A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 2

The nests and the eggs of the Humming-Birds, though in a few exceptional cases differing as to the form and position of the former, are similar, so far as known, in the whole family. The eggs are always two in number, white and unspotted, oblong in shape, and equally obtuse at either end. The only differences to be noticed are in the relative variations in size. The nests are generally saddled upon the upper side of a horizontal branch, are cup-like in shape, and are largely made up of various kinds of soft vegetable down, covered by an outward coating of lichens and mosses fastened upon them by the glue-like saliva of the bird. In T. colubris the soft inner portion of the nest is composed of the delicate downy covering of the leaf-buds of several kinds of oaks. In Georgia the color of this down is of a deep nankeen hue, but in New England it is nearly always white. At first the nest is made of this substance alone, and the entire complement of eggs, never more than two, is sometimes laid before the covering of lichens is put on by the male bird, who seems to amuse himself with this while his mate is sitting upon her eggs.

Genus STELLULA, Gould

Stellula, Gould, Introd. Trochil. 1861, 90. (Type, Trochilus calliope, Gould.)

Gen. Char. Bill rather longer than the head; straight. Wings much developed, reaching beyond the tail, which is short, nearly even, or slightly rounded, and with the inner-most feathers abruptly short; the outer feather rather narrower and more linear than the others, which have a rather spatulate form. Metallic throat-feathers elongated and rather linear and loose, not forming a continuous metallic surface. Central tail-feather without green.

Stellula calliope.

17992 ♂

This genus, established by Gould, has a slight resemblance to Atthis, but differs in absence of the attenuated tip of outer primary. The outer three tail-feathers are longest and nearly even (the second rather longest), the fourth and fifth equal and abruptly a little shorter, the latter without any green. The feathers are rather broad and wider terminally (the outermost least so), and are obtusely rounded at end. The tail of the female is quite similar. The absence of green on the tail in the male seems a good character. But one species is known of the genus.

Calothorax is a closely allied genus, in which the tail is considerably longer. One species, C. cyanopogon, will probably be yet detected in New Mexico.

Stellula calliope, Gould

THE CALLIOPE HUMMING-BIRD

Trochilus calliope, Gould, Pr. Z. S. 1847, 11 (Mexico). Calothorax calliope, Gray, Genera, I, 100.—Bon. Rev. Mag. Zoöl. 1854, 257.—Gould, Mon. Troch. III, pl. cxlii.—Xantus, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1859, 190.—Elliot, Illust. Birds N. A. I, xxiii. Stellula calliope, Gould, Introd. Troch. 1861, 90.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 363.

Sp. Char. Male above, except on tail, golden-green, beneath white, the sides glossed with green, the flanks somewhat with rusty; crissum pure white. Throat-feathers pure white at base, terminal half violet-red, more reddish than in Atthis heloisæ; the sides of neck pure white. Tail-feathers brown, edged at base, especially on inner webs, but inconspicuously, with rufous; the ends paler, as if faded; central feathers like the rest; under mandible yellow. Length, 2.75; wing, 1.60; tail, 1.00; bill above to base of feathers, .55. Female without the metallic gorget (replaced by a few dusky specks), and the throat-feathers not elongated; no green on sides, and more tinged with rufous beneath. A white crescent under the eye. Tail more rounded and less emarginate than in the male. The outer three feathers green at base, then black, and tipped with white; the fourth green and black; the fifth green, with a dusky shade at end; all, except central, edged internally at base with rufous. The under mandible is paler at base than elsewhere, but not yellowish-white as in the male.

Hab. Mountains of Washington Territory, Oregon, and California, to Northern Mexico. East to East Humboldt Mountains (Ridgway); Fort Tejon (Xantus); Fort Crook (Feilner).

