Page:Condor12(2).djvu/12

62 THE CONDOR VoL. XII tree. It was some time, however, before her calls attracted the notice. of the male. When he did arrive he seemed to scold and blame her and tried to drive her onto the nest. The wind became so very strong I was forced to collect the nest and the four fresh eggs it contained, accomplishing it successfully with the aid of my rope, tho the shallow nest was none too safe a place as it was tost about at the end of the branch. The nest is well built for one of this species. It is made of pine twigs and lined with rootlets. June 11, in company with Master Newton Wolcott, I collected the nest found being built on May 30. Incubation was well begun. The nest was well concealed among the thick bunches of needles at the tip of a branch fifty-five feet up. It was twenty feet out from the trunk and the female would not leave, tho I jarred the nest a good deal in roping the branch up to make the nest accessible. She did not leave until I almost touched her. The position of the nest was such that I could not photograph it. It was composed of twigs on the outside, then grass and root- lets with finer material for a lining. While in the act of collecting this set a forest ranger came along and in his ca- pacity as a game warden, questioned my right to collect. Persuasive talking on my part as I sat percht above him, and a promise to send him my permit, which I had left in camp, finally overcame his objections and I was soon displaying my prize to him. We parted very good friends but I made up my mind to have my authority handy in the future. On June 2, while watching sorne warblers in a clump of very tall fir trees I heard Grosbeaks again and saw a pair fly into the extreme top of one of the trees. The beginning of a nest was visible even at that distance. The female flew into an adjoining tree and proceeded to select and break off a suitable twig. Her power- ful beak made the breaking of the twig seem easy. She made numerous trips while I watcht. One twig was so large it interfered with her flight and I could hear her wings strike it. She could not reach the nest with it so alighted some distance be- ' low and made several short flights till she reacht the nest and deposited her burden. The male followed her all the time and "talkt" to her. When percht he used the loud call note, a single very loud staccato note which I am 'unable to describe. When in flight the soft note was used. Reduced to syllables it sounded like "Ch?wey, ch?wey, ch?wey" with the accent on the first syllable. The female also possesses these same notes but does not use them so frequently. On June 12 I collected this set. The fenhale did not leave the nest until. almost toucht. Perhaps the lateness of the hour, for it was after six in the evening, accounted for her reluctance to leave. The eggs were fresh. This nest proved .to be ninety-five feet from the ground. When busy feeding the birds are rather quiet. They walk along the branches from cone to cone and extract the seeds which seem to form the major portion of their bill-of-fare. Occasionally both birds sit motionless for many minutes appar- ently just resting. ' The male seems much shyer than the female. He is very uneasy when the nest on which his mate is setting is approacht, and flies from tree to tree, uttering his loud call note a few times at each place of alighting. The eggs are strikingly similar to those of the Redwinged Blackbird. Three or four eggs seem to consti- tute the normal clutch. I am in hopes that some more unusual spring weather will enable me to make a more intimate acquaintance with this interesting rarity. ,