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BULLETIN OF THE COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 7.1 N esses such mysterious interest as the hummingbirds whose brilliancy of plumage entitles them to be called "gems of the air." Living among high- ly colored flowers from the tropics to the icy north, never in the dust of the earth, the hues of the rainbow are theirs. During the open winter of ?897-98 I had an opportunity to see the hardy Anna's Hummingbirds every day around my house, among the flow- ering shrubs and blossoming eucalyptus trees. From November ?2 they be- came so common that at any time one or two could be seen resting on the ends of cherry branches or gathering gnats or sweets from the eucalyptus blossoms. One was shot on the 21st which surprised me on picking it up to see that it had not yet attained the per- fect helmet. Around the base of the bill were still a number of pin-feathers. Another, collected on the 25th, had only one-half of the crown patch developed, the other feathers at the base of the bill being 'still in silvery eases. From this I judge that many males do not get their adult feathers till late in winter. On the 26th and 27th a dozen or more could be seen chasing one an- other through the euealypti, scolding and twittering like young swallows. This was more to be noticed among the males, the females many times sitting side by side on the same branch. De- cember growing cooler, only one now and then would be seen in the early forenoon or near dusk, although males were shot on the 2nd, l?th, ?9th, 2?st Winter Observations on Anna's Hummingbird. BY W. O. E1VIERSON, HAYW2?-llDS, [Read before the Northern Division of the Cooper Cm. Club, $ep. 3, ?898.] O OTHER group of birds poss- on the 21st had a few pin feathers in the throat patch; one on the 25th had eight or nine perfect feathers in the helmet, the rest of a du.ll grayish colok and the throat patch mottled and in- complete. On cold mornings the hum- mingbirds would flutter around, hardly able to move their wings, flying'in. a dull, stupid way as though scarcely awake, but as the air grew warmer they became more lively. Jan. ?5 a male was taken which showed a perfect rusty grayish hehnet from bill to b, ase of skull, where there are ten or twelve adult feathers lined up around the out- er edge. The throat was more of the pattern of the females, being of a gray- ish lustre, with a reflection of the Ruby- throat. One shot on the loth had a few feathers at the base of the bill. A female, the first one seen, was shot on the ?oth. Another was noticed early in the morning, gathering spider webs along the cypress hedge. I find no data in any work regarding this winter transition of the male's hel- met and throat patch. February 24, 1898, full-fledged young were flying about the garden, showing very early nesting. The data for the first nest found in the past ten years shows a range of four months, as follows: Feb. 22, 1882; Feb. 25, ?883; April 20, ?884; Feb. 21, 1885; Jan. ?9, I886; Jan. ?4, ?887; March 2o, ?888; March 23, 1889; March 20, ?89o and March. i2, ?897. As the cherry trees began't?bloom by March ?6, 1898 , a wave of migration oc- curred at Haywards. Great numbers of Allen's Hummingbirds appeared and and 25th, no females being seen. One Anna's became 1note abundant. Echoes from the Field. Ilavcns Nesting 0n a Ilailr0ad Bridge. On April xoth last a sheep-herder brought me a set of three eggs of the American Raven, and on questioning him concern- ing the nest I learned they were taken from. a nest beneath a railroad bridge. This seemed odd, to say the least, as I know of several of their nests on inaccess- ible cliffs, the birds seeming to intuitively know that man is their enemy. Re- cently I visited the;locality from which the eggs came to verify the truthfulness of the collector's description and to secure the remaining eggs of the set if they had been laid. We travelled some twelve miles of sage desert and came in sight