The male bird is easily distinguished from other North American species by its very small size, the snowy-white bases of the elongated loose throat-feathers, and by the shape of the tail, as also the absence, at least in the several males before us, of decided metallic green on the central tail-feathers. The females resemble those of A. heloisæ most closely, but have longer bills and wings, broader tail-feathers, and their rufous confined to the edges, instead of crossing the entire basal portion. Selasphorus platycercus and rufus are much larger, and have tails marked more as in A. heloisæ.

Habits. This interesting species was first met with as a Mexican Humming-Bird, on the high table-lands of that republic, by Signor Floresi. His specimens were obtained in the neighborhood of the Real del Monte mines. As it was a comparatively rare bird, and only met with in the winter months, it was rightly conjectured to be only a migrant in that locality.

This species is new to the fauna of North America, and was first brought to the attention of naturalists by Mr. J. K. Lord, one of the British commissioners on the Northwest Boundary Survey. It is presumed to be a mountain species, found in the highlands of British Columbia, Washington Territory, Oregon, California, and Northern Mexico.

Early in May Mr. Lord was stationed on the Little Spokan River, superintending the building of a bridge. The snow was still remaining in patches, and no flowers were in bloom except the brilliant pink Ribes, or flowering currant. Around the blossoms of this shrub he found congregated quite a number of Humming-Birds. The bushes seemed to him to literally gleam with their flashing colors. They were all male birds, and of two species; and upon obtaining several of both they proved to be, one the Selasphorus rufus, the other the present species, one of the smallest of Humming-Birds, and in life conspicuous for a frill of minute pinnated feathers, encircling the throat, of a delicate magenta tint, which can be raised or depressed at will. A few days after the females arrived, and the species then dispersed in pairs.

He afterwards ascertained that they prefer rocky hillsides at great altitudes, where only pine-trees, rock plants, and an alpine flora are found. He frequently shot these birds above the line of perpetual snow. Their favorite resting-place was on the extreme point of a dead pine-tree, where, if undisturbed, they would sit for hours. The site chosen for the nest was usually the branch of a young pine, where it was artfully concealed amidst the fronds at the very end, and rocked like a cradle by every passing breeze.

Dr. Cooper thinks that he met with this species in August, 1853, on the summit of the Cascade Mountains, but mistook the specimens for the young of Selasphorus rufus.

Early in June, 1859, Mr. John Feilner found these birds breeding near Pitt River, California, and obtained their nests.

This species was obtained by Mr. Ridgway only on the East Humboldt Mountains, in Eastern Nevada. The two or three specimens shot were females, obtained in August and September, and at the time mistaken for the young of Selasphorus platycercus, which was abundant at that locality.

Dr. W. J. Hoffman writes, in relation to this species, that on the 20th of July, 1871, being in camp at Big Pines, a place about twenty-seven miles north of Camp Independence, California, on a mountain stream, the banks of which are covered with an undergrowth of cottonwood and small bushes, he frequently saw and heard Humming-Birds flying around him. He at length discovered a nest, which was perched on a limb directly over the swift current, where it was sometimes subjected to the spray. The limb was but half an inch in thickness, and the nest was attached to it by means of thin fibres of vegetable material and hairs. It contained two eggs. The parents were taken, and proved to be this species. There were many birds of the same kind at this point, constantly on the tops of the small pines in search of insects.

Genus TROCHILUS, Linnæus

Trochilus, Linnæus, Systema Naturæ, 1748 (Agassiz).

Trochilus colubris.

1101 ♀

Gen. Char. Metallic gorget of throat nearly even all round. Tail forked; the feathers lanceolate, acute, becoming gradually narrower from the central to the exterior. Inner six primaries abruptly and considerably smaller than the outer four, with the inner web notched at the end.

Trochilus colubris. ♂

1100

The female has the outer tail-feathers lanceolate, as in the male, though much broader. The outer feathers are broad to the terminal third, where they become rapidly pointed, the tip only somewhat rounded; the sides of this attenuated portion (one or other, or both) broadly and concavely emarginated, which distinguishes them from the females of Selasphorus and Calypte, in which the tail is broadly linear to near the end, which is much rounded without any distinct concavity.

