Page:Condor10(3).djvu/23

May, 1908 THREE NESTS OF NOTE FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 121 notes of a Western Winter Wren (JVannus hiemalis paciifcus), we imagined our- selves on a collecting trip and silently waited for this uncommon resident to enter- tain us again. The song was not repeated but directly in front of us from the up- turned end of a charred log, a small ball of brown feathers darted into the brush below and, odd to say, neither bird nor song was seen or heard again. However a nest was evidently in the log, and with little trouble we found a cosy home tucked away in a niche. Altho there were no eggs to greet 'us the nest was lined and ready to be permanently occupied. We had planned to take a collecting trip into Sonoma County two weeks from this date, and for this reason were obliged to allow but seven days for a complete set, which we hardly expected. However, on the following Sunday we made the trip again and after a fresh morning drive from San Anselmo of an hour and a half, tied our horse and proceeded to walk for another hour up the "angler's trail" of the Lagunitas to the mouth of the Little Carson where we plodded and climbed our way thru timber and brush until with much anticipation we came to the charred log.' After waiting for some time in a secluded spot in hopes of seeing the birds, we approached the log and found that three eggs had been laid during the week. After waiting over an hour without seeing either of the birds, with the nest and eggs carefully packed we made our way down the canyon to our rig. Before we had gone far, Taylor, my companion, found a nice set of Steller Jay and also a newly built nest of another Winter Wren, which, despite its unusual beauty we left in the expectation of procuring a complete set, should the birds return to the same site the following season, for, as has already been stated, we could not again visit the locality until another year to come. The nest taken was placed in the end of a log five feet from the ground. The material used consisted of redwood bark fibers, pine needles, dead moss, leaves and twigs, and lined with rabbit's fur and hair and a few feathers. The eggs are faintly spotted with a pinkish brown, the ground color being a creamy white resembling the eggs of the Vigors Wren. In June of 1904 the writer made a collecting trip to the South Fork of the Gualala River, a small stream about.forty feet in width slowly winding itself down a deep thickly wooded canyon. Its banks are bordered with a dense growth of huckleberry, and at their extreme edge the sweet azalia grows in myriads from a tangle of various ferns and lilies. In such places as this the Monterey Hermit Thrush (f-lrylocichla gullala slevini) makes his summer home. It was all due to luck that I first became acquainted with this mountain song- ster. While scanning the trunk of a pine tree endeavoring to get a shot at a creeper, I tripped on a branch of a fallen laurel and flushed a bird from her nest. The creeper was immediately forgotten; for the bird, as she stood frozen to the fence post. proved to be a Monterey Hermit Thrush, and within reach of me in the suckers of the stump was her green mossy nest and three sky-blue eggs. As much as I wanted to stand and gaze at my fortunate discovery I was obliged to leave the vicinity instantly to assure myself of obtaining a full set. Sad to relate, on my re- turn the next day, the nest was empty, not even a shell was left to furnish a de- scription of the eggs for future reference. And as I stared into the vacant nest, the harsh hote of a Jay in a nearby thicket easily explained the cause of the disaster, and with the nest as a token I departed for camp. About the end of June, while fishing, I found another nest situated on the bank of the river in a bush of huckleberry. Four fledglings scattered into the brush as I was abou[ to reach up to the nest. The parents were soon on the scene and were not at all shy, as I expected they would be, even tho under such circumstances.