L'tiE OOLOGIST. 



75 



panies and locale in the hay field or 

 tule swamp in which they intend to 

 nest. 



Nest buiidintr is begun about the, 1st. 

 of April and the site is usua'ly a clump 

 of tules in a swamp, although a bunch 

 of mustard in a grain tield is sometimes 

 selected. As I have never seen a male 

 bird carrying nest material, I believe 

 the female does all the uest building, 

 although I am not well enough inform- 

 ed to say positively. The nests are all 

 alike, a typical one being a compact 

 structure composed of tules and rushes, 

 lined with fine dry grass. 



There is always more or less mud in 

 composition of nests found in the tule 

 swampo, but I think this is caused by 

 the birds using dead rushes for nest 

 building, which are perhaps lying in 

 the mud. This mud dries in time and 

 gives the impression that the birds 

 placed il, there intentionally. Nests 

 found in grain fields or away from run- 

 ning water nev^er have any mud in them, 

 and are loosely constructed of straw 

 and dry grasses, lined with fine dry 

 grass and sometimes horsehair. In 

 tules the nests are seldom higher than 

 two feet above the water, while in grain 

 fields the average is usually three and 

 sometimes even four feet up. I think 

 that perhaps the water under the rushes 

 gives the birds a sense of security which 

 those building above land cannot have, 

 for the danger of having their nests 

 robbed by snakes, or their fledglings 

 destroyed by prowling cats is thus ma- 

 terially lessened. 



1 remember when I was a small 

 youngster a terrible commotion which 

 I once noticed among the Blackbirds 

 adjacent to our home. The birds (there 

 must have been over one hundred of 

 them,) were all hovering over a certain 

 spot in the field and making a terrible 

 noise, so I constituted myself an invest- 

 igating committee of one to find out 

 the trouble. Upon nearing the spot I 

 found a huge gopher snake entwined 



about a large mustard stalk to which a 

 blackbird's nest was fastened, and just 

 in the act of swallowing a young black- 

 bird almost ready to fly. Two suspic- 

 ious lumps in the snakes body were 

 circumstantial evidence enough to con- 

 vict him of murder in the first degree, 

 while one young bird perched upon the 

 far edge of the nest was viewing in wild 

 eyed horror the disappearance of bird 

 No. 3, and no doubt sptculating upon 

 the terrible fate which av. aited him also. 

 The old birds were swooping at the 

 snake and endeavoring in every way 

 possible to attract his attention, but 

 could not succeed. Promptly accepting 

 the oifice of judge, jury and executioner 

 I took Mr. Gopher snake by the tail car- 

 ried him from ihe field and cracked his 

 skull. The bird he was endeavoring to 

 swallow was all this time fastened be- 

 tween his jaws and he could neither 

 get it up or down. 



The eggs are three or four in number; 

 and sometiiues. but rarely five. Last 

 year I noted a nest containing three 

 young birds and two addled eggs, this 

 being the first nest 1 have ever seen 

 which held over four. The majority of 

 nests last year held only three eggs. 

 The eggs are bluish white in ground 

 color, and are marked, chiefly around 

 the larger end, with wavy lines of dark 

 brown and black In comparing eggs 

 in my collection with those of the Red- 

 wing; the eggs of the California Black- , 

 bird seem to have more and longer 

 lines upon them. Fresh eggs can be taken 

 as early as April 20th. and the nesting 

 period extends through June. After 

 the young have all hatched the birds con- 

 gregate in large flocks and spend most 

 of the lime in the pasture fields until 

 they migrate in the fall. 



500 Tricoloked Blackbird. {Age- 

 laius tricolor: — This bird replaces the 

 California Blackbird in the interior 

 valleys of California. It has never 

 been found nesting in this part of the 

 Santa Clara Co. although it has been 



