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 &mdash; OF THE &mdash;

Vol. 1. No. 4.



Another Chapter on the Nesting of Dendroica occidentalis, and Other Sierra Notes.

BY C. BARLOW SANTA CLARA CAL.

[Read before the Northern Division of the Cooper Orn. Club, July t, t899.]

ESTING in a four-foot cedar tree in the forest, with tall cedars and pines towering about it, the third nest and eggs of the Hermit Warbler were destined to be found. This nest was discovered by Mr. H. W. Carriger, who was one of our party to visit the Sierras from June 6 to 11, and to Mr. Carriger belongs the credit of taking the set, and through his kindness I am permitted to describe the nest and eggs, which constitute the third authentic set on record.

Our location was Fyffe, E1 Dorado Co., Cal., at an elevation of 3,700 feet, in the pine belt. Black-throated Gray, Calaveras and Hermit Warblers were present in about equal numbers, and could be classed as common. They were observed chiefly in the black oaks where most of the smaller birds seem to secure their food supply and the singing birds were doubtless males. On June 8, while passing through the timber, Mr. Carriger came upon a nest of the Hermit Warbler placed in a small cedar tree but 2 feet from the ground. The female was off at the time but soon appeared in a near-by bush. The nest was built on a small limb near the trunk of the sapling, which is certainly an unusual nesting site for this tree-breeding species to select.

The nest held four badly incubated eggs and we returned in the afternoon to photograph and collect the set. A photograph was taken of the sapling and nest, showing the latter's position, after which we prepared to secure a picture of the bird when she should return and alight on the nest. All twigs which threw shadows on the nest were cut away until it was fully exposed to the sun. The camera was then set up about four feet from the nest, a string was attached to the shutter, and we prepared to conceal ourselves in the bushes. Mr. Welch, who carried the gun (a very necessary collecting adjunct in some cases) unconsciously deposited himself upon a small ant-hill, and heroically withstood their onslaughts for an hour, while Mr. Carriger crawled into some deer brush and I sat down ten feet away behind some small cedars to await the conting of the bird and take the picture. Soon the female warbler appeared and grew nervous at the army of invaders which surrounded her, the lense of the camera seeming most terrifying of all. Soon, however, she grew quite fearless and hopped about the bushes and in the pine above me, sometimes approaching within three feet and feeding all the while. Several times she hopped close to the nest, but a glance at the camera caused her to lose courage and around the circuit of bushes and trees she would go again, finally approaching the nest.