A peculiarity is observable in the wing of the two species of Trochilus as restricted, especially in T. colubris, which we have not noticed in other North American genera. The outer four primaries are of the usual shape, and diminish gradually in size; the remaining six, however, are abruptly much smaller, more linear, and nearly equal in width (about that of inner web of the fourth), so that the interval between the fifth and fourth is from two to five times as great as that between the fifth and sixth. The inner web of these reduced primaries is also emarginated at the end. This character is even sometimes seen in the females, but to a less extent, and may serve to distinguish both colubris and alexandri from other allied species where other marks are obscured.

The following diagnosis will serve to distinguish the species found in the United States:—

Common Characters. Above and on the sides metallic green. A ruff of metallic feathers from the bill to the breast, behind which is a whitish collar, confluent with a narrow abdominal stripe; a white spot behind the eye. Tail-feathers without light margins.

Tail deeply forked (.30 of an inch). Throat bright coppery-red from the chin. Tail of female rounded, emarginated … T. colubris.

Larger. Tail slightly forked (.10 of an inch). Throat gorget with violet, steel, green, or blue reflections behind; anteriorly opaque velvety-black. Tail of female graduated; scarcely emarginated … T. alexandri.

Trochilus colubris, Linnæus

RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD

Trochilus colubris, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 191.—Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 26, pl. x.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 248, pl. xlvii.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 190, pl. ccliii.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 131.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 154.—Samuels, 111.—Allen, B. Fla. 301. Ornisyma colubris, Deville, Rev. et Mag. Zool. May, 1852 (habits). Trochilus aureigaster, Lawrence (alcoholic specimens).

Sp. Char. Tail in the male deeply forked; the feathers all narrow lanceolate-acute. In the female slightly rounded and emarginate; the feathers broader, though pointed. Male, uniform metallic green above; a ruby-red gorget (blackish near the bill), with no conspicuous ruff; a white collar on the jugulum; sides of body greenish; tail-feathers uniformly brownish-violet. Female, without the red on the throat; the tail rounded and emarginate, the inner feathers shorter than the outer; the tail-feathers banded with black, and the outer tipped with white; no rufous or cinnamon on the tail in either sex. Length, 3.25; wing, 1.60; tail, 1.25; bill, .65. Young males are like the females; the throat usually spotted, sometimes with red; the tail is, in shape, more like that of the old male.

Hab. Eastern North America to the high Central Plains; south to Brazil. Localities: Cordova (Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, 288); Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 129); Cuba (Cab. J. IV, 98; Gundl. Rep. I, 1866, 291); S. E. Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 470, breeds); Veragua (Salv. P. Z. S. 1870, 208).

The Trochilus aureigaster (aureigula?) of Lawrence, described from an alcoholic specimen in the Smithsonian collection, differs in having a green throat, becoming golden towards the chin. It is quite probable, however, that the difference is the result of immersion in spirits.

PLATE XLVII.

1. Trochilus alexandri. ♂ Cal., 44959.

2. Trochilus colubris. ♂ Pa., 2713.

3. Heliopædica xantusi. ♂ Cape St. Lucas.

4. Selasphorus rufus. ♂ Oregon, 2896.

5. Selasphorus platycercus. ♂ Rocky Mts., 10847.

6. Atthis heloisæ. ♂ Mex., 25874.

7. Calypte anna. ♂ Cal., 5501.

8. Calypte costæ. ♂ Cal., 39397.

9. Stellula calliope. ♂ Cal., 17992.

The red of the throat appears paler in some Mexican and Guatemalan skins; others, however, are not distinguishable from the northern specimens.

