52 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XI 
trilled. Occasionally I heard a scolding note from both Palmer and Crissal, some- 
thing like “cha.” Once while a Bendire was singing I saw a Gila Woodpecker fly 
and alight on the same branch near him. He at once ceased singing and used his 
“cuss” words and the Gila departed. 
As thrashers were always favorites of mine I made extensive notes on the 
nests seen- The locality was most favorable as thelndians never molest them and 
hence they were quite tame generally. 
The Crissal Thrasher ( Toxostoma crissale) began nesting earliest of all. The 
first nest I found was February 29 and contained three eggs about hatched. March 
1st I found four nests, three of three eggs each and one containing two young re- 
cently hatched. Of the 45 nests noted, one was in February, 27 in March, six in 
April, ten in May, and one containing two fresh eggs June 10. A list of Crissal’s 
choice of nesting sites may be of interest. Twenty-seven were in mesquites and 
mostly in typical situation, i. e., close under a large limb, making it difficult in 
some cases to insert a hand in the nest. One was on top of a stump but hidden by 
dense, sprouting twigs. Eleven were in “squaw-berry” bushes, four in grease- 
wood, one in a palo verde, one in a mistletoe and one in a low brush fence. The 
average hight of the nest from the ground was three feet ten inches and the 
extremes were two feet and eight feet. One Crissal nest I saw is not included in 
the foregoing list. It was in a brush fence three feet from the ground and con- 
tained ten eggs of the Ganrbel Partridge ( L oft h o rtyx ga m belt) . 
The Crissal is a rather close sitter and I could usually approach near enough 
to see the extremely curved bill and straw-colored eyes which sufficiently identified 
the bird. Upon too near an approach she would slip out the other side of the bush 
and perhaps give either the call or the scolding note, while I counted the eggs or 
young. If the nest contained young some solicitude was usually shown in which 
the male bird joined. 
As compared with other thrashers here the nest is not much for architecture, 
being rather shallow and made of twigs and usually lined with fine rootlets. 
Sometimes a variation is shown, as one found had lining of white horse-hair; an- 
other some feathers, hair and grass; and others a little fine bark with the rootlets. 
I watched a nest from the time eggs were deposited till young left the nest. The 
set was completed April 6. At 6 A. m., April 20, one young was just out of the 
shell and the other egg pipped. At 6 p. M., the same date, both young were open- 
ing their mouths and trying to swallow my finger. No egg-shell could be found. 
May 6th both young birds left the nest. In California I found several sets of four 
eggs, but here three seems the rule and two are often found. None of four were 
seen. The short time from egg to leaving nest — 30 days — probably allows the 
raising of more than one brood, and would account for such a protracted breeding 
season: five months, February to June inclusive. 
The Palmer Thrasher ( Toxostoma curvirostre ft aimer i) showed a decided 
preference for the cholla cactus as a nesting site. Of twenty-seven nests found, 
eleven were in the cholla; seven in the jujube, about as spiny as any cactus; four 
were in mistletoe of mesquite and cottonwood; two in Eycium, two in mesquite, 
and one in a clematis vine trailing over a shrub. The average distance from the 
ground was six and one-half feet, and extremes were two and one-half feet and ten 
feet. One old nest was found, in a mesquite five feet from the ground, containing 
thirteen eggs of the Gambel Partridge. Fourteen of the twenty-seven nests con- 
tained three eggs each; two had four eggs, and the rest two and one, some of the 
complete sets being two eggs. 
Complete sets, partly incubated, were found March 1st. Of the nests noted, 
