132 



THE OOLOGIST. 



A pair have nested in a natural cavity 

 of a butternut tree near this place for 

 six years at least. 



The flesh of this species is sometimes 

 used for food, but it is rather highly 

 flavored with ants. 



The usual number of eggs is seven, 

 but nests containing nine, and even 

 eleven are ■sometimes found. When a 

 set contains more than seven they fre- 

 quently show a great variation in size. 

 W. H. Olney, 

 Poland, Ohio. 



Phainopepla, or Black-crested Flycatcher. 

 (Phainopepla nieus.) 



Halt.— Mountainous regions of the south- 

 western provinces of the United States and 

 northern Mexico ; south to Orizaba, Cape St. 

 Lucas, plateau of Mexico. 



Description. Male— Entirely glossy bluish- 

 black; the inner webs of all the primary quills 

 with a large white paten, the outer margins 

 slightly edged with ashy as also are lateral tail 

 feathers externally. 



Female.— Brownish-ash above, lighter below; 

 the white of inner web of quills obsolete, the 

 greater coverts and quills edged externally 

 with whitish, the anal and crissal feathers 

 edged and tipped with the same. The lateral 

 tail feathers with narrow edge of white exter- 

 nally toward end. 



Both sexes with a lengthened, pointed, nar- 

 row occipital crest. Tail almost fan-shaped 

 and rounded. Length, 7.60; wing, 8.80; tail. 

 4 35. 



This interesting bird, the only known 

 species of the genus phainopepla, par- 

 takes both in appearance and habits of 

 the characteristics of the Wax-wings 

 and Fly-catchers. It was first observed 

 in the United States in 1852, when Col' 

 McCall secured a specimen in Califor- 

 nia. It loves the secluded retreats of 

 wooded mountain sides or the timbered 

 borders of mountain streams. In hab- 

 its it is somewhat gregarious. It sub- 

 sists upon insects and berries which 

 grow upon a species of mistletoe. 



Near Santa Barbara, Cal., this species 

 occurs in small numbers. Last year 

 these were materially increased by mi- 

 grant.;, which had found their way 

 through the rocky defiles of the coast 

 x'ange mountains, from a more southern 

 but perhaps less salubrious clime. In 

 my rambles last spring 1 stumbled up- 



on a spot frequented by these birds. 



Back of the city of Santa Barbara 

 flows a small stream that finds its 

 source high up in the neighboring 

 mountains. Its course, is one of re- 

 markable beauty and grandeur, such as 

 only ragged mountains can afford, is 

 marked by falls, rapids and pools in 

 ever changing variety. Surging through 

 narrow clefts, dashing among boulders 

 and over precipices, and resting here 

 and there in dark, quietsome nooks, 

 the crystal waters wend their wild but 

 brief career to the deep. This rugged, 

 untamed district is clothed in dense 

 vegetation. Grasses and sedges, vines 

 and shrubs, with their interlacing ten- 

 drils, render progress slow and difficult 

 A host of mighty trees, whose sturdy 

 trunks towering beside the granite 

 walls often furnished the only means of 

 decent to the waters murmuring in the 

 gorge far below, skirt the stream, and 

 throw the tangled growth beneath into 

 a shade tlret is not penetrated by the 

 mid-day sun. As the stream nears the 

 city it enters a valley, which, notwith- 

 standing a few human habitations, 

 seems to linger in its pristine wildness. 

 This valley is,the favorite resort of birds 

 of many species. Save when the dis- 

 cordant shrieks of a hawk silences 

 momentarily the festive choristers, or 

 night induces a quiet rest which is bro- 

 ken by the occasional strains of a 

 Thrasher's mid-night song, this pleas- 

 ant dell echoes and re-echoes with the 

 many melodies of the sylvan choirs. 



I spent many an hour in this valley 

 last spring in company with the birds, 

 studying their habits or listening enrap- 

 turedly to their joyous songs. As I was 

 whiling away a few hours in this favor- 

 ite spot on the 15th of last May some 

 boys brought me for identification a set 

 of eggs which they had just taken. I 

 could not identify them. The boys then 

 guided me to a tree not far away and 

 picked from the grounds a small mass 

 of weeds. It was a flat, mis-shaped, 

 loosely fabricated affair. This was 



