194 THE CONDOR VoL. XlI upper parts left no dout in my mind that I had found the nest of a Brewer Sparrow. So long as I remained motionless the sparrow staid on her nest, but at the first suggestion of a movement she darted away among the foliage, after which the nest with its contents was collected and the eggs were found to be heavily incubated. Thinking that perhaps there might be a small colony of these sparrows, a more extensive search was made, as time permitted, resulting in the discovery on June 16 of a second nest in a location scarcely different from the first but containing two full fledged young birds. One of these was removed from the nest; it remained quiet while being held in my hand but the moment it was put back into the nest and I had started to leave, both of the little fellows jumpt from the vine and hur- riedly ran mouse-like to a place of concealment. During my stay at the nest both parent birds were heard chipping uneasily, but they seldom appeared and never came very near. Since the season of 1906 each spring has found a few pairs of these little spar- rows breeding in that or a nearby vineyard and one fact has imprest itself upon me more than any other. Scattered thruout this vineyard Avere a few vines that were either affected with some vine disease or for some other reason had become dwarft in comparison to the others. The leaves on each vine had a yellowish cast and were small, while the whole vine lackt the thrifty appearance of its fellows. Every nest found was in such a vine and I soon came to distinguish them at q.uite a little distance and save much valuable time in searching for nests. In order to prove the correctness of the theory that the nests were always placed in these small vines I have walkt thru the vineyard during the early winter when the leaves had just fallen and in that way found several old nests, but not one was bilt in one of the larger vines. During the past season (1910) not a sparrow could be found in this vineyard, and investigation revealed the fact that the dwarft vines had all disappeared having, it seems, been treated in some manner that caused them to take on the bright, healthy look of the others. Over half a mile away, however, was another ,vineyard and while passing thru it one morning, I heard the unmistakable song of Spt'zella breweft' and soon found quite a number of the "Brewer vines" as I called them. Later a nest was found that afterwards held three eggs. All the nests found were much alike in situation and general appearance. A typical specimen is composed outwardly of dry grass stems, a few grass blades and roots, the inner cavity being made almost entirely of very small, dry brown rootlets with a few long horsehairs for lining. In one nest is a white horsehair, but in every other instance black ones xvere used. A single downy quail feather is used in the outer framework of one nest, but it does not in any way serve as a lining. A nest before me mesures three inches outside diameter by one and seven-eighths in- side. The inside depth is one and one-half inches while the outside would mesure perhaps half an inch more. On the whole these nests are neat, compact structures and some of them are almost exact miniatures of nests of the California Jay. Two, three or four eggs constitute the sets, and three is more often found than either of the other numbers. Besides the nest with two young birds, one was found on May 15, 1907, with one egg, and the following day another was added after which the bird began the duties of incubation and no more eggs were deposited. My earliest record is May 10 for four very slightly incubated eggs and the latest is June 9 for three eggs far advanced. Of the food of these sparrows I have learned very little, as the birds were always shy and more often heard than seen. I have always had a suspicion that
