2 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. HI 
against a dead hanging twig in the 
midst of the tangle. After making a 
background of new’Spapers I took a 
photograph, cleared away my debris 
and retired to watch her. She had 
cooled down considerably and it wms 
but a short time before she flew above 
her nest, hovered over it for a second 
or two and then dropped into it like a 
stone. This I have found to be the 
invariable custom of the Hummers when 
going to the nest, and as nests are fre- 
quently found having one or both eggs 
broken, this habit appears to me to be a 
very possible cause. 
Leaving her with her treasures I 
continued up the brook, finding two 
more decoy nests of the wrens in the 
roots of fallen trees, a nest of Rusty 
Song vSparrow {/Ifelospiza melodia gut- 
tata) with four well-grow'u young and 
another with four fresh eggs. A female 
Lutescent Warbler {Helniinthophila c. 
lutcscens) assured me that her ne.st was 
close by, but she would not go to it and 
I could not find it myself. Then I 
noticed a most interesting trick of Stel- 
ler’s Jay (Cyajwcitta stelleri). These 
birds do not nest in the gulches, but fly 
down into them in search of what food 
they happen to come across and as 
much mischief as a most fertile ingenuity 
can bring about. I watched one of 
these for some time, my attention being 
attracted to him by his squabbling with 
a squirrel, probably over a nut from the 
latter’s store. But right for once pre- 
vailed and the jay, with a burst of 
harsh, laughing notes, flew' to the lower 
branches of a patriarchal cedar. After 
enjoying his last joke for a short while, 
he seemed to have had enough of the 
ravine and followed the jays’ time- 
honored cu.stom of getting out of it. 
Being much too lazy to fly, he hopped 
to the branch above him and continued 
leisurely upward in this manner until 
reaching the very top. This brought 
him above the level of the upper edge 
of the gulch, to v\hich he flew in search 
of further sport. 
This was some 200 yards from where 
the w'ren was heard singing and I knew 
my chances of success in that direction 
should be reaching a focus. Conse- 
quently a half-uprooted fir tree some 
few yards further on, gave me a thrill 
of more than usual interest. The open- 
ing under the roots extended in about 
ten feet and w'as only three feet high at 
the entrance, so there w'as nothing for 
it but to imitate the serpent. The wren 
had left me long since and nothing 
stirred when I shook the roots, therefore 
my hopes were high, as these w'rens are 
never seen near their eggs. After 
crawling in as far as possible, I turned 
over on my back and waited for m3' 
e3'es to become accustomed to the dark- 
ness. As things gradually took shape, 
almost the first thing I saw was the 
much hoped-for ball of twigs and green 
moss directly over my head. It was 
wedged in among the earth and roots, 
and a feather protruding from the 
entrance told me that my search had 
reached a satisfactory end — the decoy 
nests are never li ned. The set consisted 
of six partially incubated eggs, and only 
one more decoy was found, this being a 
short distance further on in a long- 
neglected placer mine. 
Upon coming to a slope in the side of 
the gulch I decided to climb out, and 
had barely started upward when another 
Rufous Hummer flushed from her nest 
on a drooping fir bough. As I merely 
stopped long enough to note the two 
eggs and construction of the nest, the 
bird returned to it at once. This she 
did in the same manner as the first one, 
and with quite as much apparent desire 
to utterly destro}' the contents of the 
nest. 
M3' last find was made shortly before 
arriving at the top, at a ver3' steep and 
bare place where I could barely climb 
even with the aid of an impromptu 
alpine-stock. zA.lmost out of reach was 
a dead fir stump about three feet high, 
and from force of habit I hit it with m3’ 
stick. As if shot from a gun, a Vigor’s 
Wren ( Thryomanes beivicki spibirns) 
went straight up into the air about 