Habits. This species is found throughout eastern North America, as far west as the Missouri Valley, and breeds from Florida and the valley of the Rio Grande to high northern latitudes. Richardson states that it ranges at least to the 57th parallel, and probably even farther north. He obtained specimens on the plains of the Saskatchewan, and Mr. Drummond found one of its nests near the source of the Elk River. Mr. Dresser found this bird breeding in Southwestern Texas, and also resident there during the winter months, and I have received their nests and eggs from Florida and Georgia. It was found by Mr. Skinner to be abundant in Guatemala during the winter months, on the southern slope of the great Cordillera, showing that it chooses for its winter retreat the moderate climate afforded by a region lying between the elevations of three and four thousand feet, where it winters in large numbers. Mr. Salvin noted their first arrival in Guatemala as early as the 24th of August. From that date the number rapidly increased until the first week in October, when it had become by far the most common species about Dueñas. It seemed also to be universally distributed, being equally common at Coban, at San Geronimo, and the plains of Salamá.

The birds of this species make their appearance on our southern border late in March, and slowly move northward in their migrations, reaching Upper Georgia about the 10th of April, Pennsylvania from the last of April to about the middle of May, and farther north the last of May or the first of June. They nest in Massachusetts about the 10th of June, and are about thirteen days between the full number of eggs and the appearance of the young. They resent any approach to their nest, and will even make angry movements around the head of the intruder, uttering a sharp outcry. Other than this I have never heard them utter any note.

Attempts to keep in confinement the Humming-Bird have been only partially successful. They have been known to live, at the best, only a few months, and soon perish, partly from imperfect nourishment and unsuitable food, and probably also from insufficient warmth.

Numerous examinations of stomachs of these birds, taken in a natural state, demonstrate that minute insects constitute a very large proportion of their necessary food. These are swallowed whole. The young birds feed by putting their own bills down the throats of their parents, sucking probably a prepared sustenance of nectar and fragments of insects. They raise, I think, but one brood in a season. The young soon learn to take care of themselves, and appear to remain some time after their parents have left. They leave New England in September, and have all passed southward beyond our limits by November.

A nest of this bird, from Dr. Gerhardt, of Georgia, measures 1.75 inches in its external diameter and 1.50 in height. Its cavity measures 1.00 in depth and 1.25 inches in breadth. It is of very homogeneous construction, the material of which it is made being almost exclusively a substance of vegetable origin, resembling wool, coarse in fibre, but soft, warm, and yielding, of a deep buff color. This is strengthened, on the outside, by various small woody fibres; the whole, on the outer surface, entirely and compactly covered by a thatching of small lichens, a species of Parmelia.

A nest obtained in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George O. Welch, in June, 1860, was built on a horizontal branch of an apple-tree. It measures 1.50 inches in height, and 2.25 in its external diameter. The cavity is more shallow, measuring .70 of an inch in depth and 1.00 in diameter. It is equally homogeneous in its composition, being made of very similar materials. In this case, however, the soft woolly material of which it is woven is finer in fibre, softer and more silky, and of the purest white color. It is strengthened on the base with pieces of bark, and on the sides with fine vegetable fibres. The whole nest is beautifully covered with a compact coating of lichens, a species of Parmelia, but different from those of the Georgian nest.

The fine silk-like substance of which the nest from Lynn is chiefly composed is supposed to be the soft down which appears on the young and unexpanded leaves of the red-oak, immediately before their full development. The buds of several of the oaks are fitted for a climate liable to severe winters, by being protected by separate downy scales surrounding each leaf. In Massachusetts the red-oak is an abundant tree, expands its leaves at a convenient season for the Humming-Bird, and these soft silky scales which have fulfilled their mission of protection to the embryo leaves are turned to a good account by our tiny and watchful architect. The species in Georgia evidently make use of similar materials from one of the southern oaks.

The eggs measure .50 by .35 of an inch, and are of a pure dull white.

Trochilus alexandri, Bourc. & Mulsant

BLACK-CHINNED HUMMING-BIRD

Trochilus alexandri, Bourcier & Mulsant, Ann. de la Soc. d’Agric. de Lyons, IX, 1846, 330.—Heermann, J. A. N. Sc. Phila. 2d ser. II, 1853, 269.—Cassin, Ill. N. Am. Birds, I, V, 1854, 141, pl. xxii.—Gould, Mon. Trochilidæ, XIV, Sept. 1857, plate.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 133, pl. xliv, f. 3.—Ib. M. B. II, Birds, 6, pl. v, f. 3.—Heerm. X, S, 56.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 353.

