450 XORTII AMKRICAN BIRDS. 



Ill (^aliforniii, south of Sun Francisco, tin's s])ecies was also ol)sorvo(l, hy 

 I)r. CoojjL'r, to Itf ii constant ivsiilent in mild winters, I'niainin^ anioni,' the 

 foot-hills of the Sierra Xcvatla, at least lilti'en hun(lre«l leet above the sea. 

 There he has found them (juite common in Fel)ruarv. At that season How- 

 ers, and conse(|uently insects, are more ahundant than in the dry .summers. 

 The males are in tine pluma^Lie early in January. 



J)r. Cooper states that the nests of this sj-ecies are huilt at various heij^hts 

 and positions, often in i^Mrdens, and sometimes on dead hranches, without 

 any attempt at concealment excej»t the outside covering of lichens. He 

 has found them made almost wholly of mosses, Mith only a liniiii; of 

 feathers and down of plants. In the nei^ddiorhood of San Francisco the 

 young are sometimes hatched as early as the middle of March. This species 

 appears to be more hartly than the others, being common along the coast 

 border, though Dr. ('ooi>er saw none near the summits of the Sierra Ne- 

 vada. 



The notes of the male bird, he states, are like the sound produced by the 

 filinii of a saw or the whettiuif of a scvthe. Tliev enter familiarlv into the 

 city of San Franci.-^ -o, and even venture into rooms, attracted by the llowers. 

 They are bold and confident, aj>pioacli to within a few feet of man, but at 

 the least motion disapj>ear like a Hash. 



Dr. Heermann found this species (piite common at San Diego in March, 

 and in its full spring plumage. In Sei)teml)er he i)rocured a number of 

 specim'Mis on a small island in the Cosumnes Kiver. While on the wing 

 in })ursuit of in.seets, or aft.*r alighting on a small branch, he heard them 

 utter a verv weak twitter, continued for a minute or more. 



A nest of this species from Petaluma is about l.od inches in diameter, 

 and 1.0i> in height, and ])ears no resemblance to the one described by Xiit- 

 tall. It is made of a commingling of mosses and vegetal de down, covered 

 e.xteniallv with a tine yellow lichen. The euu'S measure .bd bv .40 of an 

 inch, and are aI>out ten per cent larger than those of any other Xorth 

 American llumming-Uird. 



Another nest of this Humming-liird, obtained in retaluma, Cal., b}' Mr. 

 Kmanuel Samuels, measures 1.7") inches in diameter, and about l.dO in 

 heiuht. Its cavitv is one inch in diameter at the rim, and half an inch in 

 depth. Its lining is com])Osed of such soft materials that its limits are not 

 well defined. The base of the nest is made of feathers, mosses, and lichens 

 of several varieties of the smaller kinds. The ])eriphery and rim of the nest 

 are of nearly the same materials. The inner fabric consists of a mass of a 

 dirty-white vegetable wo(d, with a lining of the very Hnest and softest of 

 feiithers, intermingled with down from the seeds of some species of silk- 

 weed. The j)redominant liciien in the base and sides of the nest is the 

 RamuJina mnizicsii, which is peculiar to California. The nest contained a 

 single egg. 



