Page:Condor13(1).djvu/21

 Jan., 1911 NESTING OF THE CALI1ORNIA CUCKOO 21 large horizontal limb of a willow tree, at a point where two small limbs joined the larger one, and these held the nest firm. It was composed of long dry twigs, to which clung a little moss, and this, when the material was woven into a platform, held the structure together. It was deeply cupped, for the species, and contained two fresh eggs. The bird was brooding and showed no signs of fear a I climbed the tree. She did not leave her post, but sat watching me intently as I approached. She neither uttered a soun. d, nor ruffled a feather, but as I reached out to touch her, she dropped from her nest and glided away among the willows. On July 4, of the same year, while bass fishing in one of the ponds of the lagoon, my mind was often diverted from my rod by a low "kuk-kuk-kuk" in the brush near by. When an adult bird dashed from th willows and glided away down stream, skimming along just above the surface of the water, I laid aside my rod and began to investigate. Entering the brush for a distance of perhaps thirty yards, I found the object of my search, a frail platform of twigs, placed about seven feet from the ground in a bunch of poison oak. The female was brooding and watched me intently as I approached. An old log was lying upon the ground directly beneath the nest, and as I stood upon it, and reached up to pull down the branch upon which the nest was built, the bird dropped from her nest and glided away among the willows, in exactly the same manner as the first. This nest was one of the frailest examples of bird architecture I have ever seen. It contained one fresh egg which could easily be seen from beneath. As I stood there, wonder- ing what law of nature prevented the wind from scattering that home and its contents upon the ground, I heard something rustle in the branches above me, and glancing up, beheld the anxious parent hopping from branch to branch, holding in her beak a large yellow caterpillar. I then left for about ten minutes and upon returning, saw her again brooding upon her nest. Again I flushed her, as I wished to determine whether or not she would easily desert her nest. Just before leaving for home, I quietly returned to the spot and saw her contentedly brooding. One week later lrevisited the place and found the set to consist of two large, greenish blue eggs. Soon after this the cuckoos began their regular migration, and the last one seen in 1909 was about the middle of July. One evening as I was doing my chores one passed over flying low. She went directly to a' clump of willows, in which I have reason to believe she had a nest though I was unable to find it. On the 31st of May, 1910, came the first of the California Cnckoos. On the morning of that date, about five o'clock, a loud, clear "kow-kow-kow" came floating from the top of a large pine near by. As I glanced in that direction, two birds flew from the tree and sailed across a small valley to the hills beyond. From that day on they became more and more numerous, and for two weeks remained in the uplands and then, as abruptly as they had come, all disappeared, having retired to their nesting haunts. Pressure of ranch work prevented my visiting the oldlagoon until July 7. On that date, as I approached the willow thickets, a few birds were heard calling from time to time, from different parts of the brush. As I began to work my way through the tangle, the first bird I saw was a. nearly fledged young one. It hopped around the branches above my head and seemed to have no fear. It was much the same as the old birds, except that its tail had attained only about half the normal length, and this, with its large body made the bird seem awkward in the extreme. The birds were not as plentiful as they had been in the spring. One adult, which I soon located, readily answered my calls. She was in the topmost branches of a willow, and, as I tood below, would' hop