Page:Condor6(5).djvu/22

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x32 THE CONDOR Vox,. VI ly fitted in her nest making a dark and well-protected home. For some reason the nest did not contain the full complement of eggs, but on June 2, the day I found the nest, it held one half-grown bird and an addled egg. Dr. Cooper speaks of this orange-crowned warbler as an abundant and com- mon resident of California near the coast and found in summer througout the Sierra Nevada. In March they begin to sing their simple trill, which is rather musical and audible for a long distance. I have found this warbler quite abundant throughout the western part of Oregon, where they begin nesting in the latter part of May and the first of June. Over on the Oregon coast the nesting season is always a little later. There amid the continued roar of the breakers, within a few yards of the ocean beach, I found a lutescent warbler sitting on five eggs, the first of last July. This nest was also placed above the ground in a bush two feet up. So it is not rare in this locality to find the lutescent warbler nesting above ground. This warbler is not showy like some of its cousins, but in harmony with LUTESCENT WARBLER AND YOUNG its shy disposition it carries its brighter colors beneath the outer surface. The distinguishing feature that ornithologists have selected in identifying this feathered mite is the patch of pale orange hidden by the grayish tips of the cap feathers. But it is seldom that this hidden crown of gold is seen in the live bird. If you want to see it you will have to take the time and patience to cultivate the owner's acquaintance. One generally has to force his friendship upon a bird by lying around th? nesting site for hours at a time. That is the way I had to do with "Lutie." Some- times you are accepted without much hesitation but often you are regarded with continued suspicion. It all depends upon the bird. The first day I found the lutescent warbler's nest I sat down fifteen feet away and it was almost an hour be- fore the mother would return to the nest and feed her young. Fifty yards down the hillside a bush-tit had hung her nest. I was examining the nest when the parents came with food. I sat down five feet away and in exactly three minutes by the watch one of the parents entered and fed the young. "Lutie" became quite tame after I had visited her for two or three days: She