THE NIDIOLOGIST 



67 



however, that something interesting may 

 occasionallj^ be learned regarding nest 

 building by watching birds before and after, 

 as well as during the nesting season. 



^%The first instance of this nature that came 

 under' my observation was in Southern 

 Colorado. I was collecting near the timber 

 line in April when T found one morning a 

 flock of Gray- headed Juncos feeding along 

 the edge of a large snowbank. I had 

 leveled on one of the finest when an action 

 on his part caused me to pause and watch 

 for the next move. There was no mistake, 

 he was collecting material for a nest. Had 

 I been wiser in Junco lore I would have 

 known that it was not only a month too 

 soon to look for nests at that attitude, but 

 that they were still unpaired; but "where 

 ignorance is bliss" — 



I watched, fully confident that I would 

 secure a set of eggs within a few days. 

 After digging out several long strips of wet 

 willow bark from the decaying mass below 

 the snow drift my Junco flew down the 

 mountain a short distance and into the top 

 of a small spruce sapling, where he began 

 to weave his load into what I took for a 

 half finished nest. The fact of its being in 

 a tree should of itself have warned me 

 that there was something "fishy" about 

 the transaction, but it was my first season 

 in "Juncoology" and had he gone down a 

 chipmunk's burrow I should have taken it 

 all as quite the proper thing. 



A few days later I visited the spot with 

 a friend well versed in the habits of the 

 birds of that region. Upon showing him 

 the nest he somewhat dampened my hopes 

 by assuring me that, in that country at 

 least, Juncos never built in trees, and 

 furthermore, that my nest was an old last 

 year's home of the White-crowned Sparrow, 

 to which the Junco had added a few loads 

 of willow bark, raising the rim a little all 

 round. I spent several hours on subse- 

 quent days watching the spot but I never 

 again saw a Junco near the tree, and it was 

 fully a month before I found eggs, which 

 were always on the ground. 



On another occasion I was working my 

 way carefully through a thick growth of 

 small oaks, near Portland, Oregon, when 

 an unfamiliar bird's note caused me to stop 

 and search the branches overhead. An in- 

 stant later I was delighted to see a pair of 

 Cross-bills, side by side, just right to be se- 

 cured at one shot. I had not before met 



with the species in that region and was 

 anxious to secure both. As I raised my 

 gun, however, the female reached over into 

 an old, weather-beaten nest, probably of a 

 Yellow Warbler, and pulled out a large 

 bunch of moss. A moment later she flew 

 off", followed by the male, and I saw her 

 weave her burden into a nest in an adjoin- 

 ing oak. I quietly withdrew from the 

 neighborhood and for several days left the 

 grove strictly alone. After visiting the 

 tree several times and noticing no progress 

 and not seeing the birds I climbed up to 

 the nest and found — an old nest of the 

 Yellow Warbler, so weatherbeaten and flat 

 that its age could only be surmised, with 

 one bunch of fresh moss tucked into one 

 side. 



It then occurred to me that it was the 

 middle of May and Loxia had finished 

 housekeeping sixty days before, but in 

 passing by, the sight of the deserted nest 

 awakened the nesting instinct which proved 

 for the moment too strong for at least one 

 of the pair, though it was forgotten a 

 moment later. 



San Diego, Cal. A. W. Anthony. 



[Golden Eagles which "have been robbed will 

 often repair their old nests long after the nesting 

 time. In May last I noted an Eagle which had 

 been robbed, building in an old nesting site. No 

 eggs were laid but I think the Eagle will this sea- 

 son complete the building of the nest and occupy 

 it.— Ed.] 



Nesting of the Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker. 



ON this side of the Rockies the Red- 

 headed Woodpecker was once abun- 

 dant, but it is now a receding bird 

 more or less. "The destruction of 

 the timber, together with the gun, has 

 driven the 'Red-heads' to heavy timbered 

 tracts, and they are rarely willing to put up 

 with their cousins, 'Woodchucks' (Flickers) 

 and old apple trees." 



The above case does not always hold 

 good about the "heavy timbered tracts," 

 however, for in all of my rambles in south- 

 western Missouri I find that the Red- 

 headed Woodpecker generally selects low 

 swampy land with a few dead trees, which 

 dot the swamp here and there, as their 

 feeding ani nesting ground. When they 

 do select such places it is almost impossible 

 for the collector to get to their nests. 



In the latter part of April, 1893, I ^is- 



