The California Thrasher 
On the 12th of June, 1913, I had 
the good fortune to find a Thrasher’s 
nest at Los Colibris in the live oak 
over our garage. The female was 
sitting tightly on three eggs, and she 
proved to be almost as tame as an 
old hen. On first acquaintance she 
let me stroke her head, then heave 
her over gently to have a look at the 
eggs—all without resistance or 
evasion. The day following 1 re¬ 
turned for a systematic course with 
the cameras. After a little prelimi¬ 
nary clearing away of minor limbs, 
which milady did not resent, 
I hoisted a major branch out of the 
way by means of ropes, and so ex¬ 
posed the bird to full sunlight. This 
proved to be decidedly uncomfort¬ 
able, and the bird shifted around to 
face away from the light. There¬ 
upon, I took hold of her, lifted her 
up, and set her down face to the 
sunlight. She grasped the nest 
lining with her feet in transit and 
succeeded in mussing it up need¬ 
lessly. Moreover, she bit me 
peevishly (but harmlessly) and fur¬ 
ther expressed her displeasure by 
looking as sour as possible. But of 
course she never thought of leaving the nest! 
On the 25th of June the youngsters hatched out, and were soon cov¬ 
ered with a coat of long gray down. Moreover, they have the biggest 
heads and the yellowest mouths, and the slimmest, longest, wobbliest 
necks that I remember ever to have seen among Passerine forms. On 
my approach, too jejune no doubt, the brooding bird slid off hastily, leav¬ 
ing, as she did so, one of the youngsters sprawling on the skirt of the nest. 
My next approach was more judicious, and I was able to photograph the 
brooding mother repeatedly at four feet. The interesting thing this time 
was the occasional eruption of a great yellow demand for food (supported 
by a slender, wobbling pedicel) from under the fluffy flank-feathers 
Taken at Los Colibris Photo by the Author 
^“EXPRESSED HER DISPLEASURE BY LOOKING AS 
SOUR AS POSSIBLE” 
702 
