94 



THE OOLOGIST 



appearance, being composed of light- 

 colored plant down and fibre without 

 any exterior decorations of moss, flow- 

 ers or lichens. The yellow fuzz from 

 the under side of the sycamore leaf is 

 a favorite material. The eggs are 

 pure white, two in number, elliptical, 

 and measure about .50 x .35 inches. 



Costa Hummingbird — The Costa 

 Hummingbird (Calyte costae) is also 

 a summer resident in this locality, ar- 

 riving about the same time as the pre- 

 ceding species but remaining some six 

 weeks later. The male is about three 

 inches in length, bearing a long flar- 

 ing ruft" of burnished iridescent vio- 

 let, the head and gorget are the same 

 brilliant hue; the upper parts and bel- 

 ly are bronzy green; the under parts 

 whitish. The female, averaging about 

 one-half inch larger, is bronzy green 

 above and whitish below without the 

 ruff of the male, the throat being re- 

 lieved by a few spots of metallic pur- 

 ple. 



Costa is a desert-loving bird, inhab- 

 iting the brush- and cacti-covered 

 washes and mesas. Here he adds a 

 bit of bright color to the otherwise 

 drab surroundings. Some time be- 

 tween late April and the middle of 

 June a little nest is built, about 1.1/^ 

 inches in diameter, and placed at a low 

 elevation in some sage-brush or cac- 

 tus. This nest is loosely constructed 

 for a hummingbird's, being made of 

 soft down and fibres, the exterior cov- 

 ered with bits of lichen, bark and sage- 

 flowers fastened on with spider-web. 

 Sometimes a few feathers are added 

 by way of lining. The two white eggs 

 will measure about .48 x .32 inches. 



Anna Hummingbird. — We have but 

 one resident hummingbird in Los An- 

 geles County. . This is the Anna Hum- 

 mingbird (Calypte anna), which is 

 found here in greater or less abund- 

 ance throughout the entire year. This 

 species is slightly larger than the Cos- 



ta which it so closely resembles; the 

 ruff of the male and the throat spots 

 of the female are deep rose pink in- 

 stead of the violet of the latter. 



Annas Hummingbird is distributed 

 generally over the entire country from 

 sea-level to as high as 9000 feet in the 

 mountains. He is perhaps the com- 

 monest and best-known of his family, 

 nesting about the door-yards and 

 parks of the city, and more numerous- 

 ly in the orchards, eucalypti, and live 

 oaks. Thislittle feathered mite is the 

 earliest breeding bird in California, 

 and also has one of the longest breed- 

 ing seasons. It begins to nest around 

 Christmas time and the season con- 

 tinues until late August, thus cover- 

 ing a period of nearly eight months. 

 This is indeed a record for so small 

 a bird. Of course many of the earlier 

 nests are destroyed by heavy rains, 

 but some escape and I have often 

 found shivering young early in Janu- 

 ary. 



The nests are placed in a variety of 

 locations such as vines about build- 

 ings, in slender upright crotches of 

 young eucalyptus sprouts, or saddled 

 on a live oak limb; as well as on such 

 artificial sites as bucket-bails, tele- 

 phone cables, ropes, etc. The struc- 

 ture is well made of plant down and 

 feathers, usually covered on the exter- 

 ior with bits of moss and lichens. The 

 eggs are not to be distinguished from 

 those of the Black-chin. 



Another unique feature about Anna 

 is the fact that he is the only hum- 

 mingbird possessing a song. Even as 

 1 write this one is twittering merrily 

 from the rain-drenched branches of 

 an acacia near my door. 



Rufous Hummingbird. — The big red 

 Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus ru- 

 fus) is unfortunately absent from this 

 vicinity during its breeding season, 

 appearing here only as a transient 

 _ig tlie fall and spring migrations. 



