"^"'yy^^J General Notes. 273 



comes .1 layer of finer sticks, sometimes liark ; then grass for a lining, 

 ■which has more or less hair and sometimes rags, paper, twine or a few 

 feathers added to it. In a few cases the grass lining is replaced by hair. 

 The nests are externally about ten inches in diameter and eight inches 

 deep, internall}' about three and one half inches, both in diameter and 

 depth. 



In one instance I saw a series of five half completed nests built around 

 the central stalk of a cholla cactus and resting on the branches that grew 

 out from the main stalk; they were all connected, and made a platform 

 two feet in diameter, and only about a foot and a half from the ground. 

 It was built during the winter and was used only for a roosting place. 

 The nest that was used as a breeding place was built five feet away in the 

 top of a small cholla. 



The height of nests found containing eggs varied from two to seven 

 feet, but most are built at about three feet. Nests are found in the cholla 

 and sibiri cacti, and in palo verde and mesquite trees. Of fifty nests, in 

 the average, forty will be in cholla, seven in sibiri, two in palo verde, and 

 one in mesquite. 



Fresh eggs may be found on March i, and later, and the number of 

 eggs in a set varies from one to three, — about two thirds are of three, 

 one third of two, and very few are of one. The time of year has nothing 

 to do with the number of eggs in a set as sometimes the first set is two and 

 the next three; then again it is the reverse. Some birds Avill lay three 

 sets of three each. The number of broods raised per year is two or three. 



If the eggs are taken the birds will build a new nest and use some of 

 the lining of the old one, and will have another set of ^%^^ in twelve days 

 (the shortest time noted) ; the new nest will be well built and resemble 

 the other in every respect. I have known some pairs to take a month in 

 which to build their first nest of the season. One peculiar thing is that 

 the same pair builds its nests at the same height, if possible, but some 

 build low and others high. In one instance the first nest was five and one 

 half feet, the second was seven feet, the third was six feet from the 

 ground, all in different chollas ; and as these Avere high for the general 

 height of the cholla, the nests were further apart than usual ; they were 

 in a straight line, the second fifty feet from first, and the third one hun- 

 dred feet from second. 



Birds desert a new nest very easily, but if it contains eggs it can he 

 moved from one branch to another without their deserting it. When 

 squirrels or snakes take the first ^2,^ the bird will often lay the second 

 and third in the same nest. 



The eggs vary in shape from oval-oblong to pyriform, and the ground 

 color is generally light bluish green, sometimes light green, or bluish 

 white, minutely speckled or spotted with reddish brown and lavender. 

 The less the number of spots the larger they are. The size of the eggs 

 varies, — 1.2S X .78, 1.15 X .83, and 1.05 X. 77; average, 1.15 X .78. The 

 eggs are laid one each day; I never knew them to skip a day. 