Sp. Char. Very similar to Trochilus colubris. Tail slightly forked; the chin and upper part of the throat opaque velvety-black, without metallic reflections, which are confined to the posterior border of the gorget, and are violet, sometimes changing to steel blue or green, instead of coppery-red. Female without the metallic scales; the tail-feathers tipped with white; the tail graduated, not emarginated; the innermost feather among the longest. Length of male, 3.30; wing, 1.70; tail, 126; bill, .75.

Hab. Coast of California, southward, and east to the Wahsatch and Uintah Mountains, Utah.

♂ juv. Trochilus alexandri. 4963 ♀

The chief characters of this species are to be found in the violet, steel-blue, or steel-green reflections of the hinder part of the gorget, varying with the situation of the feathers and the specimen, as distinguished from the bright fiery or coppery red of the other. The chin and upper part of the throat extending beneath the eyes are opaque velvety or greenish black, without metallic lustre, while in T. colubris it is only the extreme chin which is thus dull in appearance. The bill is about .10 of an inch longer, the tail less deeply forked, and tinged with green at the end.

Trochilus alexandri.

It is exceedingly difficult to distinguish the female of this species from that of T. colubris. The size is rather larger, and the tail rounded, without any distinct emargination; the middle feathers being .15 of an inch longer than the lateral ones, instead of actually shorter. The color is much the same. The primaries are also much broader in the present species.

In both species the outer tail-feathers, though broader than in the male, are quite acutely pointed on the terminal third, one side or the other of which is slightly concave, instead of being linear to near the end, and rounded without any concavity, as in Selasphorus and Calypte.

Habits. This Humming-Bird, originally described as a Mexican species, is found from the highlands of that republic northward, not only to the southern borders of the western United States, but as far north as the 58th parallel. It was first discovered on the table-lands of Mexico, east of the city, by Signor Floresi, a distinguished naturalist, who devoted himself to the study of the Trochilidæ of Mexico, but was first added to the fauna of North America by Dr. Heermann, who detected it, and obtained several specimens, within the burying-ground of Sacramento City, Cal. There several pairs remained during the period of incubation, and reared their young, finding both food and shelter among the flowering plants of that cemetery. He found several of their nests which were essentially similar to the T. colubris.

Dr. Cooper met with this species along the Mohave River. He saw the first on the 3d of June. He also found one of their nests built in a dark willow-thicket in the fork of a tree, eight feet from the ground. Those afterwards found near Santa Barbara were all built near the end of hanging branches of the sycamore, constructed of white down from willow catkins, agglutinated by the bird’s saliva, and thus fastened to the branch on which it rested. These were built in the latter part of April, and early in May contained two eggs, exactly resembling those of the T. colubris, and measuring .51 by .32 of an inch.

Afterwards Mr. W. W. Holden obtained a specimen in the Colorado Valley, March 20.

Mr. J. K. Lord, one of the English commissioners of the Northwestern Boundary Survey, met with this species near his camping-place on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. This was near a lake, by the margin of which, with other trees, grew a number of the black birch. On these trees he found a sweet gummy sap exuding plentifully from splits in the bark, and on this sap hosts of insects, large and small, were regaling themselves. As the sap was very sticky, numbers of the smaller winged insects were trapped in it. Busily employed in picking off and devouring these captive insects were several very sombre-looking Humming-Birds, poising themselves over the flowers, and nipping off, as with delicate forceps, the imprisoned insects. Upon securing one of these birds, he ascertained that it belonged to this species. This was pretty satisfactory proof that they are insect-eaters. Not only on this occasion, but many times afterwards, Mr. Lord saw this bird pick the insects from the tree; and the stomachs of those he killed, on being opened, were filled with various kinds of winged insects. He found this bird lingering around lakes, pools, and swamps, where these birches grow. They generally build in the birch or alder, selecting the fork of a branch high up.

