Oct., 1882.] 
AND OOLOGIST 
165 
California Winter Songsters. 
Anna Humming-bird {Calypte annoe) 
is one of the hardiest of all Humming¬ 
birds. It is to be seen in the gardens all 
Winter flashing like a jewel from flower to 
flower. If no one has heard or seen them 
while singing they know not what 'an odd 
singer he is. His song, if it may be called 
one, is composed of three wiry like notes 
sounding very much as the highest notes 
of a violin. On any sunny day one can be 
seen on an Acacia tree near the house, and 
there he sings and feeds on the tassel-like 
flowers; if another one should come to 
feed, after him he goes, for he will not 
share that tree with another. In the Spring, 
when the males are thinking of choosing a 
mate, then is the time to see the peculiar 
way they have of trying to dilve one an¬ 
other away from the female they may be 
courting. One will be resting on a limb, 
and the other will rise up in the air for a 
hundred feet or more, then will come down¬ 
ward with a whirring, whizzing sound at 
his enemy, as if to pin him fast. I have 
not made out if they strike in coming 
down, or it is only their way of trying to 
drive a rival off. 
Plain Titmouse) Lophophanes inorn- 
atxis.) A very plain little bird, always busy 
hunting after insects under the bark and 
in knot holes of the live oak. He keeps up 
his song at the same time, which is of 
short whistling notes. I have often seen 
them pecking away at the bark like the 
woodpeckers. Have not been able to find 
them breeding, nor have I heard of a nest 
being found here yet, although they are 
here the year round. 
House Finch, {Carpodacus frontalis.) 
The pesky little cherry eater is the jolliest 
rover of the birds. He is found anywhere 
and everywhere, on the roadside picking 
up seeds or in the orchards picking at a 
stray apple until he gets his fill, then up 
to the top of a limb singing out a merry 
song. It seems as though he was al¬ 
ways bubbling over with song and could 
not sing enough. They make fine cage 
birds, and sing well after the first year. 
But it is strange that he does not keep his 
red jacket on after the first moulting sea¬ 
son has passed. Instead of the red breast 
he takes a yellow one. 
Green-backed Goldfinch, {Astragali- 
nus psaltria.) This little ball of gold and 
green is found in flocks of ten or more all 
Winter, feeding in the thistle patches. 
They come around the gardens and may 
be heard in the gum trees singing their 
pretty songs, very much like the canary. 
Two years ago this Winter I caught three 
after they had gone to roost in the gums 
for the night. I put them in with some 
canaries ; they were quite wild for a time 
then got as tame as the other birds. In 
about a month they commenced to sing ; 
would always get on the top perch, turn 
their heads to the wall, then sing with all 
their might. But, poor little fellows, when 
Spring came and they began to moult, then 
it went hard with them. They seem to 
want some kind of food that will help 
them in moulting. I found two of them 
rolled up in a ball one morning dead. The 
other I let out to go at his will. 
Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow, {Zon- 
otrichia gambeli.) A plain, pert little Spar¬ 
row that comes around the gardens and 
byways, in great numbers, all through the 
Winter ; leaves us about the first of April. 
Are great seed eaters, always among the 
weeds picking and scratching; are the 
first to wake us up in the early morning 
with their whistling song. I have heard 
them at midnight break out with three or 
four notes, as they are roosting in the cy¬ 
press trees and hedges. Thej' are the 
most sociable Sparrows we have and do 
not seem to be afraid of anything. 
California Song Sparrow, {Melospiza 
fasciata samnelis.) This shy wee Spar¬ 
row is always found along the creeks and 
marshy places. They can be seen at all 
times busy scratching away in the dead 
