390 WAXWINGS AND PIIAINOPEPLAS 
the study that can be given them, and if watched through a nesting 
season win their own place in the affections of the bird-lover. 
GENUS PHAINOPEPLA. 
620. Phainopepla nitens (Swains.). Phainopepla. 
Head with long thin occipital crest; wing rounded, of ten feathers, but 
first only about half as long 
as second ; tail long and fan¬ 
shaped ; hind toe very short. 
Adult male: glossy blue 
black except for white 
patch on inner webs of pri¬ 
maries. In winter: many of 
the feathers bordered with 
white. Adult female and 
young: plain brownish gray, 
lighter below ; white on pri¬ 
maries restricted, but wing 
coverts, secondaries, and 
lower tail coverts with whit¬ 
ish edgings. Length : 7.00- 
7.75, wing 3.60-3.80, tail 
3.80-4.10. 
Remarks. — In the field the 
Phainopepla may be recog¬ 
nized at a distance by his 
black body and white wing 
patches. 
Distribution. — Breeds in 
arid Lower Sonoran zone 
from southwestern Texas to 
the Pacific, and from south¬ 
ern Utah, Nevada, and Cali¬ 
fornia south to Cape St. Lucas and the Valley of Mexico. 
Nest. —Saucer shaped, compactly made of plant fibers, stems, and 
blossoms, small twigs and plant down ; placed in elders, peppers, oaks, 
and blue gums, and often in parasitic plants. Eggs: 2 or 3, grayish or 
greenish white, thickly spotted with brown, blackish, or faint lilac. 
Food. — Insects and berries such as those of the pepper, choke cherry, 
elder, sumac, the mistletoe and other parasitic plants. 
The phainopepla is a bird of the southwest desert country, and in 
Arizona Mr. Scott has found flocks of fifty or more gathered in 
juniper covered canyons when the berries were ripe; but when a 
single individual strays up to the foothills of the Sierra it is a de¬ 
lightful surprise to meet him. In southern California the phaino¬ 
pepla seems as much at home on the telegraph wires of Pasadena and 
in the parks of Riverside as in the canyons, and wherever found is 
the same dashing, distinguished beauty. 
When flying at an intruder he lowers his crest threateningly, but 
ordinarily it stands as a high plume adding distinction to his refined, 
