214 
TMK CONDOR 
Vol. XIV 
> 
iMg-. ROCK\- MOUNTAIN NliTlIATCH AT liNTRANCBl TO NKST, CARRYING 
FOOD FOR YOUNG 
former is nsiially the case, and she will sta\- in the nest cavity while it is being 
chop])e(l open, climhing np into the cauity above the opening. 1 have never 
found a nest in a cavity that did not extend above the entrance. 
( >ne brood, only, is raised in a season. The same nesting site is some- 
times used year after year, though vermin In the nest frequently cause them to 
select a new location the next season. 
'I'his Xuthatch is quite cute about drawing one’s attention awav from the 
nesting locality. i\lay iS, lyio, I heard a pair “talking" to each other, and 
began to trail them. One soon secured some bit of food and started up the steej) 
mountain side with me in hot pursuit. I soon lost sight of it, l)ut discovered 
the mate close by with some grass or bark or something of that character in 
its beak. It dove into a cavity of a small oak, and .shortly reappeared without 
and have taken one set of six fresh eggs. The last week in April is pretty sure 
to show complete sets with incubation begun, in the lower altitudes, and ten 
days later for the summits of the mountains. These dates vary considerably 
with different seasons. May 24. 1909, I collected a set of five half incubated 
eggs from a pine stub on the summit of the main ridge, altitude 8,450 feet ; 
May 4. 1907, a fresh set from an oak near the summit; June ii, 1908, I photo- 
graphed an adult feeding young which left the nest two days later, altitude 
5.800 feet: May 25. 1904, 1 found a nest full of young large enough to fhx The 
nest was in a dead stub of a sycamore in the bed of a canyon, altitude 5^,200 
feet. 
Sometimes the bird sits very close and at others she flushes readily. The 
