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THE NIDIOLOGIST 



in the corner of a small brace on the sick of a 

 large wooden hopper used to dump ore into a 

 mine. The skii)s came up every few minutes, 

 dum])ing several tons of rock and muddy water 

 into the hopper, which, having been used sev- 

 eral years, was rather shaky. The birds kept 

 their nest in spite of the roar and jar, and were re- 

 ported to have nested there the year before also. 



Nesting of the California Bush-Tit. 



Mr. D. A. Cohen presented a paper on the 

 nesting of the California Bush-Tit. The earli- 

 est set noted by him was one of five eggs, fresh, 

 on March 3 of this year, and the latest a set of 

 highly incubated eggs found in the latter part 

 of Tune, 1894. The material used in an aver- 

 age nest is moss of various sorts, catkins, fibers, 

 and vegetable down, firmly woven together with 

 cobweb and cocoon silk. The lining is of 

 feathers, while the e.xterior of the nest is stuc- 

 coed with lichens. Mr. Cohen advances the 

 theory that the Bush-Tit may use a sort of 

 saliva with which the eggs are made to adhere 

 to the feathers with which the nest is lined, thus 

 preventing them from being shaken together 

 when the nest is rocked by the wind. The 

 usual nesting site is a drooping limb of a live 

 oak, and the average height of a nest is ten feet. 

 One was found but two feet from the ground. 

 One nest holding six eggs was suspended from 

 a cypress branch, and another from the blossom 

 of a palm, ten feet up. The nests after being 

 vacated will stand the effect of the elements for 

 one or two years before falling. 



The Club meets at Alameda, May 4. 



Meeting of the Annex. 



Mr. Parker, of Pasadena, read a paper treat- 

 ing of the sea birds nesting on Coronado Is- 

 lands, Cal., which are twenty miles south of 

 San Diego. The main island is one mile long, 

 with an altitude (>( 1,000 feet, and covered with 

 a growth of small bushes on which the Pelicans 

 often build their nests. On April 19 the island 

 was visited. Rock Wrens and small land birds 

 were observed, but no eggs were noted. The 

 Western (iull, Farallone Cormorant, and Cali- 

 fornia Brown Pelican nest in abundance. At 

 this date young Pelicans were numerous about 

 the island, ranging in size from two weeks to a 

 month old, while the Cormorants were only a 

 week old. The nests of the Pelicans were com- 

 posed of sticks and kelp, ranging from two and 

 a half to three and a half feet in diameter and 

 about one foot in height. Cassin's Auklet was 

 also found nesting in crevices in the cliffs. On 

 May 10 another visit to the island was made, 

 and the Cormorants' and Pelicans' nests con- 

 tained fresh sets of eggs — from which it is evi- 

 dent they nest twice or three times a year. 



Hutton's Vireo. 



Hutton's Vireo was treated by H. A. Gay- 

 lord. This bird is resident at Pasadena, though 

 more commonly seen in fall and winter. It in- 

 habits dark canons, open arroyos, and thick oak 

 woods, without preference. Dissection of four 

 stomachs showed the food to consist of small 

 insects and larvte — no vegetable matter. This 

 bird nests early, sometimes in the latter part of 

 March. Daring the mating season two or even 

 three males follow one female until she shows 

 her preference, when the rejected suitors depart. 

 While the nest is being constructed the male is 

 constantly near the female, uttering at intervals 

 a single low note. This note is sounded only 

 when the female is within hearing and after the 

 eggs are laid, when she is on the nest. A dis- 

 tinguishing feature of the nests of Hutton's 

 Vireo is the generous use of lichens on the out- 

 side, giving the whole a pretty appearance. On 

 March 25, 1892, a nest containing four fresh 

 eggs was found placed in an oak, eight feet 

 up. The latest date noted was of a set of four 

 fresh eggs taken July 15, 1894, also in an oak 

 tree. 



Peculiar Nesting Sites. 



Mr. Arnold read several instances of peculiar 

 nesting sites. An instance was noted of a pair 

 of House Finches taking possession of a nest of 

 a Black Phoebe in an outbuilding, in which 

 the Phoebe had deposited two eggs. Also, on 

 the docks at San Pedro a pair of House Finches 

 selected a novel nesting site. A large circular 

 gong was attached to the side of a building and 

 was rung by a string attached to a hammer. 

 The birds took possession and built their nest, 

 completely filling the inside, and when the nest 

 was noted the male was sitting on the hammer 

 singing, with his mate doubtless inside. As 

 the gong was not in use no harm befell the pair. 

 An Arkansas Coldfinch built its nest on a 

 deserted Bush-Tit's nest in a sunflower, but 

 whether it drove away the Bush-Tit or not is 

 not known. 



An extraordinary nesting site of the Oriole was 

 one in which the nest was built under the eaves 

 of a three-story house, fully forty-five feet from 

 the ground. It was of the regulation palm fiber 

 used by the Arizona Hooded Oriole, and was 

 no doubt held in place by thread being inserted 

 in cracks in the woodwork. As this species 

 generally builds in some ])rotected place they 

 no doubt thought this would be a good sub- 

 stitute for a palm leaf or banana tree. Another 

 peculiar habit as regards this bird's nesting is 

 its seemingly fickle nature. Some banana trees 

 have been noted under which nests have been 

 started in four different i^laces. Whether it is 

 faulty weaving of the nest, or whether the 



