82 
THK CONDOR 
V(.l. IV 
not spread more than a foot and a half 
or two feet from the stem, and about 
six or eight feet from the apex. It was 
suspended among some dead twigs near 
the trunk and hidden by the surround- 
ing dense foliage. 
It was beautifully made, pyriform in 
shape, with the small end downwards, 
about six inches long and live inches 
through at the thickest part. The cup 
was very deep and the rim very much 
contracted enclosing a spherical space 
with a small opening at the top. d'he 
material used in construction was moss, 
fur, and silky, fibrous substances woven 
compactly together. The lining was of 
moose hair and feathers from the north- 
ern spruce grouse { Cnnachites caijadcusis 
labradorius. Bangs). Some of these 
latter were woven into the rim, the 
stems firmly secured and the free tips 
curling inwards until they met, thus 
forming a curtain over the contracted 
opening and completely enclosing the 
interior, A very warm house was the 
result. 
The number of eggs was eleven, incu- 
bation slightly advanced. Ground color, 
light buff almost white with numerous 
fine, pale, brown spots, so pale as to be 
indistinguishable, thickest near the 
larger end. The effect is as if a fine 
layer of dust had settled on the eggs. 
As to size, not having any calipers or 
other means of measuring them accurate- 
ly, I can only state in a general way 
that they resemble in shape the eggs of 
the California bush-tit, but are consid- 
erably larger. 
Notes on the Black-throated Gray Warbler. 
BV C. W. BOWI.KS, T..\COM.\, W.\.SH. 
I T seems rather superfluous to write 
anything more about Dendroica nig- 
rescens, as it has been written up 
.several times, but there may be no 
harm in having descriptions fr'^mi differ- 
ent points of view. Its habits seem to 
me about the same as the combined 
habits of the black-throated green and 
prairie warblers of the Eastern states. 
Like the former, it likes tall trees (with 
a preference for conifers) to climb 
around and nest in, but it wants them 
well scattered, so as to have plent}^ of 
light and air and to give bushes a 
chance to grow if they do not grow too 
thickly, so that it can build in a bush if 
it happens to feel that way. Like 
discolor they prefer high and dry places 
but do not seem to object if a swamp cr 
river is nearby, if the ground beneath 
tlie nest it dry. 
On the line between Oregon and Cal- 
ifornia, about thirty miles east of the 
coast, it seems to prefer oak trees in the 
spring because of the small green cater- 
pillars that are very numerous on them 
and which are devoured on all occa- 
sions. One female must have eaten 
nearly half its weight of them (from 
three-fourths to one and one-half inches 
long) while its nest was being taken, so 
that it is difficult to understand how it 
could hold tliem all, unle.ss their diges- 
tion is as rapid as that of the genus 
Pulex (sometimes called flea.) Two 
pairs that were watched while build- 
ing had the same way of going 
about it. The male followed the 
female very closely, scolding almost 
continuously, or perhaps making 
suggestions, as she did not seem to mind 
it and gathered materials and acted very 
much as if he was not there. This con- 
tinuous .scolding generally seems to in- 
dicate nest building and is apparently 
the only direct method of finding the 
nest. After the eggs are laid the male 
is never near while singing and their 
skill in reaching the nest without be- 
ing seen can only be accounted for on 
the principle of the survival of the fit- 
test, for if they were any less careful 
they would certainly be exterminated 
by Steller and California jays and 