This species bears a very close resemblance in size, appearance, and markings, to the common eastern species, but is readily distinguishable by the difference in the color of the chin and the shape of the tail.

In the spring of 1851, on a trip to Sonora, Mexico, Dr. Heermann found these birds abundant in the arid country around Guaymas, where amid the scanty vegetation they had constructed their nests in the month of April. He also afterwards found them on Dry Creek and the Cosumnes River.

According to the observations of Mr. Ridgway, this species has quite an extended distribution in the West. He found it in varying abundance from the Sacramento Valley, in California, to the Wahsatch and Uintah Mountains in Utah.

At Sacramento it was more abundant than the C. anna, nesting in the door-yards and in gardens, but particularly in the thick copses of small oaks in the outskirts of the city. In the Great Basin it associated with the Selasphorus rufus in the western portion, and with S. platycercus to the eastward, nesting everywhere, from the lowest valleys to a height of eight or nine thousand feet in the mountains.

Genus CALYPTE, Gould

Calypte, Gould, Introd. Trochilidæ, 1861, 87. (Type, Ornysmya costæ.)

Calypte costæ.

39399 ♂   39400 ♀

Calypte costæ.

Gen. Char. Bill longer than the head, straight or slightly curved; tail rather short. Outer primary not attenuated at end. Top of head, as well as throat, with metallic scale-like feathers, a decided and elongated ruff on each side the neck.

The metallic feathers on top of head, the attenuated outer tail-feathers (except in C. helenæ), and the elongated ruff, distinguish the males of this genus very readily from any other in North America.

Species

A. No rufous on tail-feathers; tail forked or emarginated.

a. Lateral tail-feather as broad as the others; tail emarginated. Rump and middle tail-feathers blue.

C. helenæ.¹¹⁴ Very small (wing, 1.15); metallic hood and ruff of the male purplish-red. Hab. Cuba.

b. Lateral tail-feather abruptly narrower than the others, tail forked. Rump and middle tail-feathers green.

C. anna. Large (wing, 2.00); outer tail-feather with a double curve, the end inclining outward. Metallic hood and ruff of the male purplish-red. Hab. California.

C. costæ. Small (wing, 1.75); outer tail-feather with a simple curve, the end inclining inward. Metallic hood and ruff of the male violet-blue. Hab. Southern California, Arizona, and Mexico.

B. Inner webs of tail-feathers mostly rufous, and outer webs edged with the same. Tail rounded. Lateral tail-feather abruptly narrower than the others.

C. floresi. ¹¹⁵ Size of C. anna. Hood and ruff of the male crimson. Hab. Table-lands of Mexico (Bolanos).

Calypte anna, Gould

ANNA HUMMING-BIRD

Ornismya anna, Lesson, Oiseaux Mouches, 1830, (? pl. cxxiv. Trochilus anna, Jardine, Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, I, 93, pl. vi.—Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 428, pl. ccccxxviii.—Ib. Birds America, IV, 1842, 188, pl. cclii.—Heerm. X, S, 56 (nest). Calliphlox anna, Gambel, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. III, 1846, 3.—Ib. Journ. 2d ser. I, 1847, 32. Trochilus (Atthis) anna, Reichenbach, Cab. Jour. Extraheft for 1853, 1854, App. 12. Trochilus icterocephalus, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 712 (male with forehead covered with yellow pollen). Atthis anna, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 137. Calypte annæ, Gould, Introd. Trochilidæ.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 358.

Calypte anna.

