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SEPT., ?9o31 THE CONDOR x33 be seen leading her little brood of tiny chicks in and out among the almost impenetrable masses of thorns. The second illustration shows two young road-runners, probably six weeks old, in the nest. This was in a clump of cactus in Upper Chollas Valley, and the little fellows were very patient and considerate, remaining quiet and looking pleasant while the artist went through the necessary preliminaries and made the plate. The one at the left, however, being somewhat shy, hid his head behind his companion just before the exposure was made. To see if the birds remained, because they were unable to run, I stirred them up a little and they hopped off the nest ahd ran away through the cactus and weeds, looking back occasionally to see if they were being pursued.--F. W. KELSE, Prin. San /)iego Corn'l, College. ]$arly Nesting of Calypte anna in the Vicinity of Santa Monica, California.--Dur- ing the season of x9ox I was fortunate enough to locate several sets of Anna hummers in Jan- uary and February, but not having much time to devote to oology at that time I was com- pelled to confine my observations to a very small locality near my residence, namely, a grove of eucalyptus trees which ?vas completely surrounded by a hedge of cypress. These latter were the favorite nesting place of the hummers. The whole grove, eucalyptus, cypress and all, only covered an ordinary city block of about 22o yards square. In walking through this grove on January 2x of that year I noticed two female Anna hum- mers gathering material ior nests and on watching them closely, soou located the nests, both of which were in cypress trees, and iust started, one about twelve and the other twenty-three feet high, These nests were carefully watched and on January 3o, I collected my earliest set of Anna hummers. The other only contained one egg on this date but a complete set was taken on February ?. On systematically going over and watching this grove I found seven nests in all before the first of March, all of which contained fresh eggs excepting one, and that nearly full fledged young, which, by my reckoning would have been a fresh set about the second week in January. Locating so many sets in such a small place and so early in the season seemed to me quite unusual and I determined to follow it up the next season and see what the results would be. Circumstances compelled me to give this up in ?9o2 but the present year found me with plenty of time on my hands. I made my first observation trip on January I, and I was rewarded by finding two nests just about ready for eggs. One contained a set on January 4, and the other January 8. My observations were not confined to the special grove I have mentioned above but took in several oak and eucalyptus groves within a radius of two miles of Santa Monica. Between January x and February x8 [ hay .? found fifty-two nests of Anna hummingbi#ds and was only out, then, about two hours every third day. The following from my field book shows the result: Jan. ?, 2 nests noted, both building. Jan. 8, x nest noted with a fresh set. Jan. x8, x nest noted with 2 eggs, slightly in- cubated. Jan. 2x, ? nest noted with two eggs perfectly fresh. Jan. 23, I nest noted with two eggs slightly incubated. Jan. 25, 6 nests noted, 4 of which were build- ing and 2 contained fresh sets. Feb. 7, 2 nests noted, one contained a set badly incubated and the other fresh. Feb. 8, x nest noted, which contained young about ? grown. Feb. xo, 9 nests noted, 7 of which were building in the different stages aud two fresh sets. Feb. H, 6 nests noted, one was building. 3 fresh sets, x with nearly grown young and one which contained two eggs of which one was broken, evidently by the parent as the nest was deserted and the tree covered with ants. Feb. x3, 2 nests noted, both with fresh sets. Feb. I5, I3 nests noted, 4 building and 9 con- tained fresh or slightly incubated sets. Feb. x6, 3 nests noted, all with fresh eggs. Feb. x8, 4 nests noted, x building, x with a fresh set and two with badly incubated eggs. They were in trees as follows: x in a cotton wood, x in a willow, 2 in sumachs, 5 in cypress, 36 in eucalyptus, and were from seventeen inches high, in a sumach, to about thirty feet in a cotton wood. The above records, I believe, show that the Anna hummingbird is a very early breeder and in fact, it may be stated that they are just as plentiful in the latter part ot January and the whole of February as in March, April, May aud June. In looking over my notes for the past ten years I find no time where the Anna hummer has been as plentiful as the present season. We may even find that it breeds more abundantly in February than in any other month, or this may be a freak season, which will only be settled by later developments.--W. LEE CHAMBERS. The Western Marsh wren in California.--An examination of the marsh wrens in the collections of Mr. Frank S. Daggett and myself discloses the fact that two easily-