136 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 11 



run over the leaves to the edge of the table 

 and fly into the wood. Wondering what 

 the bird could be doing in this unusual 

 situation, we determined to inspect the 

 surroundings closely, at last discovering 

 what appeared to be a nest," near the further 

 end of the mass of foliage. I suggested 

 "an old nest," but my cousin, a boy of six- 

 teen, who could be relied upon to detect a 

 misplaced leaf in that locality, said, "No, 

 there was nothing there a week ago." This 

 certainly demanded an investigation, but 

 how ? The tops of the trees were certainly 

 far out of our reach and would not bear 

 one's weight ; we dared not attempt to 

 draw them down by means of the vine as 

 that would certainly overturn the nest and 

 contents, if it had any. Finally an acro- 

 batic expjedient was hit upon and by having 

 my cousin stand upon my shoulders, he 

 was just able to reach the nest and take 

 from it a single Chewink's egg, which was 

 insj>ected and immediately returned. A 

 week later the bird was on the nest, but 

 the clutch of one had not been added to. 

 An exact measurement proved the nest to 

 be eleven feet four inches, (11 ft. 4 in), 

 from the ground. It was a bulky affair, 

 consisting of a foundation of oak leaves, 

 which formed the greater part of the struc- 

 ture, a lining made up of grape vine bark, 

 and grass. 



Whether our Minnesota birds are par- 

 ticularly lofty in their aspirations — as these 

 notes would make them out — or not, I 

 would not attempt to say ; but it is worthy 

 of remark, that, while the Great Blue 

 Heron, (A. herodias), and Double-crested 

 Comorant, (P. dilophus,) even nest on the 

 ground in some localities, their eggs be- 

 come peculiarly valuable to us, after a 

 climb of from seventy to ninety feet, at the 

 risk of one's neck, up the trunks of elms 

 that are limbless, for the first fifty feet at 

 least. Sometime I may try to relate my 

 first experience in that herony; so far, it 

 has been my last. — Dr. Pattern, Minneap- 

 olis, Minn. 



Californian Notes. 



Poway Valley, twenty-two miles from San 

 Diego City. 



Jan. 15, 1884. Eusset-backed Thrush 

 (Hylociehla ustulata) ; Dwarf Thrush (II. 

 uualascce) ; Western Eobin (Merida mi 

 gratoria propinqua), are not common 

 birds ; Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottus) 

 can be heard singing during the day and 

 night in breeding season. 



Californian Thrasher (Harporhynchus 

 redivivus) are not very common. 



Californian Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) 

 has been common this winter. They feed 

 on the berries of the perjper tree. 



Rocky Mountain Bluebird (S. arctiea) 

 has also been common this month, I am 

 told, for the first time in this valley. 



Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila cceru- 

 lea) have been shot, but are rare. 



Ruby- crowned Kinglet (Regidus calen- 

 dula). A male was seen in the pepper 

 trees April 27th.' 



Least Tit (Psaltriparus minimus). I 

 found a nest ready for eggs April 13th. 



Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brun- 

 neicajnllus) is common and was seen and 

 heard singing April 9th. I found my first 

 nest on the 18th. It contained rive fresh 

 eggs and was placed on a cactus leaf, five 

 feet from the ground. It was composed 

 of grass of various kinds, the walls being 

 very thick "and lined with feathers. The 

 nest is large for the size of the bird, being 

 10 inches long, 8 broad and 7 high, of a 

 flat oval form. There was an opening fac 

 ing the west in one end, an arrangement 

 probably designed to keep out the wet, 

 the rains usually coming from the south. 



Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus) were 

 not uncommon on the rocky hillsides and 

 ridges during January. 



Californian Bewick's Wren ( Thryomanes 

 beieicki spilitrus) was noticed April 15th. 



Western House Wren (Troglodytes 

 aedon pai-kmanni), April 15th, breeds. 



American Titlark (Anthus ludovicianus) 

 was noticed April 6th. 



