THE OOLOGIST. 



59 



iNot far from this we discovered a 

 Bushtit's nest in a Red Oak sapling, 

 15 feet up. This was a queer appear- 

 ing nest, 'being made of oak blossoms 

 nearly entirely, thus giving it a rud- 

 dy hue. The nest contained seven 

 badly incubated eggs, laid on a soft 

 lining of feathers. 



■Farther on we found a Hawk's nest, 

 which had the appearance of having 

 been repaired this season, and upon 

 throwing a stick up at the nest, the 

 female Hawk left the nest, which was 

 45 feet up in a dead Red Oak. I was 

 agreeably surprised to find it con- 

 tained three heavily marked eggs. 

 The set was about one-half incubated. 



Leaving this place we soon arrived 

 in Guyito. This place is a long val- 

 ley surrounded by rolling hills, cov- 

 ered with white oaks and brush. 

 These foothills are cut through in 

 places where a small stream finds its 

 way down into the valley. In these 

 small streams, you will find the lar- 

 gest trees, mostly oak and sycamore 

 and here is the place you want to look 

 for birds of most any species. 



In a grove of White Oak trees we 

 found a coloy of Brewer's Black-birds 

 nesting. Their nests were situated in 

 the oaks from 10 to 40 feet up and 

 made of sticks and twigs and dried 

 mud, lined with horse hair. We did 

 not take an yas we expected to get 

 some further on that were easier to 

 secure. 



Not far from here we again tied our 

 horse and started up a promising 

 looking canyon. We had not gone 

 far before we passed a Hawk's nest 

 in a large Red Oak tree, but it con- 

 tained nothing. Further on we came 

 to an old deserted house and on the 

 side of it we found a nest of the Black 

 Phoebe. 



This nest contained five fresh eggs. 

 two of the eggs being marked with a 

 few red spots on the larger ends. The 



nest was made of mud and lined with 

 horse hair. In sight of this house 

 and not 50 yards away, we noticed a 

 large nest in the top of a red oak, and 

 upon approaching, the female left the 

 nest screaming and was soon joined 

 by her mate, and they kept up a con- 

 tinued screaming while I climbed to 

 the nest, which was 50 feet up in a 

 triple crotch. This was a new nest 

 built this season, and lined with fine 

 oak bark thrashed out and feathers. 

 The eggs were three in number, slight- 

 ly marked with golden, and quite 

 heavi'y with lavender. Incubation 

 f/esh. 



In an oak sapling not far off, we 

 found a crow's nest made entirely of 

 sage brush, which contained five 

 young. Five more ugly creatures 

 wculd have been hard to find. They 

 being black entirely, head and all. 

 Going back down the canyon we 

 found an old crow nest that looked 

 as though it was inhabited, for it 

 had dcwny feathers hanging from the 

 edge of the nest. Climbing to it I 

 had gotten right under it and was 

 just peeping over the edge when an 

 old Am. Long-eared Owl flopped off, 

 disclosing four fresh eggs laid on a 

 bed of oak leaves. The old Owl made 

 quite a fuss about my taking her eggs, 

 but it did no good. 



Riding on from this place for quite 

 a distance we came to a small tree, 

 with a dead stub in the top of it, and 

 upon arriving near we were surprised 

 to see a Desert Sparrow Hawk come 

 fluttering out of it, and on climbing 

 to the stub, found it was hollow and 

 at the bottom were five fresh eggs. 

 Only a small distance from here we 

 came u; on another nest of the Red- 

 Tail Hawk, but this only contained 

 1). ken shells, but this did not stop the 

 Hawks from making a most vicious 

 fight, living down at me at a great 

 h: i "ht, but always swerving before 



