“ 
in the bark at one side of the nest ; probably eight out of every — 
- Side of cavities, either natural or made by woodpeckers, while one 
the soft wood of wild pa and sassafras treen, and frequen 
200 . : NOTES AND NESTING HABITS OF BIRDS. 
as it does in California and Arizona, for in the same localities 
were extensive aspen woods where T. bicolor and P. subis nested 
abundantly in holes made by the Sphyrapicus nuchalis. The infer- 
ence drawn from this fact is, that it has a natural preference to 
rocks as a nesting place, always ignores the trees where suitable 
rocks are to be found; and that its nesting in trees in districts 
where precipices are rare or wanting is merely an evidence that it, 
like other species, adapts its habits to the character of the local- 
‘ity. The red-fronted linnet (Carpodacus frontalis) nests about 
houses in California; choosing nooks and crannies about. the — 
buildings, as well as the shade trees, for nesting places. At Sac- 
ramento I found a nest of this species built inside the pendulous, 
basket-like structure of the oriole (Icterus Bullocki). Along the 
Truckee River, in N evada, another was found inside the mud nest 
of a cliff swallow (P. lunifr ons); around Pyramid Lake the 
species nested among the rocks, frequently in caves with the Say- 
ornis Sayus and Hirundo horreorum ; while in the wooded portions 
. 3: 
‘of the Truckee valley its nests were common in the “ grease wood! ete 
(Obione) bushes, along with those of Spizella Breweri and Poö- 
spiza bilineata, as well as in the cottonwood trees near by- Tt 
would require too much space to describe all the different situa- 
tions in which I have found the nests of Troglodytes Parkmanni, 
so that I will only mention some of the more remarkable instances 
of variation. In the Wahsatch Mountains, as well as in the 
‘Truckee valley, it was usual for the nests to be concealed behind 
the loose bark of a dead tree, the entrance being through a fissure 
ten nests would be so situated. Many, however, were found in- - 
was found built inside of a deserted robin’s nest in the croteh í of 
an aspen. 
- On the Truckee reservation one was found in the thatched via 
of the storehouse. Everywhere, throughout the mountain of the 
great basin, the sparrow hawk (Tinnunculus sparverius) nests on 
the cliffs, in holes among the rocks, in company with the Falo 
polyagrus. “At Mt. Cartel, I have found nests of Colaptes auratus 
in natural cavities in trees, and a nest of Centurus Carolinusin & — 
low stump by the roadside, about three feet from the ground. At 
the same place, Parus Carolinensis bores its own nesting: er 
