THE NIDIOLOGIST 



157 



vored, and juicy. They afford considerable 

 sport when shot on the wing, and soon become 

 wary and fly high, especially when coming in 

 from the open country about dusk to their roosts 

 in the woods, and this is the best time to get a 



I rigged up a blind in an open field over 

 which there was a daily evening flight, and 

 they soon learned to give that field a wide berth, 

 using a course either to the right or left of it. 

 At times they would come steadily, hundreds 

 of them in several minutes, but not compactly, 

 so that only one bird would fall to each barrel. 

 The Varied Robin, here often called Horse- 

 shoe Robin from the black mark on its breast 

 which does resemble a horseshoe, arrives about 

 the same time as the above species, and I have 

 seen none yet this winter, December lo, 1894. 

 Usually arriving sparingly at first about Novem- 

 ber, they are found generally in greater numbers 

 by the end of the year than are the Western 

 Robins. This bird prefers to be on the ground 

 when searching food, and frequents thickets 

 and edges of clearings, quiet gardens and or- 

 chards. The small boys have dubbed it " Shy 

 Bird," on account of its reticent habits. It is 

 of shorter flight and slightly smaller size than 

 the Western Robin, and the gunner and epi- 

 cure have no choice between the two. 



The Dwarf Thrush, like most of our small 

 winter birds, has failed to appear this year 

 around Alameda. Bird migrations seem to be 

 unusually late this year, probably owing to the 

 lateness of the season, and the old-time resi- 

 dents say the climate is changing. 



The Russet-backed Thrush arrives about the 

 middle of April and soon begins nesting, and 

 chooses a low thicket along a stream, or a 

 thick, dark spot in a garden, especially if there 

 be water near. The materials used are prin- 

 cipally dead leaves, dry grass, and moss. The 

 nest is usually made compact with mud and 

 well cupped to receive the eggs, which are 

 usually four and sometimes three. When ab- 

 sent from water the birds often use damp leaf 

 mold instead of mud. I found two nests this 

 year that were built almost of chicken feathers 

 and leaf mold. Another nest had three pieces 

 of envelope paper worked into the foundation. 

 Others near a cork elm tree were yearly lined 

 with the blossoms. Fresh eggs can be found 

 as late as July, and they vary in size, shape, 

 and markings exceedingly. 



The bird is one of our finest singers; the 

 notes, rich and melodious, are heard mostly 

 morning and evening, the performer being well 

 concealed. It has a note apart from its song, 

 a low warning whistle which is repeated every 

 three seconds. 1 have seen people stop and 

 look to see who was whistling for them, and 



have been fooled myself. The country boys 

 call them "Whistlers" on account of this 

 note. 



Townsend's Solitaire most likely strays into 

 Alameda County from Contra Costa County, 

 where it is known to breed. It is comparatively 

 rare there. 



The Western Gnatcatcher, our representa- 

 tive of the Eastern Blue-gray, is occasionally 

 seen in the breeding season. It is commoner 

 in the southern part of the State. 



The Golden-crowned Kinglet is tolerably 

 common in winter. 



The Western Ruby-crowned Kinglet is abun- 

 dant in winter, and the two are seen together 

 in thickets and underbrush, in orchards and 

 gardens. Their climbing powers are strongly 

 developed, as I have seen them climb up picket 

 fences by grasping the side of the picket with 

 their claws. They are active in picking off 

 small insects from trees and fences, and often 

 dart into the air to catch winged insects. They 

 are bold and rather inquisitive at the approach 

 of man. I have frequently gathered up dead 

 ones after a sharp frost. 



The California Bush Tit is an all-the-year 

 resident, and vies with the Kinglets and Gnat- 

 catchers in smallness of size. They build their 

 large, bulky, long, pensile nests as early as the 

 first of March and as late as June. The nesting 

 habits have been described, with an illustration 

 of a nest, in one of the preceding numbers of 

 this magazine. From five to seven eggs is the 

 usual number. In this locality the nests are 

 suspended from live oaks from five to twenty 

 feet from the ground, and like those of the 

 Oriole they are often inaccessible to the col- 

 lector. In some parts of the county, where the 

 oaks are covered with streamers of Spanish 

 moss, the nests are made chiefly of that ma- 

 terial. I found one nest suspended from a 

 cypress tree, another from a blossom of a palm 

 and in open view, and several from wild black- 

 berry vines, one of which was but two feet from 

 the ground, computing the distance from the 

 bottom of the nest. These birds are gregari- 

 ous after the breeding season, traveling in 

 troops of ten or twelve, and sometimes one 

 hundred are seen flying almost in single file 

 from tree top to tree top in search of minute in- 

 sects, especially after a rain. 



The Wren Tit breeds here. The eggs are 

 large for the bird and slightly resemble those of 

 the Bluebird. The nests are well hidden, 

 generally in low thickets along streams. 



The California Chickadee prefers to breed in 

 the most unsettled portions of the county, and 

 is not a common bird. The nesting habits are 

 about the same as those of the Chickadee. 

 ( To be continued. ) 



