THE OOLOGIST 



95 



It nests far to the north, from the 

 mountains of Central California to the 

 bleak shores of Alaska. The male is 

 a handsome bird about three and one- 

 half inches in length; his gorget is of 

 fiery red and orange with greenish 

 gleams; the belly and a band across 

 the chest are white; the general color 

 of the rest of his plumage is bright 

 rufous brown, usually glossed with 

 bronzy green. The slightly larger 

 female is rufous brown and bronzy 

 above and on the sides, the under 

 parts whitish, sometimes with a few 

 specks of red or orange at the throat. 



I was once presented with a nest of 

 this species that had been built near 

 the top of a giant redwood over one 

 hundred and fifty feet high. The tree 

 had been felled, but strangely enough 

 neither nest nor eggs had been injured 

 in the crashing descent. The nest was 

 a handsome structure, made of felted 

 shreds of redwood bark, lined with 

 soft down, and covered exteriorly with 

 bits of fine green moss. The eggs 

 measured .50x .31 inches. 



Allen Humimngbird — To a certain 

 extent the absence of the Rufous 

 Hummingbird is compensated for by 

 the presence of his first cousin, the 

 Allen Humimngbird (Selasphorus al- 

 leni), which differs from rufous prin- 

 cipally in having more bronzy green 

 on the head and back. While only a 

 migrant over the mainland of Los An- 

 geles County it is an abundant resi- 

 dent on the adjacent islands where it 

 breeds in countless thousands. It is 

 a common thing to find forty or fifty 

 nests in the course of a morning's 

 walk about the eucalyptus-lined 

 streets of Avalon, the little summer 

 resort on the north-east coast of Santa 

 Catalina Island, while along the 

 streams in the canyons of the same 

 island the birds are equally abundant. 

 The breeding season extends there 

 from the middle of March to May. 



Around Avalon the nests are built 

 of cotton and down, decorated with 

 bits of eucalyptus blossoms, and are 

 placed usually on top of a bunch of eu- 

 calyptus seed-pods (at an average 

 height of twelve feet. Some of these 

 nests are built on top of those of form- 

 er years, so that it is not unusual to 

 find two- or even three-story struc- 

 tures. Along the canyons the nests 

 are much handsomer, surpassing those 

 of any of the humming birds with 

 which I am familiar. They are placed 

 usually over running water at no great 

 elevation, and are composed almost 

 exclusively of sheep's wool, of whicli 

 there is an abundance on all the is- 

 lands. A lining of tiny feathers is 

 added, the ends of which sometimes 

 curl over inward so as to almost con- 

 ceal the eggs. The outside is decorat- 

 edwith bits of bright green moss, the 

 whole affair being neatly and com- 

 pactly put together, and beautiful be- 

 yond description. The eggs are the 

 same as those of the preceding. 



Calliope Hummingbird — The Cal- 

 liope Hummingbird (Stellula calliope) 

 has the distinction of being the small- 

 est member of its family found within 

 our borders. The male is from two 

 and three-quarters to three inches in 

 length. The gorget and flaring ruff 

 are rose purplish, the exposed white 

 bases of the feathers giving a streaked 

 appearance; the upper parts are me- 

 tallic green, the under parts white, 

 and the sides brown. The female is 

 of course about one-half inch larger 

 and lacks the colored gorget and ruff 

 of her mate. 



This species is a summer resident 

 in the righer mountains of Southern 

 California, seldom breeding below 5,- 

 000 feet. Due to the rugged nature 

 of the country that he inhabits, Cal- 

 liope is hard to observe. The little 

 midgets are soon lost to view among 

 the towering pines and firs along the 



