180 



THE OOLOGIST 



retreat with the loss of more or less 

 fur. The birds are equally quick to 

 assail a human intruder. I have had 

 them dart down so close when my 

 back was turned as to knock my hat 

 off. Being of an excitable tempera- 

 ment he turns to defend his neigh- 

 bor's home as quickly as his own, and 

 every black feather in the community 

 is aquiver with rage until the inter 

 loper disappears. 



Grasshoppers, small beetles, grub- 

 worms, and seeds are the mainstays of 

 the Blackbird's diet. Fruits are par- 

 taken of in the season, as are also 

 grains of various kinds. The rancher 

 very naturally resents the raids made 

 upon his wheat-fields and resorts to 

 the shot-gun method of retaliation, 

 although the bird is protected by the 

 State Game-Laws. Hence the "four- 

 and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" 

 of nursery fame frequently constitutes 

 the piece-de-resistance of the farmer's 

 supper but the birds seem to "increase 

 nevertheless. I might add from my 

 own experience the aforesaid pie up- 

 holds its ancient reputation of being 

 a "dainty dish." 



The nesting season lasts here from 

 about the middle of March to late in 

 May. The greater part of the egg- 

 laying is done in April. I have read 

 somewhere that the average height 

 of the nest is "usually under ten feet 

 from the ground." This may be true 

 in some localities as at Lake Tahos 

 where the rotting piles of a deserted 

 wharf are used, but in Los Angeles 

 County the average is nearer twenty 

 feet; and some nests are found at 

 three times the average. Cypress, 

 fir, and pine trees are preferred when 

 available. Peppers, oaks, and blu- 

 gums are resorted to extensively; 

 while in the more arid regions low 

 willows and even sage-bushes are 

 used. 



The nests are bulky and exceeding- 



ly well-made. One that I have before 

 me exhibits the following measure- 

 ments outside diameter seven inches, 

 inside 4 inches; outside depth five 

 inches, inside four inches. This nest 

 was placed on a large horizontal limn 

 of a pine tree, wedged between two 

 small upright branches. The body of 

 the nest is composed of pine twigs and 

 needles interwoven with string and 

 rags, and cemented with mud and ma- 

 nure. The deep cup is lined with 

 felted hair; the whole structure be- 

 ing very compact and well-proportion- 

 ed. 



From four to six in number, the 

 eggs show more variation than those 

 of any other bird, not only in coloring 

 but in shape and size. Some are near- 

 ly round, others are greatly elongated, 

 the average size being about 1.00 x 

 .75 inches. The ground color ranges 

 from light greenish-gray to dark 

 brown. The surface markings of cho- 

 colate brown, lavender and black are 

 sometimes confined to light pen- 

 scratchings lengthwise of the egg, and 

 in other cases appear as heavy 

 blotches that quite obscure the ground 

 color. The variations are endless, 

 every set seems to present a different 

 type. 



But one brood is reared in a season. 

 Incubation lasts two weeks, the young 

 leaving the nest at the end of three 

 more, and five weeks of excitement is 

 about all that our Blackbird can stand. 

 In spite of his irritable disposition he 

 is a bird well worth knowing. 



D. I. Shepardson. 

 Los Angeles, Cal. 



Phalaropus lobatus at Nigger Slough. 



A large flock of Northern Philarope 

 (Phalaropus lobatus) was observed 

 with intense interest on October 12, 

 1915, at 8 a. m., feeding at the edge of 

 North Nigger Slough in Los Angeles 

 County, Southern California. We 



