178 THE CONDOR Vol. IX 



A great many of the nests contained eggs and it would be impossible for me to 

 describe the wonderful variations in size, shape and color; but the most common 

 type was a pale blue ground color of a decidedly different shade from the usual tint 

 in eggs of the Bi-colored Blackbird, with a few heavy scrawls on the large end. 

 These markings resembled rust spots more than anything I can think of. Four 

 eggs were the usual complement, but sets of three and five were not uncommon. 



One fact that impressed me more, perhaps, than anything else was that in the 

 center of the colony where the nettles were thickest, nearly all of the nests con- 

 tained small young birds and doubtless it was the parents of these that I first saw. 

 A little farther out, however, there were full sets of badly incubated eggs while 

 near the outside were incomplete sets of fresh eggs. 



The only way I could account for this was to suppose that only a portion of 

 the colony had first settled in the nettles, choosing, of course, the rank growth in 

 the center. A few days later, perhaps, another flock came upon the scene while 

 traveling about in search of a nesting place, but were compelled to take a position 

 nearer the outside. In this way, possibly, several flocks arrived at intervals of a 

 few days until finally the last ones to appear chose to build upon the ground rather 

 than leave so desirable a place. This is only a theory but it does not seem un- 

 reasonable. 



As was suggested before, there were a number of reasons why that was a day 

 long to be remembered and while I shall never regret the experiences yet there 

 were some features that were not altogether pleasant. I was not long in discover- 

 ing that the willows shut out every particle of breeze and that the sun was shining 

 down fiercely, causing large drops of perspiration to pursue each other down my 

 face; furthermore nearly every step disturbed half a dozen big hungry mosquitoes 

 that lost no time in getting to work on my face, and any attempt to brush 

 them off generally brought my hand in contact with a nettle stalk which produced 

 a sensation that was not altogether pleasant. Added to all this was the din made 

 by hundreds of birds that perched about on every side and entertained me with 

 a wonderful variety of vocal selections. 



One attempt was made to count the nests in this colony but after tramping 

 around for a few moments I had no idea what portion of the colony had been ex- 

 plored so I sat down to try and estimate the number of birds in sight. This seemed 

 an even more difficult task as the birds were constantly changing their positions so 

 I contented myself by saying "There must be hundreds of them." 



The food that I had first seen them gathering seemed to be a short, heavy 

 worm but I failed to find any while crossing the field, tho there must have been 

 a great many as it seemed to be no trick at all for a blackbird to pick one up any- 

 where. It would be hard to imagine the number that must have been required a 

 few weeks later when all the eggs were hatched. 



About two hundred yards from this colony was another nettle patch of nearly 

 the same size and evidently tenanted by about the same number of birds; but it 

 would have been necessary to wade a slough to investigate more closely and my 

 time was somewhat limited. Perhaps it would be well for me to admit too, that I 

 had encountered about all the nettles that I cared for in one day so I hurried away 

 to the nest of a Swainson Hawk in a tall cottonwood where there was more breeze 

 and fewer mosquitoes. 



Fresno^ Califo7'nia. 



