62 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 9 



Nests of these birds are sometimes fastened to the walls of deserted cabins, 

 and occasionally a pair will build in an old well if they can gain entrance, such 

 nests being from six to fifteen feet below the surface of the ground. The most 

 common nesting sites, however, are the large stringers of bridges, where the nest 

 is securely fastened above the water. I have never known this species to choose 

 a place where there would be support for the bottom of the nest, as the Eastern 

 Phoebe is said to do. Our bird attaches its wall pocket to the vertical surface of 

 a plank, and so securely is it fastened that it will often break apart rather than 

 give way. This species often nests on the faces of rocks in the hills, but such 

 sites are almost entirely wanting in the Fresno district. I have found one or 

 two nests fastened to the partly dead trunk of some large tree, but it is safe to 

 say that nine out of every ten birds choose the protection afforded by bridges, 

 where mud is easily secured, and horsehairs as well, for these two ingredients 

 enter largely into the construction of the nest. The lining consists of a scant 

 layer of dry grass stems and sometimes a few long horsehairs, upon which rest 

 the four, and sometimes five eggs. It is interesting to note that when four eggs 

 constitute the set there are generally three that are unmarked and one that Is 

 quite heavily spotted with red dots on the larger end, but when there are five in 

 the set the additional egg nearly always has just a few very fine spots like dust. 

 My observations show that nearly always the spotted egg is the last one to be 

 deposited. If that is the rule, then should a set of seven or eight eggs happen 

 to be laid we might expect one or two specimens as heavily spotted as a kmg- 

 bird's egg. 



I have found eggs nearly ready to hatch on April 5 and fresh ones June 

 15, so the nesting period may be said to extend from March i to July i, with 

 probably two broods reared in a season, in some cases at least. 



Western Wood Pewee. Myiochanes richardsoni richardsoni (Swainson). 



Wood Pewees have been observed by the author only during the fall migra- 

 tion, and are even then not common. September 11, 1905, a lone Wood Pewee 

 was seen in a large patch of tall, dry weeds near Clovis, where I had a good 

 opportunity of observing its feeding habits. Perched on a commanding site on 

 some weed stalk it watched listlessly until a tiny insect, often invisible to me, 

 came near, when the bird at once was all attention and with a quick flight snapped 

 up the insect and returned to its former perch. 



September 4, 191 1, I saw several of these little pewees along the Gould 

 ditch near Clovis, where they were perched on dry branches near the tops of 

 the trees. From these positions they sallied forth to seize any luckless insect 

 that chanced to pass their way, the snap of their bills being clearly audible at a 

 distance of fifty feet or more. It was interesting to note that although their 

 prey often led them some distance away, yet they always managed by two or 

 three short, jerky flights to return to the same perch from which they ha<,l 

 started, when with a half-subdued whistling "phe-yeer" they settled down to 

 await the appearance of another insect. 



One specimen collected, an immature bird with rusty patches in the plum- 

 age, proved to be very fat. 



California Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris actia Oberholser. 



In former years, when large tracts of land north and east of Fresno were 



