THE CONDOR 
Vol. XI 
edge when I noticed a nest laced to an upright alder fork, in a thicket, twelve feet 
up. It was made of plant fibers and down, and a few weed stems, and contained 
four very small young. The parents, while they strongly resented my intrusion, 
did not appear in the least afraid, but boldly returned to the nest while I was still 
at the foot of the tree. 
From the Basin, past Blume’s old mill, up the long but gradual grade we 
toiled. Noon found us on the summit and some hours later the familiar cabins at 
Boyea Creek Dam appeared below us among the timber. The afternoon and night 
were passed here, and next morning a hurried march was made to Folger, from 
where the train was taken to Santa Cruz and Capitola. 
Here at Capitola, beneath the great alders, sycamores and willows that shade 
our camp, I am penning these lines. It is very pleasant here at the mouth of 
Soquel Creek and on the shore of Monterey Bay, yet, after all, there is no place in 
all this fair county like that great woodland, the Big Basin Forest. 
Capitola, California. 
NOTES ON THE HABITS OF PHAINOPEPLA NITENS 
By HARRIET WILLIAMS MYERS 
O N the 22nd of last April (1908) I heard the Phainopeplas in our neighbor- 
hood for the first time of the season. The next day I saw a pair of them 
about, and on the 26th, at 3:40 p. M., I came upon a pair of them nest- 
building in the same pepper tree where the year before there had been a nest; not 
in the same place, however, this nest being in an upright crotch, while last year’s 
was in a horizontal one. The nest was not far along — probably only begun that 
day. 
This nest-building in April I consider unusual for these birds — at least in my 
vicinity (Garvanza). Ordinarily they first make their appearance not earlier than 
April 22, oftentimes a few days later. Always, also, before this year the males 
have been observed two or three days in advance of the females, and neither sex 
has been abundantly represented before the early part of May. The earliest record 
of nest building that I have before this one is May 12. 
Ordinarily there has seemed to be rivalry between the males in the selection of 
mates, not a little mild dueling being a part of the program. These birds being 
paired when they first made their appearance has led me to wonder if they came 
north mated. 
As I have previously written for The Condor my previous observations re- 
garding the nest building habit of this species, I shall not dwell upon it in this 
short record, since it differed not materially from other nests watched. 
These birds seemed neither of them to be very shy, nor to mind my watching 
them. In this they differed from others I have watched, usually one bird, some- 
times the male and sometimes the female, minding my presence. 
Both birds worked at the nest building, the male, as usual, doing the major 
part of it. May 3rd, just a week after I had discovered the nest, was a cold day 
with strong wind and some rain. Up to this time the birds had been seen daily at 
the nest and it seemed about finished. It was 5 p. m. before I got out to see how 
things were progressing. As I came in sight of the tree I saw the female fly out 
