“I 
Ur 
May, 1921 BIRDS AT LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA 
wing movement reminding one of a hummingbird at a long-necked flower. 
The continual song of the male, from his favorite perch near the nest site, 
and the fact that the sitting bird, while feeding nearby, is not replaced by its 
mate, leads to the belief that the female alone attends to the duties of nest con- 
struction and incubation. Sometimes, while near the nest, the male breaks into 
song, not only when standing on the ground but when he is scratching or hop- 
ping about in the brush as well. 
In spite of the startling amount of general destruction of eggs, young and 
nests of birds, presumably by chipmunks, predatory birds, snakes, etc., prevalent 
in the Lake Tahoe region, no nests of this fox sparrow were molested before the 
Fig. 15. NESTS 9F CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD SHOWING, IN EACH 
CASE, PROTECTING LIMB OVERHEAD. 
eggs were hatched. This was probably due to the facts (established by careful 
observation) that incubation commences with the laying of the first egg, and that 
the sitting bird never goes far from the nest. 
CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD 
While this species (Stellula calliope) wag present in all the suitable loeali- 
ties we visited, no evidence of its nesting was observed, in spite of most pains- 
taking work, until June 12, when three nests, all containing young, were located 
in a small belt of timber in the meadows of Burton Creek and not far distant 
from the shore of Lake Tahoe. As eight of the nine nests which ultimately came 
