BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
297 
dance of mistletoe berries here served as an attraction. These they were 
greedily feeding upon ” The same author found immense numbers gath- 
ered together in the canyon at Camp Bowie, Ariz., feeding upon a species 
of wild plum and also of grape, fruits of which they were particularly 
fond. Their predilection for the berries of the mistletoe is attested to by 
other writers no less eminent. 
Though close and vigorous feeders, yet they do not carry their greed 
to the extent that the Cedar-hird does, which, as we have seen, never seems 
to be in any very great hurry to enter upon the duties of nidificatiou. 
The cares of the household early engross their attention. The flocks 
break up into pairs, and the latter soon start off in quest of suitable nest- 
ing places. The tree selected in Southern California appears to be the 
live oak exclusively, but in other localities, the mezquite sometimes shares 
with it the honor. Of seven nests examined by Evermann, four were sad- 
dled on a horizontal limb from four to twenty-five feet above the ground, 
and near the end ; one was placed upon three small twigs, another upon 
two, and the last in a forked branch, thirty feet high, and in the extreme 
summit. In the work of building there seems to be no division of labor, 
and each bird appears to act independently of the other. The utmost 
caution is taken to prevent discovery. When a suitable twig, or other 
substance has been found by either, it is not carried directly to the nest, 
but the finder first flies to a neighboring bush or tree, where he alights 
for a brief spell, and shows his anxiety by a nervous twitching of the 
tail. Uttering a call, he spreads his wings for flight, and glides swiftly to 
another tree, and perhaps to another, each time approaching nearer and 
nearer to the nesting-tree, the bright white spot upon the wing gleaming 
in the sunlight in vivid contrast with the black body-color. If aware of 
your presence, he seemingly endeavors to delude you, for just when you 
think you are sure of his location, if you have not already discovered it 
by observation, he disaj^points you by flying to a more distant tree, where 
he ceases his notes, rests awhile, hut only to resume his hitherto circuitous 
flight directly to the wished-for spot. While working upon the nest the 
