NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 233 



here and there bits of flower stems, the whole covered on the outside 

 with spider webs. Each of these nests contained two eggs, and they 

 exhibit the following sizes : .49 x .31, .49X .29 ; .45 x .30, .47 x 31 ; .48 x 

 .30, .49 X. 30; .45X.32, .46X.30. 



431. Trochilus anna (Less.) [338.] 



Anna's Hmumingliird. 



Hab. Valleys of California, Arizona and Mexico. 



Anna's Hummingbird is a common resident of California ; its nest 

 and eggs can be found almost any time in May and June. In the 

 vicinity of Haywards, California, Mr. Emerson took a nest of this spe- 

 cies which contained two eggs, January 20. It was built in slender 

 forks of a pear tree, about eight feet from the ground. Over the entire 

 outside of this nest are distributed green lichens. Mr. H. R. Taylor, 

 of Alameda, California, records a nest containing two eggs far advanced 

 in incubation, which he found February 13. The nest was placed 

 about thirty feet from the ground, near the end of slender limb of a cy- 

 press tree. The birds build in trees, and are not particular what kind or 

 where they are situated ; on hillside, along creeks, in orchards or in gar- 

 dens. Ten nests collected by Mr. R. B. Herron, at San Gorgonio Pass, 

 California, in May, do not exhibit great variation in their general make- 

 up and style. They are composed of thistle-down and willow-cotton, with 

 occasionally a few small feathers and bits of flower stems ; on the out- 

 side, moss well covered with spider webs, with here and there pieces of 

 lichens. Eggs same as those of T. colubris ; four specimens measure 

 as follows: .45X.30, .47X.30, .49X.32, .49X.30. Twenty-four eggs 

 have an average size of .50X .32. 



432. TrocMlus platycercus Swains. [339.] 



Broad-tailed Humming'bird. 



Hab. Rocky Mountain plateau region of the United States, from Montana, Idaho and Wyoming Ter- 

 ritories southward to Guatemala 



This Hummingbird is a common species in the Rocky Mountain 

 regions of the United States, and is particularly numerous in New 

 Mexico, Colorado and northward. In its flight it is said to utter almost 

 constantly a sharp screeching or chattering note. I^arge numbers of 

 these birds are often found breeding in thickets of dwarf willows along 

 streams. The nests are beautiful structures, composed of soft, vege- 

 table down and covered externally with lichens and bark-fibre, resemb- 

 ling the twigs to which they are attached, and their height from the 

 ground ranges from three to ten feet. The nests are similar to those of 

 the Ruby-throat, but are usually suspended on small, swaying twigs, 

 sometimes directly over running water. In Colorado this species rears 

 two broods in a season. Ten eggs before me are not distinguishable 



