Page:Condor15(6).djvu/18

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206 THE CONDOR Vol. XV cerned, they were hung against a screen after beh?g removed from their natural sites for this purpose. The two outer nests were on the inside and just under the rafters of a wagon shed, the lower part of the north side of which was open, used to protect farm wagons and implements from the deteriorating effects of the weather. The pulley on the left of the picture was used to haul up the successful results of the num- erous deer hunts that took place on our ranch, the nest havi?)g.been built upon it before the openh?g of the deer hunting season in that year (x9 xI). In this case the nest was finished and a brood successfully reared before the pulley was put to use. The rope sling on the right had been used to sling some tackle in order to lift up a heavy piece of farm machinery at some time and left there after the Fig. 59. ]7?XTRAORDINARY NESTING SITES O17 THE ALLEN HUMMINGBIRD AT ?ViAILLIARD, 1V[ARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA tackle was removed. The bird which discovered this site evidently thought it a fine safe place in which to rear a brood, and in this the bird was right, as it was not disturbed. This nest was built in I912, and as it was only a few feet from the one on the pulley of the year before, it is very likely the same bird that constructed it. While this shed had been a favorite nesting place for Western Flycatchers it seemed altogether too dark to have been selected by hummingbirds. which gen- erally build in more or less open places. The nest in the center was h?. a carriage house but a few steps away from 'this wagon shed, m?.d was built on a hook, made from an iron rod, suspended from a wooden bar and about five feet from the ground, which with several adjacent, was used for hm?.gh?.g up harness in the process of clemfing. This nest was discovered in an unfinished state by the stableman when he went to cleans. some harness. He reported his discovery aa?.d was admonished to use temporarily