5501 ♂   44953 ♀

Sp. Char. Largest of North American species of Humming-Bird. Tail deeply forked; external feather narrow, linear. Top of the head, throat, and a moderate ruff, metallic crimson-red, with purple reflections. Rest of upper parts and a band across the breast green. Tail-feathers purplish-brown, darkest centrally. In the female the tail is slightly rounded, not emarginate; the scales of the head and throat are wanting. Tail barred with black, and tipped with white. Length, about 3.60; wing, 2.00; tail, 1.45.

Hab. Mexico and coast region of California.

Calypte anna.

The C. floresi of the table-lands of Mexico resembles this species in every respect except the tail, which is somewhat like that of Selasphorus rufus. The only North American species to which the male of this bird bears any resemblance is the A. costæ, which has the same metallic crown and other generic features. The latter, however, is much smaller; has the metallic reflections varied, chiefly violet, instead of nearly uniform purplish-red. The tail is much less deeply forked, the depth being only about .10 of an inch, instead of .32; the outer feather is much narrower. The females of the two, however, appear to be distinguishable only by their relative size. The absence of rufous, and the rounded, not graduated, tail always separates the female of anna from that of Selasphorus rufus. The larger size is the chief distinction from the female Calypte costæ, while the size and less acutely pointed outer tail-feathers distinguish it from the female Trochilus colubris.

We have never seen any specimens of this bird taken out of California, nor quoted of late years as occurring in Mexico, although stated by Gould to belong to the table-lands.

Habits. This beautiful Humming-Bird is found from the high table-lands of Mexico throughout the western portions of that region, and through all the coast country of California, from the slopes of the Sierra to the ocean. It was first taken in Mexico, and named in honor of Anna, Duchess of Rivoli. Mr. Nuttall was the first of our own naturalists to take it within our territory. He captured a female on its nest near Santa Barbara. This was described and figured by Audubon. The nest was attached to a small burnt twig of Photinia, and was small for the bird, being only 1.25 inches in breadth. It was somewhat conic in shape, made of the down of willow catkins, intermixed with their scales, and a few feathers, the latter forming the lining. It had none of the neatness of the nests of our common species, and was so rough on the outside that Mr. Nuttall waited several days in expectation of its being completed, and found the female sitting on two eggs when he caught her. Dr. Cooper, however, thinks this description applies much better to the nest of T. alexandri, as all that he has seen of this species are twice as large, and covered externally with lichens, even when on branches not covered with these parasites.

Dr. Gambel, in his paper published in 1846 on the birds of California, describes this as a very abundant species, numbers of which pass the entire winter in California. At such times he found them inhabiting sheltered hillsides and plains, where, at all seasons, a few bushy plants were in flower and furnished them with a scanty subsistence. In the latter part of February and during March they appeared in greater numbers. About the Pueblo the vineyards and the gardens were their favorite resort, where they build a delicate downy nest in small flowering bushes, or in a concealed spot about a fence. In April and May they may be seen in almost every garden.

In the wilder portions of the country Dr. Gambel found them attaching their nest almost exclusively to low horizontal branches of the Quercus agrifolia, or evergreen oak, so common in that region. The nest he describes as small, only about an inch in depth, and 1.25 inches in diameter, formed in the most delicate manner of pappus and down of various plants matted into a soft felt, with spider’s-webs, which he frequently observed them collecting for the purpose, in the spring, along hedges and fence-rows. The base of the nest is formed of a few dried male aments of the oak, which, with the adjoining felt-like matting of pappus, are agglutinated and bound around the twig with a thick layer of spider’s-webs. The note of this bird, he states, is a slender chep, frequently repeated. During the breeding-season they are very pugnacious, darting like meteors among the trees, uttering a loud and repeated twittering scold. They also have the habit of ascending to a considerable height, and then of descending with great rapidity, uttering at the same time a peculiar cry. The glutinous pollen of a tubular flower upon which these birds feed often adheres to the rigid feathers of the crown, and causes the bird to seem to have a bright yellow head. Nuttall, who never obtained the male of this species, but saw them in this condition, supposed this to be a yellow spot in the crown, and hence his supposed species of icterocephalus.