according to Mr. Ilidgway, varies from six to uiue, although it is 

 said that ten are sometimes found. 



