YELLOW OR ORANGE CONSPICUOUS 509 



Breeding Season : May 15 to July 1. 



Nest: Like an inverted cone in shape ; fastened to the upright tules, 

 from 1 to 2 feet above the surface of the water ; the outside is com- 

 posed of coarse marsh-grass and fine tules woven together ; lined with 

 fine grass and pond weeds and occasionally plant down. 



Eijcjs : 3 to 5 ; greenish white, evenly blotched and speckled with browns 

 aud gray. Size 0.71 X 0.53. 



In suitable localities throughout California, as else- 

 where in the United States, the Yellow-headed Black- 

 bird breeds abundantly. The interior valleys east of the 

 Coast Range are his favorite haunts ; there, except dur- 

 ing the nesting season, he may be found picking up insect 

 food in the newly harrowed ground. Grasshoppers, big 

 black wingless crickets, all sorts of marsh insects, and 

 the larvs3 and eggs of beetles form his bill of fare ; and 

 much does the farmer owe to his good services. When 

 the winter rains have ceased and the warm spring sun- 

 shine floods the valleys, the large flocks of these hand- 

 some birds leaving the farms and fruit ranches betake 

 themselves to the tule marshes, where their noisy wooing 

 can be heard far and wide. While the male rocks and 

 sings on the tall reeds, the soberly gowned female is 

 busy building a nest among the swaying rushes. First 

 she brings heavy, wet pond-weed and marsh-grass, and 

 with it winds several of these together, weaving it in 

 and out and making a firm support for the superstruc- 

 ture. Bits of dried rushes and last year's tule are 

 twisted in to form the walls, which are then warmly 

 lined with the finer marsh-grass and pond-weed. No 

 feathers or other animal matter are used in it, but occa- 

 sionally a little plant down, as if the blossom had ripened 

 after having been caught accidentally in the weaving. 



