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July,' i9o2. [ THE CONDOR 85 when she began chipping violently. He immediately stopped singing and flew to her and both disappeared--they are almost impossible to follow as a rule. On returning to where the nest had been, both were there, searching everywhere within thirty feet, and al- ways keeping close together, stopping occasionally and looking at each other and chipping exactly as if asking ques- tions about it. The female of one nest gave up looking for the male and staid around waiting for him. In half an hour or so, he returned without singing till about thirty yards away, when the song was entirely different fr?'m any that I have ever heard from this or any other kind of bird. It was on the prin- ciple of a yellow-throated vireo or a scarlet tanager; but the quality of a blue-headed vireo in addition, making a very strong and rich song. It was just about sunset and he evidently did not suspect danger, so possibly the nest might be located by listening for this song towards evening, but I never heard anything like it afterward. When he arrived they had a hurried conversation in very low but earnest "tsips," on the branch where he first appeared, she having flown to him im- mediately, evidently explaining every- thing, before he started to investigate. A most noticeable characteristic of the birds of southernOregon is their perfect self-possession. There is no wild, noisy exhibition of fear or despair, and they never become "rattled" or confused. When anything unusual happens. there seems to be ave. ry brief and usually silent period ot ? careful thought and then the decision is meth- odically carried out. Every crevice in the bark and every bunch of moss is carefully searched and if the nest and eggs were placed any- where within ten feet of its original sitnation, they would certainly be found, but I never thought of trying this to see what the birds would do. The nests were from three feet and three inches to twenty-five feet from the ground, oaks seeming the favorite in southern Oregon and fir near Ta- coma. The usual situation is in a small clump of leaves that is just large enough to almost completely conceal the nest, and yet qo very small that a crow or jay would never think of any- thing being concealed in them. They probably nest higher still, but of course are more difficult to find. Fresh eggs were found from May ?4, to June 24 and there was no reason to suppose that more than one set was laid. As the eggs from Tacoma are very much larger than those from Ore- gon, it is possible that the birds may vary in the same way that the Parula warbler does on the Atlantic coast. Tacoma cggs average .83x.63 inches and Oregon eggs varying from .62x 48 to .72 x.52 inches. The nests externally are about 3x23//4 inches and internally ? inches in diameter and depth. They are composed externally of grass and weed-stalks that must be several seasons old, (being bleached and very soft) moss snd feathers; and lined with feathers (one had evidently been lined from a dead Steller jay), horse, cow and rabbit hair or fur, and sometimes the very fine stems of the flowers of some kind of moss. The male has never been seen to assist either at nest-building or incubation. Nesting of the Little Flammulated Screech Owl on San Gorgonio Mountain. BY M. FRENCH GIl, 3,[AN, BANNING? CAI,. UNE 3, ?894 stands out in my of the way toward the summit of San note book as a red-letter day. On Gorgonio peak, some ?,9oo feet high. that date in company with my Those who have hunted for birds nest- friend., Nathan Hargrave, I was birds- ing in deserted woodpeckers' holes nesting on Raywood Flat about 7500 feet know the labor and disappointment en-