110 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 9 



A marked preference is shown for staked vineyards, where the birds spend 

 their time either perching on the stakes or hovering in mid-air, Sparrow Hawk 

 fashion. A company of these bkiebirds in flight may be identified at a distance 

 by their peculiar manner of poising for a few seconds on rapidly beating 

 wings, then flying ahead in undulating swoops. They are often seen in 

 company with Linnets, the two species frequently perching for many minutes in 

 neighborly manner on telephone wires. The bluebirds take wing one at a time 

 and fly ahead at the approach of an intruder, the different units of a flock some- 

 times becoming quite widely scattered. 



