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Nov., 1909 SOME SIERRAN NESTS OF THE BREWER BLACKBIRD 195 almost invariably bordering stremns, swamps or boggy meadows. This year (1909), my fifth season in the region, they were as abundant as ever, and more so than usual about Bijou. Here there were half a dozen colonies along the meadows and lake shore, ?4th from about ten to thirty pairs in a colony. Altho the altitude is high here (6220 feet) the birds nest quite early, and while the majority begin to lay about the middle of May, yet, as is usual where birds nest in large numbers, some nests were found with fresh eggs as late as early June. NEST OF BREWER BLACKBIRD ON PILE AT LAKE TAHOE On my arrival at Bijou, on May 25, I noted numerous nests about camp, most of which held eggs in an advanced stage of incubation. During the next few weeks I examined a great many nests, nearly all being placed in small tamarack pines, often mere saplings, from four to fifteen feet up, and but poorly concealed. One description ?411 practically answer for all of these: A rather bulky structure of rootlets, grasses and weeds with some mud, and lined with horsehair. Five was the usual complement of eggs, tho often four or six, and sometimes only three. The large number of eggs I examined showed great variation. in size? shape and