262 HEERMANN'S NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA. 



Tyrannula NIGRICANS, (Swains.) Very abundant in California; resembling, in 

 its habits and manner of building its nests, our Tyrannula fusca. I have found its 

 nest built against the rafters under a bridge, another under a rock projecting over the 

 water, and also against the sides of a large hollow in the body of a tree. In all these 

 situations it is composed of mud, and lined with fine hair. The eggs, four to five in 

 number, are pure white, and speckled with red. 



Tyrannula virens, (Linn.) Abundant. The specimens that I have are of a 

 darker hue than those obtained here, although there is no other marked difference in 

 the size of bill, feet, and wings. I have also two or three other small species of 

 Tyrannula from California, which 1 have not yet had time to examine. 



Ptilogonys Townsendii, Aud. I procured five specimens of this bird, amongst 

 which I had the good fortune to procure a male. I found no marked difference in 

 plumage between the sexes, and could only distinguish them on dissection. The 

 flight of this bird appears feeble, and on alighting its spreads out its tail, and jerks it 

 three or four times in rapid succession. The only note which I heard it utter, was 

 a feeble tweet whilst on the wing. On dissection I found its stomach filled with a 

 red berry, from a bush which is abundant on the mountain sides, in certain districts 

 of California. 



Ptilogonys nitens. Swains. I met with this bird on the Cosumnes river, in the 

 summer of 1851. Sitting quietly on a branch, it suddenly darts into the air, flies, 

 and mounts high, diving about and catching insects before it alights, when it spreads 

 and jerks its tail, as does the preceding species. It incubates in the country, as I 

 procured a very young one, — although I had not the good fortune to discover its 

 nest. I consider it as one of the rare birds of California, as I found it in only one 

 locality, 



Culicivora coerdlea, Gmel. Abundant. 



CuLicivoRA atricapilla, Vieill. I found this pretty little species in the vicinity of 

 San Diego, where it frequented the thickets formed of bushes, briars and cactuses 

 intermingled, which cover the hill sides. I only procured a pair of them, as I did 

 not find them abundant. Their notes resemble those of the preceding species, but 

 are more feeble in their tone. 



Setophaga WiLsoNii, (Bonap.) Common. 



Sylvicola Audubonii, (Townsend.) Is as common in California as is here the 

 Sylvtcola coronata. It is a bird of passage, and during the short time it stays it fre- 

 quents the topmost branches of the trees, darting actively about in search of 

 insects. 



Sylvicola aestiva, (Gmel.) Abundant. 



Sylvicola nigrescens, (Towns.) Not rare, but not easy to procure, as its notes 

 resemble so closely the noise of a locust that it is overlooked, unless by a person well 

 acquainted witli the notes of our forest birds. Migratory. 



