May, 1908 THREE NESTS OP NOTE FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 121 



notes of a Western Winter Wren iNannus hiemalis pacifiais) , we imagined our- 

 selves on a collecting trip and silently waited for this uncommon resident to enter- 

 tain us again. The song was not repeated but directly in front of us from the up- 

 turned end of a charred log, a small ball of brown feathers darted into the brush 

 below and, odd to say, neither bird nor song was seen or heard again. However a 

 nest was evidently in the log, and with little trouble we found a cosy home tucked 

 away in a niche. Altho there were no eggs to greet us the nest was lined and 

 ready to be permanently occupied. 



We had planned to take a collecting trip into Sonoma County two weeks from 

 this date, and for this reason were obliged to allow but seven days for a complete 

 set, which we hardly expected. However, on the following Sunday we made the 

 trip again and after a fresh morning drive from San Anselmo of an hour and a half, 

 tied our horse and proceeded to walk for another hour up the "angler's trail" of 

 the I^agunitas to the mouth of the L^ittle Carson where we plodded and climbed 

 our way thru timber and brush until with much anticipation we came to the 

 charred log. After waiting for some time in a secluded spot in hopes of seeing the 

 birds, we approached the log and found that three eggs had been laid during 

 the week. 



After waiting over an hour without seeing either of the birds, with the nest 

 and eggs carefully packed we made our way down the canyon to our rig. Before 

 we had gone far, Taylor, my companion, found a nice set of Steller Jay and also a 

 newly built nest of another Winter Wren, which, despite its unusual beauty we left 

 in the expectation of procuring a complete set, should the birds return to the same 

 site the following season, for, as has already been stated, we could not again visit 

 the locality until another yezx to come. The nest taken was placed in the end of a 

 log five feet from the ground. The material used consisted of redwood bark fibers, 

 pine needles, dead moss, leaves and twigs, and lined with rabbit's fur and hair 

 and a few feathers. The eggs are faintly spotted with a pinkish brown, the ground 

 color being a creamy white resembling the eggs of the Vigors Wren. 



In June of 1904 the writer made a collecting trip to the South Fork of the 

 Gualala River, a small stream about forty feet in width slowly winding itself dowm 

 a deep thickly wooded canyon. Its banks are bordered with a dense growth of 

 huckleberry, and at their extreme edge the sweet azalia grows in myriads from a 

 tangle of various ferns and lilies. In such places as this the Monterey Hermit 

 Thrush {^Hylocichla guttata slevinf) makes his summer home. 



It was all due to luck that I first became acquainted with this mountain song- 

 ster. While scanning the trunk of a pine tree endeavoring to get a shot at a 

 creeper, I tripped on a branch of a fallen laurel and flushed a bird from her nest. 

 The creeper was immediately forgotten; for the bird, as she stood frozen to the 

 fence post, proved to be a Monterey Hermit Thrush, and within reach of me in the 

 suckers of the stump was her green mossy nest and three sky-blue eggs. As much 

 as I wanted to stand and gaze at my fortunate discovery I was obliged to leave the 

 vicinity instantly to assure myself of obtaining a full set. Sad to relate, on my re- 

 turn the next day, the nest was empty, not even a shell was left to furnish a de- 

 scription of the eggs for future reference. And as I stared into the vacant nest, the 

 harsh hote of a Jay in a nearby thicket easily explained the cause of the disaster, 

 and with the nest as a token I departed for camp. 



About the end of June, while fishing, I found another nest situated on the bank 

 of the river in a bush of huckleberry. Four fledglings scattered into the brush as 

 I was about to reach up to the nest. The parents were soon on the scene and were 

 not at all shy, as I expected they would be, even tho under such circumstances. 



