222 .THE CONDOR Vol. XI the male visited the nest for a moment. During one of the brooding intervals a blackbird rested on the telephone wire near the nest, and the male immediately drove him away. I did not visit t.he park again until May 3, five days later. Then I stayed only a short time and did little watching, as a picni c party claimed my atten- tion. The leaves had grown so large around the nest that it was harder to watch than at first, and I could not be sure whether the female was still brood- ing, or not, but from later developments I 1)elieve that the young had probably hatched. Three days later, when I watched for an hour, there was no doubt of it. During the hour fifteen trips were made to the nest, the feeding being very equally divided. In fact, with two or three exceptions, the birds were both at the nest at once each of the fifteen times. Several times the female stayed from 'one and one-half to two minutes at the nest. The male also lingered, though not so long as the female. Only a few times did I hear either bird utter a note. No song was heard (luring my watching, only a single'call note given in a very low tone. Though many of'the wrkers on .California birds speak of the Bluebird's. song, I am inclined to think he has none. W. Leon Dawson author of the "Birds of Wash- ington" tells us that in the fifteen years he has studied the Western Bluebird in Washington he has never heard one sing. If so reliable and thorough a bird student' .as Mr. Dawson has heard no song in Washington, where they nest abundantly, I believe we are quite safe in saying that they have no song. 'It is
- tn int?eresting point, well worth the bird lovers'-while to observe, should he
come across a pair of these birds nesting. I' was prevent_ed from visiting .the nest until May ?4, when I found the young had flown. They were nowheee about, but a friend told me that she had seen qevefal young bluebirds in another part of the park the day before.. On this day I watched at the nest for over an hour, and was mystified at the actions of the ,birds. It was evident that they were not feeding, and several times both birds made trips of inspection to the. nest. The young were not about, nor did the old birds seem to be caring for,them, so I came to the conclusion that the birds, haviBg raised ' fheir first family, were making preparations for another. On june 2 I visited them long enough to assure myself that they were, indeed, occopying the same nest for a second brood. Although I have not again watched the nesting habits of these WesteJn Bluebirds I know that they are still about in this park. 'FROM FIELD AND Notes on the Texas Nighthawk.--The field party from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology which spent the last season (1912) in the Sacra?nento Valley remained at Wins,- low, Glenn County, from June I5 to Z0. About 6 P. ?. on the afternoon of June 17 I was tramping over the rocky country bor- dering Stony Creek, when a Texas Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis t?ensis) was flushed. An examina%ion of the place from which it flew' showed the presence of two young, resting side by side on the rocky ground. The parent bird reigned a wound, flut- tering about on all sides while I was in the vicinity. When I finally followed it, I was led farther and farther away from the site of the "nest."
