Page:Condor21(2).djvu/4

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50 THE CONDOR Vol. XXI and parent birds were eolleeted. An examination of the birds showed that no additional eggs would have been laid.

One or both birds were present and remained nearby on each of the visits 

to the nest, and though quite tame and fearless evineed no special solicitude while it was being examined and finally t?ken. On the first and last visits it required an unusual amount of hammering on the tree trunk to cause the bird to vacate the nest. The nest proper was placed on a foundation of small spruce twigs which l, ad found lodgment or been plaeed behind the gaping section of bark where tl?ere were a number of small bunches of spiders' web. The nest itself was composed of fine, shredded, inner bark fiber and occasional flake-like chips of Rig. 12. NESTING SITE OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN CREEPER, NEAR ALICE? COLORADO. Fig. 13. EGGS AND NEST OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN CREEPER. the same material, with a few small fluffy feathers matted to the inside surface of the eup. (See fig. 14.) The extreme dimensions of the nest, including foundation, are: Top to bottom, 7 inches; width, 5 inches. While the nest itself was 3 inches deep and 4 inches broad in one direction, the restrict{ohs due to its location confined it to a breadth of 1? inehes in the other direetion. In fact, so limited was the spaee that the bark itself comprised one side of the cup, the latter being 1? by 2 inches at the rim and 1?/? inches deep. The eggs are white, sparsely dotted with rufous (Chapman's color chart) over the entire surface, more heavily marked with spots and dots of the same