The Costa Hummer 
choice as summer homes 
of the Costa Hummer. 
But in the southern por¬ 
tion of its general range 
its local occupation is 
pretty complete. 
Dixon at Escondido 
finds it nesting in the 
orange or lemon groves 
or olive trees, and in the 
dead cockle burrs of a 
river bottom, as well as 
upon the cliffside bushes. 
Along the San Jacinto 
River, at an elevation of 
2100 feet, we found the 
birds very abundant in a 
coarse gray weed ( Erio- 
dictyon) which lined the 
river’s flood plain, as 
well as in the more open 
chaparral of the hill¬ 
sides. Dead yucca-stems 
were also favorite nest¬ 
ing stations; and the 
materials used harmo¬ 
nized perfectly with the 
weathered silvery gray 
of the plant stalks. At 
Santa Barbara the Costa 
Hummers join their fel¬ 
lows of three other species in seeking sites close to running water. Before 
the big flood (that of 1914) tore out the finer covering of the stream-bed, 
we could find half a dozen nests in a morning’s stroll any day in early 
June. These would be in oaks, alders, sycamores, or bays, and sometimes 
within two feet of the water. Again, I have taken eggs high up in the 
heart of the Santa Ynez range, above the nesting of the Western Tanager 
and California Purple Finch, in near-Transition territory. These 
northern breeding birds seem to live especially secluded lives, and though 
we know exactly where to find their nests, the birds themselves scarcely 
figure in local horizons. 
Taken in Riverside County 
Photo by the Author 
COSTA HUMMER IN DEAD YUCCA 
